How should I put into PS w/o sounding like committing to specialty?

[Inducible]

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After just reading some personal statement writing tips, I learned that it is frowned upon to write that you have a desire to go into a particular specialty. However, I am wondering if my case is an exception:

The reason I want to go to med school is to become a pediatrician. Even before Pre-Med I would tell people I wanted to become a pediatrician. Many of my ECs involve working with kids.

Since my aspiration is more geared towards working with a certain type of patient rather than a particular body part or illness, would it be alright to include my desire to become a pediatrician in my PS?

Additional Info: Although I am heavily preferring to go into primary care pediatrics right now, the only decision in which my mind has been definitively made up is that I want to go into a specialty in which I get to mainly work with kids. For example, I would not rule out going into specialties like child oncology, child psychiatry, or pediatric surgery.


However, if I cannot mention wanting to be a pediatrician, should I simply write my personal statement in such a way as to avoid using the word "pediatrician," but simply talk about how I want to be a physician who looks after kids? How have others with this desire wrote their personal statements?

In essence, how do I articulate the fact that I want to become a doctor in order work with kids into my personal statement without sounding like I am committing to a specialty?

 

[a1b2c3d4]

Maybe mention your interest in primary care medicine?

 

[AdrianVeidt]

If pediatrics is the reason you want to go into medicine then certainly include it.

 

[MadRadLad]

Kind of piggybacking off this, I am a psych major and especially interested in mental health (which is being emphasized more and more in healthcare). Is it okay to mention this in the PS?

 

[music2doc]

After just reading some personal statement writing tips, I learned that it is frowned upon to write that you have a desire to go into a particular specialty. However, I am wondering if my case is an exception:

The reason I want to go to med school is to become a pediatrician. Even before Pre-Med I would tell people I wanted to become a pediatrician. Many of my ECs involve working with kids.

Since my aspiration is more geared towards working with a certain type of patient rather than a particular body part or illness, would it be alright to include my desire to become a pediatrician in my PS?

Additional Info: Although I am heavily preferring to go into primary care pediatrics right now, the only decision in which my mind has been definitively made up is that I want to go into a specialty in which I get to mainly work with kids. For example, I would not rule out going into specialties like child oncology, child psychiatry, or pediatric surgery.


However, if I cannot mention wanting to be a pediatrician, should I simply write my personal statement in such a way as to avoid using the word "pediatrician," but simply talk about how I want to be a physician who looks after kids? How have others with this desire wrote their personal statements?

In essence, how do I articulate the fact that I want to become a doctor in order work with kids into my personal statement without sounding like I am committing to a specialty?

That's largely a myth. If you have a GOOD reason for having interest in a given specialty, then mention it BUT also indicate your openness to new experiences and interest in other areas of medicine. The goal is to show direction and focus while also providing evidence of flexibility and adaptability. You don't want to seem rigid or decided. I mentioned my interest in EM and my ECs included my experiences in EMS, as an ED Tech/Scribe/Registration, in Psych (in & rez), and in PM&R. Schools seemed to like it and I know interviewers said good things about my background and interests. If you have solid reasoning and experience, then it's fine to have inklings of what you want to do.

Where people get themselves into trouble is when their reasons are TV shows or VERY limited experiences (read: shadowing).