How to explain desire to become a doctor in PS?

[radioactive15]

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The famed "Why medicine" question seems to be eating at me.

I can't fully explain in words why I want to be a doctor, (it's mostly due to intrinsic interest and captivation by the field). Becoming a physician would allow me to put my knowledge to good use by helping others. Should my essay be revolved around "Wanting to help people", because that's pretty much why I want to be a doctor. That along with the passion for medicine (which I am afraid to expand upon because it's more mental desire than physical actions taken: I only volunteer in hospice care and shadowed, have no other doctor interactions)

I'm sure about 85% of applicants (exaggeration) have doctors in their family and have been exposed to medicine since their childhood due to this. I have no doctors in my family and also want the pride of being the first doctor. My story isn't anything flashy or emotionally-touching unlike many others.

Are these sufficient enough to put on my PS? What do the readers look for as the answer to "why medicine"? I'm not in it for the money (don't want to write that down because it may open a can of worms), just solely out of internal goals to become a physician.

 

[hoihaie]

Those two reasons are essentially why almost all re-meds want to be doctors.

Therefore, your PS It's not just why medicine, but also your pathway to medicine.

How did you come to discover your interest? Why are you captivated by the field? Medicine is a broad field. Is there anything specific that brought you to this decision? How do you want to help people? Is there a specific patient population you want to work with? In answering these questions, use what you've experienced or done to illustrate your points.

I.e. How do you know your mental desire to be a doctor is not a mere illusion? Is it because you shadowed and volunteered in patient setting? If so, how did those experience make you want to be a physician and work with patients?

You don't need anything super emotional or flashy. You don't need to have a doctor in your family. Everyone has an unique story to tell despite having the same broad theme (How else is Hollywood surviving? Most action movies are: peasant becomes hero -> hero falls for girl/guy -> hero saves day -> happily ever after).

You will be able to verbally explain it - you just need to think really really hard about how. I spent months thinking about how I can verbalize my reasons before actually drafting my PS.

 

[AlteredScale]

The famed "Why medicine" question seems to be eating at me.

I can't fully explain in words why I want to be a doctor, (it's mostly due to intrinsic interest and captivation by the field). Becoming a physician would allow me to put my knowledge to good use by helping others. Should my essay be revolved around "Wanting to help people", because that's pretty much why I want to be a doctor. That along with the passion for medicine (which I am afraid to expand upon because it's more mental desire than physical actions taken: I only volunteer in hospice care and shadowed, have no other doctor interactions)

I'm sure about 85% of applicants (exaggeration) have doctors in their family and have been exposed to medicine since their childhood due to this. I have no doctors in my family and also want the pride of being the first doctor. My story isn't anything flashy or emotionally-touching unlike many others.

Are these sufficient enough to put on my PS? What do the readers look for as the answer to "why medicine"? I'm not in it for the money (don't want to write that down because it may open a can of worms), just solely out of internal goals to become a physician.

You should be able to elaborately and articulately explain what experiences led you into a career in medicine. It should be written in such a manner that will provide room for you to intertwine what role the physician plays in health care and most importantly (IMO) how YOU identify in medicine.

My PS had a collection of experiences that firstly identified what my values were which I was then able to further elaborate on through my experiences in research, shadowing, clinical work. I too have no immediate or distant family in medicine or healthcare in general, so I understand the frustrations.

There's a little trickle of dramatization in almost all personal statements. Don't hold back but don't overdo it.

 

[jeghaber]

Hopefully in your life up to this point of taking prereqs, taking the MCAT, gathering letters and finally getting ready to apply to medical school, you've 1) had an initial introduction to the field of medicine and 2) spent some time to confirm your initial impression (i.e. broad exposure) and 3) made opportunities for yourself to test your commitment (i.e. extended exposure).

I think good personal statements tend to touch on most if not all of these elements. The better ones tend to have a theme that ties the narrative together; this theme can be related to your "medicine journey" or borrow an element from an "outside" interest.

But before you jump on trying to think of some kind of grand theme, you need to remember this: your primary job is to reflect on your experiences and tell your story. During your first drafts, don't think about the adcom in the other side -- approach as if you're writing to a close friend or a family member about how and why medicine. You can always edit out the irrelevant and add in the flashiness and panache later.

Good luck!

 

[mimelim]

The famed "Why medicine" question seems to be eating at me.

I can't fully explain in words why I want to be a doctor, (it's mostly due to intrinsic interest and captivation by the field). Becoming a physician would allow me to put my knowledge to good use by helping others. Should my essay be revolved around "Wanting to help people", because that's pretty much why I want to be a doctor. That along with the passion for medicine (which I am afraid to expand upon because it's more mental desire than physical actions taken: I only volunteer in hospice care and shadowed, have no other doctor interactions)

I'm sure about 85% of applicants (exaggeration) have doctors in their family and have been exposed to medicine since their childhood due to this. I have no doctors in my family and also want the pride of being the first doctor. My story isn't anything flashy or emotionally-touching unlike many others.

Are these sufficient enough to put on my PS? What do the readers look for as the answer to "why medicine"? I'm not in it for the money (don't want to write that down because it may open a can of worms), just solely out of internal goals to become a physician.

This is why we say that shadowing is important. No matter what you say/write, it is hard to believe that you actually know what you are talking about. Your personal statement is not a check box. It isn't something that has a right answer. What are we looking for? Someone that can articulate that they know what they are getting into, have the experiences to show that they know what they are talking about and still want to go into medicine.

 

[Shinobiz11]

Just start writing. Don't worry about character limits or grammar. Get all your thoughts and motivations, ideas, etc down. Pick a story or two that really influenced your decision. Once you get a bunch of ideas down you can start to trim it to your liking.

I worked on my PS for 6 months and even in my final edits I found better ways to say things I wanted to say.

 

[caffeinemia]

The famed "Why medicine" question seems to be eating at me.

I can't fully explain in words why I want to be a doctor, (it's mostly due to intrinsic interest and captivation by the field). Becoming a physician would allow me to put my knowledge to good use by helping others. Should my essay be revolved around "Wanting to help people", because that's pretty much why I want to be a doctor. That along with the passion for medicine (which I am afraid to expand upon because it's more mental desire than physical actions taken: I only volunteer in hospice care and shadowed, have no other doctor interactions)

I'm sure about 85% of applicants (exaggeration) have doctors in their family and have been exposed to medicine since their childhood due to this. I have no doctors in my family and also want the pride of being the first doctor. My story isn't anything flashy or emotionally-touching unlike many others.

Are these sufficient enough to put on my PS? What do the readers look for as the answer to "why medicine"? I'm not in it for the money (don't want to write that down because it may open a can of worms), just solely out of internal goals to become a physician.

You should read my blog for suggestions on how to think about answering the "why" question. There's a planning exercise that may help to give you a clearer picture.

- Caff