Is it okay to mention that I do not enjoy patient contact in med school applications/interviews?

[thinkitagain]

As a nontraditional student who has worked for years, I love diagnosis and know my passion for radiology. I wonder whether mentioning I do not want to be a primary care physician would kill my application. I come to this conclusion after my shadowing experiences. I still love to contribute to healthcare and "indirectly" help patients. From my point of view, medical imaging has a critical role in early detection/ disease prevention. I understand that I will inevitably need to contact patients during my studies. However, I prefer to talk to colleagues than patients.

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[gobbledeeloop]

Maybe you could express your keen interest in radiology and connect it to your work experience or personality without straight up saying, "i don't like being with patients." Be authentic and don't fake like you want to be a primary care kind of person if you're not, but I'm pretty sure leading with "no thank you to patient contact" is not the move.

 

[esob]

In my honest opinion, this would be a bad idea. There is no guarantee that you will become a radiologist (or any other specialty). Many will take this preference to indicate that you are either not personable or that you dislike patients in general. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons to dislike patient contact, but if you talk about it before becoming an attending physician, it will likely kill your application.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I think meeting sick people is part of the job description. Why do you want to be a doctor and not a researcher or data analyst?

 

[LunaOri]

There is no guarantee that you will match in radiology. Are you sure you want to be a physician?

 

[Dral]

No, just no.

I am not on an adcom, but your app would be dead in the water if you mentioned you do not enjoy patient contact.

- As mentioned, you might not match radiology. You could always do pathology, but maybe you'd end up in a patient facing field and hate it.
- You still have to get through third and fourth year. I'd fear you would do a sub-par job on those rotations which is a bad representation of the school.

It's great that you have decided that already, but that's something you'd be better off keeping to yourself if you want to gain an acceptance.

There are nuances here. It's probably good to mention one wants to be a primary care provider during the app process. It's probably not the best idea to mention certain specialties. It's probably ok to say one does not want to be a primary care physician. It's not ok to say you don't like direct patient contact.

As LunaOri alluded to, it brings into question whether you really want to be a physician. On the contrary, one of the paramount goals of convincing an adcom to accept you is to convince them you truly want to be a phsyician (not have them call into question if you really want to be one to begin with).

 

[karaya]

This year, something like 20% of MD seniors failed to match DR. What happens if you have to SOAP into FM? Please consider that possibility in your beliefs, words, and actions from now on.

 

[MusicDOc124]

Why become a physician? Radiology is relatively competitive, and people go unmatched every year.

 

[HopelessMS]

Bruh

 

[premed19876787]

As a nontraditional student who has worked for years, I love diagnosis and know my passion for radiology. I wonder whether mentioning I do not want to be a primary care physician would kill my application. I come to this conclusion after my shadowing experiences. I still love to contribute to healthcare and "indirectly" help patients. From my point of view, medical imaging has a critical role in early detection/ disease prevention. I understand that I will inevitably need to contact patients during my studies. However, I prefer to talk to colleagues than patients.

As a nontraditional student who has worked for years, I love diagnosis and know my passion for radiology. I wonder whether mentioning I do not want to be a primary care physician would kill my application. I come to this conclusion after my shadowing experiences. I still love to contribute to healthcare and "indirectly" help patients. From my point of view, medical imaging has a critical role in early detection/ disease prevention. I understand that I will inevitably need to contact patients during my studies. However, I prefer to talk to colleagues than patients.

If you have to ask, you already know the answer.

 

[EthylMethylMan]

If you like diagnosing (I.e. problem solving) but don’t like clinical medicine, you should look into some flavor of engineering. That sounds more like what you’re looking for.