Fibbing on AMCAS

[Laura Jean]

I am not completely sure about what specialty I want to go into. I've been researching common questions for secondaries and for interviews in the schools I am applying to. "What specialty are you interested in why" or some version of that is very common. Before covid canceled everything , I was planning on shadowing lots of different specialties. However, I only got to shadow family medicine and internal medicine before stupid coronavirus prevented me from doing anything.

So I am unsure how to answer this question, because the specialties that I am interested I have never had any exposure to (neurology, surgery, emergency, anesthesiology etc.). However, I have a ton of volunteering experience with children. Like almost all of my non-clinical volunteering is with kids / youth and I have worked with kids in the past as well for paid experience. So, I could come up with a great answer about wanting to be a pediatric surgeon. It's not a complete lie, because it is one of my interest areas. However, it is definitely fib, because I have many interests and am not sure yet....

So what do I do? Do I fib and use my "pediatric surgeon" answer since it matches a lot of my experiences and I would be able to write a good essay / have a great sounding response or do I say that I have absolutely no idea. I'm leaning towards the fib tbh because I can have an answer that is backed up by experiences rather than saying I have no idea because I didn't ever get to observe those specialties?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

There's zero need to fully commit yourself to a specialty on an application.

 

[Rachapkis]

Ad coms realize that you (i) are at the beginning of your journey, (ii) may not know what specialty you want; and (iii) even if you think you know, may change your mind. You can tell them that you’ve explored a couple of the areas that you’re interested in, but have several others that COVID-19 prevented you from delving into.

 

[Catalystik]

I am not completely sure about what specialty I want to go into. I've been researching common questions for secondaries and for interviews in the schools I am applying to. "What specialty are you interested in why" or some version of that is very common. Before covid canceled everything , I was planning on shadowing lots of different specialties. However, I only got to shadow family medicine and internal medicine before stupid coronavirus prevented me from doing anything.

So I am unsure how to answer this question, because the specialties that I am interested I have never had any exposure to (neurology, surgery, emergency, anesthesiology etc.). However, I have a ton of volunteering experience with children. Like almost all of my non-clinical volunteering is with kids / youth and I have worked with kids in the past as well for paid experience. So, I could come up with a great answer about wanting to be a pediatric surgeon. It's not a complete lie, because it is one of my interest areas. However, it is definitely fib, because I have many interests and am not sure yet....

So what do I do? Do I fib and use my "pediatric surgeon" answer since it matches a lot of my experiences and I would be able to write a good essay / have a great sounding response or do I say that I have absolutely no idea. I'm leaning towards the fib tbh because I can have an answer that is backed up by experiences rather than saying I have no idea because I didn't ever get to observe those specialties?

Why not give a broader-based intention based on your current experiences and what you liked most about them? You might state that you would enjoy working with a younger aged demographic in a specialty that requires manual dexterity where your skills in verbal communication would be useful for establishing rapport and patient education. Maybe a large group practice would be appealing vs a small private clinic vs a huge university center where teaching opportunities abound.

 

[Catalystik]

You might enjoy this amusing essay on the perils of claiming a future path that you will never take: Be Careful What You Claim in your Med School Admission Essay

 

[readmypostsMD]

You might enjoy this amusing essay on the perils of claiming a future path that you will never take: Be Careful What You Claim in your Med School Admission Essay

it took me a good 30s to realize this was fake

 

[Catalystik]

it took me a good 30s to realize this was fake

You’ve made my day. I hope your brief spike in stomach acid is once again under control.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Just as an anecdotal cautionary tale, a friend of mine said in his secondary to my school that he wanted to be a trauma surgeon and they told him he was too hyper focused. He was waitlisted and didn’t get in. (He goes to another school though.)

 

[deleted1066189]

the specialties that I am interested I have never had any exposure to (neurology, surgery, emergency, anesthesiology etc.).

You've never been in an OR? Are you applying next year?

 

[Laura Jean]

You've never been in an OR? Are you applying next year?

I am applying this upcoming Spring / Summer.
I had quite a few shadowing opportunities set up, including neurology, general surgery, orthopedics, emergency, and anesthesiology for March / April and then stupid covid canceled EVERYTHING! I'm very very upset about all of this....

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

They don’t expect you to know what specialty you want to go into. Just be honest. Like 75% of med students end up in a different field than they initially expressed interest in.