Declaring a rural Family Practice intention early

[EdLongshanks]

I realize that we are not supposed to decide on a specialty before our clinical years in med school. But I think that there may be at least one exception to this rule.

An adcomm member came to speak to our pre-med club the other day and told us what he was looking for in a medical student. He was a big advocate of rural family practice and was looking for students whose history and interest showed that this is what they would be.

For the non-trad students who are marginal cases and have an interest in family medicine - this might be a big help to you. If you like family medicine and are from a rural area, then you might be able to get one or two of the members of the adcomm as an advocate if you declared this interest during your application.

Note, Note, Note - I am not in any sense advocating lying. If you weren't intending to be a family doctor, don't make this claim. I suspect that adcomms have sensitive lie-detectors in their brains.

But, if you come from an underserved area and are interested in general medicine instead of a specialty, then saying so will probably not hurt and might help.

Second note - I am more interested in ER than in Family medicine, so I won't be doing this myself.

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[Perrotfish]

Note, Note, Note - I am not in any sense advocating lying. If you weren't intending to be a family doctor, don't make this claim. I suspect that adcomms have sensitive lie-detectors in their brains.

I disagree. Tell your state schools (the ones tasked with creating family physicians) that you're 'seriously considering' primary care. Tell the private schools that you haven't decided but you have a real interest in whatever specialty they're best known for. Tell you boss that you've never heard that joke before (and it's hilarious!). Tell your mother that she doesn't look a day over 30. Tell your girlfriend that her dress does not make her look fat.

My opinion is that ADCOMs interview a huge volume of people and we all look alike to them. All they're really testing is whether you have the common sense to realize where you're interviewing today. It's like if your blonde date asks you what you like in a woman and you say "redheads". She's not going to avoid you because she thinks she's not your type, she's going to avoid you because she thinks you're ******ed.

 

[EdLongshanks]

I disagree. Tell your state schools (the ones tasked with creating family physicians) that you're 'seriously considering' primary care. Tell the private schools that you haven't decided but you have a real interest in whatever specialty they're best known for. Tell you boss that you've never heard that joke before (and it's hilarious!). Tell your mother that she doesn't look a day over 30. Tell your girlfriend that her dress does not make her look fat.

My opinion is that ADCOMs interview a huge volume of people and we all look alike to them. All they're really testing is whether you have the common sense to realize where you're interviewing today. It's like if your blonde date asks you what you like in a woman and you say "redheads". She's not going to avoid you because she thinks she's not your type, she's going to avoid you because she thinks you're ******ed.

No, I don't believe that lying will work. In fact, I think that one of the things that Adcoms are looking for is integrity. While we all want to present ourselves in the best possible light, it is important to realize that we are simply emphasizing true facts, not making up a fairy tale. They are going to spot a con. Come on, they are on the committee because they are excellent judges of people. I don't have a good character sniffer, but even I can tell when a story is just a little bit too good to be true.

This isn't what I think, this is what I got directly from a member of an Adcomm.

What I am suggesting in this thread is not that someone change their story. I am speaking to those applicants who are on the margins - their MCAT's are on the lower end and they have some GPA black marks. But they grew up in small towns and enjoy knowing everyone at the local football game. Being the local small town doc sounds like an honorable position to them. That is part of their story and it is attractive to the state schools. Tell it.

 

[DocHomer]

No, I don't believe that lying will work. In fact, I think that one of the things that Adcoms are looking for is integrity. While we all want to present ourselves in the best possible light, it is important to realize that we are simply emphasizing true facts, not making up a fairy tale. They are going to spot a con. Come on, they are on the committee because they are excellent judges of people. I don't have a good character sniffer, but even I can tell when a story is just a little bit too good to be true.

This isn't what I think, this is what I got directly from a member of an Adcomm.

What I am suggesting in this thread is not that someone change their story. I am speaking to those applicants who are on the margins - their MCAT's are on the lower end and they have some GPA black marks. But they grew up in small towns and enjoy knowing everyone at the local football game. Being the local small town doc sounds like an honorable position to them. That is part of their story and it is attractive to the state schools. Tell it.

Agreed. I think ad coms are fairly adept at detecting a load of BS. Just be honest. If you're from NYC, and you go on about how you want to practice in a rural area as a primary care physician, then they will know you are lying. Unless there is something in your background that indicates a passion for rural primary care, don't just tell them what you think they want to hear.

 

[OBK]

Agreed. I think ad coms are fairly adept at detecting a load of BS. Just be honest. If you're from NYC, and you go on about how you want to practice in a rural area as a primary care physician, then they will know you are lying. Unless there is something in your background that indicates a passion for rural primary care, don't just tell them what you think they want to hear.

i concur...and no matter how good one thinks they may be at falsifying the truth, it can be painfully apparent to third parties

actually having a strong interest in rural family practice, i am at least a little concerned that my legitimate interest may be interpreted as an attempt to score points

 

[QofQuimica]

i concur...and no matter how good one thinks they may be at falsifying the truth, it can be painfully apparent to third parties

actually having a strong interest in rural family practice, i am at least a little concerned that my legitimate interest may be interpreted as an attempt to score points

As others have already pointed out, if your interest in rural medicine is sincere, you will have shadowing, volunteering, maybe other types of ECs to put your money where your mouth is. A person does not wake up one morning, rub their eyes, put their feet on the floor, and exclaim out of the clear blue, "Today is a wonderful day to decide to go into rural medicine!" In other words, there is a context for making this decision, and if you have that context, it will be clear to the adcom why you're taking this path.

I agree with the adcom that EdLongshanks talked to that many schools do like applicants who are interested in primary care (but who are also otherwise qualified for med school). Some schools are even geared toward producing these types of physicians. You can find out which schools have a primary care bent by reading through the MSAR, which is a book put out by the AAMC every year that gives a brief synopsis of every medical school in the US and Canada. Since Ed comes from a rural state, it would not surprise me in the least if his state school advocates primary care. Some of my state schools (Florida) do as well.

 

[jahnke07]

I disagree with the whole dishonesty thing.

Be honest about your interest and keep an open mind to other fields of medicine. Lying is a stress enhancer.

I personally have discuss with my family the idea of moving to a rural area outside of my current state and opening up a pratice. I probably won't settle on any soild field until after my clerkships.

 

[EdLongshanks]

As others have already pointed out, if your interest in rural medicine is sincere, you will have shadowing, volunteering, maybe other types of ECs to put your money where your mouth is. A person does not wake up one morning, rub their eyes, put their feet on the floor, and exclaim out of the clear blue, "Today is a wonderful day to decide to go into rural medicine!" .

Thanks, Q. That's what I was trying to say and not succeeding.

 

[MeowMix]

an amazing number of premeds vow and swear that their true love and passion is rural/underserved primary care. Many of them truly believe it.

Most of them end up matching into specialties like anesthesia.

Adcoms are entirely and completely used to hearing these declarations of true love. And they are treated with appropriate suspicion.