Both my parents were doctors...

[CerealBox]

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...do you think this has an effect on the adcoms? Do you think they look favorably or unfavorably on med school applicants coming from a family of physicians?

 

[DrThom]

I think it can go either way.

I got kudos from people who interviewed me for choosing the profession without any doctors in my family. They said it helped them see that I wasn't just going into medicine cause it was the "family business". But I think it depends on who is looking at your file.

 

[DrBowtie]

I think that they might expect you to have greater exposure to medicine since you were around it alot, compared to a guy who had to cold call every hospital to find shadowing.

 

[rpkall]

Doesn't matter, in my opinion. You still have to prove you want to do this for the right reasons--like the other poster said, not just cuz it's the "family business."

Write a good essay, talk about why you want to be a physician, and you'll be just another applicant.

Will it get you ahead? Maybe if both your parents went to the same private school and now you're applying there. Don't take anything for granted out there, though. For as many connections as you think you have, there's always someone else with better connections that might beat you out. Be smart, and put together the best application you can, and don't make a big deal out of your medical breeding. It shouldn't be your best asset. 😉

 

[CerealBox]

i read one thread about how someone's interviewer was really stuck on the fact that both their parents were doctor's. they pressed the applicant over and over again on why they chose medicine and accused them of doing it because of their parents 🙁

Obviously my parents have influenced me a lot... but they really aren't the ones that encouraged me to go into medicine. It was the docs I do research with... My parents were actually thrilled when I was studying math & economics as an undergrad. They bragged about it all the time.

 

[rpkall]

There are hundreds of applicants every year who apply to med school because their parents want them to--or because of some other outside pressure that doesn't equate with a true, genuine desire to study medicine. It's the adcom's job to weed these people out so they don't get pushed through and eventually be unhappy, pissed off, cocky, self-righteous docs who think they should be doing anything else with their time. 😉 If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. You just have to prove you're not a duck.

The looking like a duck you can't help--unless you want to lie and make up other occupations for your parents. But you do have control over the walking and the quacking. Find your own path and your own voice, and they won't be able to rattle you.

Good luck. 🙂

 

[BaylorGuy]

Talked to a faculty member who sat on the adcom concerning this. It can go either way. It is good because you get early exposure, know what to expect, genetics??, etc. It can be bad if its obvious that you are "wanting" to do medicine because your parents told you to. From what i gathered, it can be a plus or minus, depending on how you managed to handle yourself in the interview. Your passion, or your parents-vicariously-living-through-you-passion, will shine through in your interview.

 

[gujuDoc]

i read one thread about how someone's interviewer was really stuck on the fact that both their parents were doctor's. they pressed the applicant over and over again on why they chose medicine and accused them of doing it because of their parents 🙁

Obviously my parents have influenced me a lot... but they really aren't the ones that encouraged me to go into medicine. It was the docs I do research with... My parents were actually thrilled when I was studying math & economics as an undergrad. They bragged about it all the time.

As long as you are doing it for the right reasons, and can explain yourself if that question were to come up in an interview, I think you should be ok. As long as your Personal Statement and other essays and activities can support your interest as being genuine, then I think you'll be ok as well. A combo of both of the above is the most important thing. A lot of people have parents that are doctors. that doesn't mean they automatically get in or rejected. It means they still have to prove their worth. If they do and are serious about medicine, then they'll make it and do well.

Besides, many kids of physicians don't do it for family business reasons, considering they go into totally different fields then their parents and live many miles away from their parents. At least, this is what is true of the desi circles that I grew up in. I think, I've only known one person that took over a parent's practice. The others developed their own interests in different fields of medicine then their parents.

If your parents went to med school here in the states, and you are applying to a school where they went, it might actually help a slight bit. I know many schools like to know if you've had a relative that is a graduate of a particular school or school's residency program. If so, sometimes it helps your case if everything else in your application is ok.

 

[sierra89]

Yeah, if you make clear in your application/interview that you are not applying to med school because your parents are doctors or they wanted you to become a doctor, I think you're fine. I'd say make sure they don't email adcoms on your behalf expecting the adcom to give you an interview/admission, though, because it might make them look like they are living vicariously through you and that could damage your chances.

 

[grousek]

Totally depends on the situation, everytime!

Both my parents are doctors who went to the same medical school. I always had an interest in medicine, but precisely because I wanted to be my own person, I went into a COMPLETELY different field when I went to college - Japanese and politics. After working in the field, however, I realized I still really wanted to do medicine, so I went back to a post-bacc program and am applying to medical schools now. I am disposed to think that adcoms will not judge me to be blindly following in my parents' footsteps. I think that if I had gone straight into applying right after college without a lot of clinical experience shadowing/volunteering/etc it would be a lot more tempting for adcoms to write me off as "taking over the family business".

However, my top choice is the state school where both my parents went... too bad legacy doesn't matter in my situation, I could sure use a boost!

 

[wendywellesley]

Totally depends on the situation, everytime!

Both my parents are doctors who went to the same medical school. I always had an interest in medicine, but precisely because I wanted to be my own person, I went into a COMPLETELY different field when I went to college - Japanese and politics. After working in the field, however, I realized I still really wanted to do medicine, so I went back to a post-bacc program and am applying to medical schools now. I am disposed to think that adcoms will not judge me to be blindly following in my parents' footsteps. I think that if I had gone straight into applying right after college without a lot of clinical experience shadowing/volunteering/etc it would be a lot more tempting for adcoms to write me off as "taking over the family business".

However, my top choice is the state school where both my parents went... too bad legacy doesn't matter in my situation, I could sure use a boost!

that's funny, that sounds all too familiar to me! (except the part where my parents went to the same med school)
i think in our situation (where our majors had nothing to do with medicine then we returned) will work in our favor.
good luck to you 🙂

 

[Overeducated]

that's funny, that sounds all too familiar to me! (except the part where my parents went to the same med school)
i think in our situation (where our majors had nothing to do with medicine then we returned) will work in our favor.
good luck to you 🙂

That makes 3 of us then... We should start a club!

 

[gujuDoc]

That makes 3 of us then... We should start a club!

That sounds like a former neigbor from my sophomore year dorms. That particular neighbor and friend started with engineering and then went to business and finally back to medicine. Both of that person's parents were well reputable doctors too.

I think there are a lot of people who are that way. Just because a child chooses to go into the same profession as their parent, doesn't mean that they are doing it solely because their parents want them too. Some people are like that, but many have proven their place in medicine and played the game as well as any other applicant very well. Hence, they've gotten into medical school without problems. Like I said before, as long as you can prove its what you want to do, I doubt it will make a big difference.

 

[CerealBox]

Actually.. i fit right in there too. People would always ask me if I was going to be a doctor too, just like my parents... I always answered "No!". I wanted my own identity. I went off to college and didn't even take one bio class. But sure enough, after college, I had no desire to pursue math and economics... the only research I could see myself doing long term was medical research. And after working in the medical academic environment for 3 years, I finally stopped idding myself and went back to school to take pre-med classes.
one of my sisters did almost the same thing, but with dentistry.
And my sister that DID start pre-med, ended up getting into computer arts & media and now works for MTV. 😕

 

[gujuDoc]

Actually.. i fit right in there too. People would always ask me if I was going to be a doctor too, just like my parents... I always answered "No!". I wanted my own identity. I went off to college and didn't even take one bio class. But sure enough, after college, I had no desire to pursue math and economics... the only research I could see myself doing long term was medical research. And after working in the medical academic environment for 3 years, I finally stopped idding myself and went back to school to take pre-med classes.
one of my sisters did almost the same thing, but with dentistry.
And my sister that DID start pre-med, ended up getting into computer arts & media and now works for MTV. 😕

MTV huh?? That must be an interesting job.