How would you answer this on your medical school interview?

[ventulus18]

This one is bound to come up almost every time. What would you say and why?

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[MrLogan13]

What's the question?

 

[NervousNerd]

LOL

 

[No Limits]

What's the question?

The question is in the poll.

 

[boomshaketheroom]

Answer truthfully and give well thought out support. Some people know, some don't.

 

[lmn]

How is this helpful for you to know if someone answer that Psych was the field they are interested in?

 

[No Limits]

Revising based on advice.


Edit: @ventulus18 I'm really happy you asked this. I realize I have some work to do.

 

[el_duderino]

I wasn't asked this at any point. I get asked the question casually by other people, but not in interviews.

 

[Mars41]

I am a long way from the interview process but... I would answer with my intended specialty and the reasons for interest in that particular area.

I would also add that I would be going into school with an open mind however and was excited to learn about all areas before making a definite decision.

To those of you that already have interview experience... Does that sound like a decent approach or would you stick with a more definitive answer?

 

[el_duderino]

The best thing you can do on an interview is be honest and thoughtful. If you go into an interview with the intention of BSing or giving canned answers to sound better, you've already lost. Be yourself. Be a real human being and feel free to open up. Absolutely do some hard thinking beforehand about the REAL reasons you want to pursue medicine, but don't deliver a speech.

Do NOT try to tell interviewers what you think they want to hear.

 

[snowflakes]

I am a long way from the interview process but... I would answer with my intended specialty and the reasons for interest in that particular area.

I would also add that I would be going into school with an open mind however and was excited to learn about all areas before making a definite decision.

To those of you that already have interview experience... Does that sound like a decent approach or would you stick with a more definitive answer?

Sounds perfect. Be honest but be open minded.

 

[el_duderino]

Sounds perfect. Be honest but be open minded.

I'm PMing with Mars now, but I don't like the answer. It says a lot of nothing. If I were interviewing someone and they gave me that answer, I'd say "uh huh...... but, really, what specialty do you see yourself going into?"

 

[el_duderino]

Wait, whoops, I totally mixed up who said what.

 

[Mars41]

^ I've been anxiously awaiting a PM haha

 

[el_duderino]

Haha, sorry. It was No Limits.

 

[Goro]

It's perfectly OK to state your interest in X specialty. However, make sure your answer isn't at cross purposes witht he school's ission. Fior example, I think a school aiming to produce Primary Care physicians might be taken aback if you answer "cosmetic surgery".

The best answer to "what kind of doctor to you want to be?" is "a good one".

It's also always good to have an open mind. By their 3rd year, most of my students know what they DON"T want to do! Interests can change drastically in 2-3 years, so even though you might enter school loving Surgery, you never know when the bug for Neurology might bite you on the rear end!

 

[Annabell Lee]

I'd answer that there are several fields I'm interested in, but that I won't really know until I'm in med school. If they really want me to pick something, I'd say emergency medicine.

I was doing observational rotations in the ER (I'm in nursing school), when a priority one trauma came through. I got to watch the trauma team. This was one of the experiences that made me want to consider medical school. I had started thinking about it before, but had just kind of suppressed those thoughts, but this really made me feel like I should pursue it. I love nursing, and have a great respect for the profession, but I want to know more about how the human body works, and in an emergency situation like that I don't want to be limited by the extent of my education in what I can do to help someone.

 

[mrh125]

I'd talk about the fields I'm particularly interested in at this time and explain why (most of them have a long history w/ me).

 

[lobo.solo]

I am a long way from the interview process but... I would answer with my intended specialty and the reasons for interest in that particular area.

I would also add that I would be going into school with an open mind however and was excited to learn about all areas before making a definite decision.

To those of you that already have interview experience... Does that sound like a decent approach or would you stick with a more definitive answer?

This is what I did and it worked fine. I think people appreciate that you want to go with an open mind because they know students change their mind all the time.

 

[TheBossDoctor]

"I'm not too sure yet and am trying to keep an open mind during medical school. However some early interests are _____ specialties because of X, Y, and Z."

 

[circulus vitios]

Where's the option for cash-only cosmetic dermatology?

 

[el_duderino]

Where's the option for cash-only cosmetic dermatology?

Last weekend, I had a guy try to convince me that I needed to be "an old-time cash-only doctor" when he found out I was going to medical school. He then proceeded to tell me about this doctor he knew who took care of some rich old guy full time and eventually inherited his fortune, much to the anger of the old man's family.

So that was interesting.

 

[Annabell Lee]

Last weekend, I had a guy try to convince me that I needed to be "an old-time cash-only doctor" when he found out I was going to medical school. He then proceeded to tell me about this doctor he knew who took care of some rich old guy full time and eventually inherited his fortune, much to the anger of the old man's family.

So that was interesting.

I've heard lots of stories of aids and home health nurses being put in patients wills. Usually accepting these things (or other gifts exceeding a certain dollar amount) are considered unethical.

No one has put me in their will that I know of, but several patients have tried to give me gifts, one tried to give me a "hope chest" once she saw my engagement ring, and one man told me if I'd take him home and take care of him he would leave me his house and cars.

 

[familyaerospace]

This one is bound to come up almost every time. What would you say and why?

I've interviewed 7 times, it came up once.

I said I am not 100% yet about what I definitely want to do although I am leaning towards internal medicine or neurology but I know I definitely don't want to do (nephrology, obgyn, or peds)

 

[masaraksh]

Hospital CEO so I can take in millions and not see patients or icky things.

 

[MrLogan13]

Sorry, guys. The poll isn't visible on the SDN iPhone app.

The question is in the poll.

 

[mik30102]

I have a long list of stuff I know I dont have any desire to do (any surgery, ortho,derm,rads, gas and path) due to either lack of interest, bad hand eye corridnation or lack of patient contact. I would answer oncology since I find it the most fascinating disease state, and feel it is rapidly evolving with new targeted therapies. I would also answer I would still need to see it in person though to see if I could handle the higher then average emotional drain of being a bearer of bad news

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Would it be bad to say that you didn't like certain things about some specialties?

 

[familyaerospace]

Would it be bad to say that you didn't like certain things about some specialties?

Can you find a way to spin it positively?

That is something I am having a hard time doing.

 

[QofQuimica]

Would it be bad to say that you didn't like certain things about some specialties?

Given that you may be interviewed by practitioners of those specialties, yes, it would be.

It's fine if you have interest in a specific specialty or career goal, especially if you have significant experience with that specialty/career. Just be open-minded to the possibility that you might fall in love with something different once you actually get there. And never bad-mouth any specialties, or even other careers. You really don't want to find out that your interviewer's wife is a CRNA right after you just finished bashing CRNAs in favor of anesthesiologists to him.