mock interview: feeling worried. more shadowing?

[stevvo111]

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Hey guys, I just had a mock interview with the health profession advising group at my university. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it for anyone out there who wants practice as well as some critical feedback that is for the most part objective.

Anyways, the reason I'm writing is because I'm a little worried from my interview feedback. From my interview, it is clear that I lack profound clinical experience. While I have shadowed 40ish hours and volunteered in the hospital for a year, what I found from the mock interview was my inability to speak to "clinical experiences" as reasons for why I wanted to be a doctor (I have some experiences, but looking back at them, I'm having trouble understanding why, beyond the obvious "I like science, I like applying science to people, I like treating, and I like people"). I have seen the patient doctor relationship, I have been on rounds, and I have seen the administrative side of medicine. But a majority of the reasons why I want to be a doctor come from realizations that I had in my non medical related volunteering, teaching, and research experiences, that were later affirmed in clinical experiences (although, much less profound that the initial realization).

I'm a bit worried. Should I have more experiences like "I want to be a doc because I saw someone's ear blown off, the doc did this and this, I did this, and ultimately everything was ok, I was motivated" because currently, my experiences are along the lines of "I volunteered, listened, enjoyed it, and beyond that I liked guiding people to long term care. parallels to what I have seen in the hospital, and thus I want to be a doc" (but obviously more detailed).

What do you guys think? I'm actively shadowing some docs, any advice on what I can do to actively learn from these experiences? I feel like I'm not getting anything from shadowing beyond seeing the interaction between doctor-patient (back and forth, compromising, trust, etc), the medicine behind it, and that I enjoy being in this environment. Should I be getting more out of shadowing than this?

I'm just worried cause I feel like my "why medicine" reasoning comes from a ton of things, with most not directly related to medicine.

 

[mhord]

God no...at least that's my opinion if it isn't true. I chose medicine because of skateboarding, and I landed every interview I chose to accept. I didn't involve myself in "medicine" until returning to school to knock out prerequisites for medschool, which was more of a way for me to identify first if I could stomach it (which I knew I could) and second, to take advantage of opportunities to help me identify what I'm most interested in.

For me...my shadowing depended on the physician I was shadowing. I watched a handful of neurosurgeries (not from the corner, literally standing on a stool and leaning over the physicians shoulder as he drilled into the spine...oh and I got to push the button to take the final X-Ray-whoops), a couple hundred hours in pediatrics and a few others here and there. I would literally pour out my brain onto paper during each break or after each session, not to try to remember anything but to help me determine what I found to be most significant. I talked more about how I approached each opportunity rather than the opportunity itself-that's what they want to know more about. They don't care that I stood still and quiet for a ten hour neurosurgery, they cared that I knew what was expected of me before I stepped into the OR and how I handled myself professionally in the hospital (does that make sense?)

Furthermore-I interviewed at three schools (2 DO and 1 MD) and clinical experience was not a huge factor. Now-I took every opportunity I could to bring it up, especially when referencing the institution's mission and how it related to my experience at a free inner-city clinic, but that was my choice-not their question. That information is on your primary, your secondary and if you are talking about clinical for more than a few of minutes without anything extremely significant to reference, you are wasting your time instead of using your precious minutes to sell yourself and personality. That's just my opinion-your passion for medicine is obvious so don't feel as if you need to provide clarity from one single direction-your clinical experience simply solidifies your passion for medicine and provides an opportunity for learning and growth..no more, no less!

 

[stevvo111]

Thanks for the advice mhord,

"how I approached each opportunity"- that part doesnt make sense haha, can you explain? I've been shadowing to get a better understanding of the patient doctor relationship, and pretty much what I've seen and found is that doctors are really good at communicating with patients and helping them relieve any anxiety they might have. But beyond this, they treat patients and work with them to come up with disease management. That is awesome.

^am I suppose to get anything more than that? I feel like I'm missing something here because I don't know what else I should be looking for??

 

[Goro]

I understand where your coming from, but a gazillion other kids will be saying this exact same thing. How about breaking down each "like" below into what do you get out of it. You can do the same things in other professions...why Medicine???

If you can't articulate this, you might be in trouble.


(I have some experiences, but looking back at them, I'm having trouble understanding why, beyond the obvious "I like science, I like applying science to people, I like treating, and I like people