Trying to slog through the personal statement process like everyone else and I'm wondering if it's acceptable to discuss one my parents being a physician as part of my answer to "why medicine"? My dad is a doctor, I feel like I grew up with medicine at the dinner table (and sometimes on the kitchen counter if someone needed a few stitches...) and it sort of evolved throughout my life from just something my dad did, to something he did that I really admired and wanted to do too. Obviously I can't really speak objectively about my own parent, but the compassion that I see in him during his work drives me to want to do the same. This is definitely not my entire journey to medicine nor the main reason, but I do think it's the jumping off point.
My main concerns would be that this comes off either as a) "my dad's a doc and a nice guy so I just figure I'll be one too" b) "my parents want me to be a doctor which is why I'm here" or c) pretentious/privileged in a "I've known medical stuff my whole life so I deserve to go to med school" kinda way. None of that is true, and I think I have the other ECs to back myself and my reasons up (shadowing, volunteering, etc etc) in other ways and will discuss those in my PS, but I just wasn't sure if there was any kind of etiquette/consensus on this type of topic. I'm probably most worried about the pretentiousness thing.
Also aware that it's probably hard to judge this without seeing exact phrasing and the PS as a whole, I just wanted to get a general vibe/advice before I got too deep in. Thanks!
My main concerns would be that this comes off either as a) "my dad's a doc and a nice guy so I just figure I'll be one too" b) "my parents want me to be a doctor which is why I'm here" or c) pretentious/privileged in a "I've known medical stuff my whole life so I deserve to go to med school" kinda way. None of that is true, and I think I have the other ECs to back myself and my reasons up (shadowing, volunteering, etc etc) in other ways and will discuss those in my PS, but I just wasn't sure if there was any kind of etiquette/consensus on this type of topic. I'm probably most worried about the pretentiousness thing.
Also aware that it's probably hard to judge this without seeing exact phrasing and the PS as a whole, I just wanted to get a general vibe/advice before I got too deep in. Thanks!
