personal statement help- what do doctors do?

[deadliestpremonition]

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Hey everyone, writing the personal statement freeking SUCKS- the main thing im having trouble with is identifying a theme for my statement (i have a couple good anecdotes im happy with, but i need to bring them all together)
Part of the problem is that i feel like i don't really know what a doctor does (i know, i know, dont judge!) - i work as a scheduler for a oncology clinic now, and from my experience...its like the nurses and PAs who do most of the work- our doctors pop in and read lab results and then maybe write some referrals?
Anyway, i feel like my limited experience isnt giving me the right image of the field, so, what do doctors do? All i have so far is that they do procedures and lead the healthcare team by consolidating the info they get from the NPs, nurses, other doctors... but mainly, what is it that doctors do that is unique to being a physician, that other people in the healthcare field cant do? can anyone help explain?

 

[hoihaie]

why do you wanna be a doctor then?

 

[mcatjelly]

Oh man. Are you trolling? Because you should not be applying to medical school this cycle.

 

[TaroBubbleTea]

Oh man, you are so ready to apply this cycle it's not even funny.

If you are not a troll, I suggest getting some serious shadowing time in so you can see what a doctor actually does.

 

[The Real SVB]

c'mon people
:troll:

 

[jqueb29]

its like the nurses and PAs who do most of the work

Leave.

 

[TaroBubbleTea]

c'mon people
:troll:

Part of me agrees with you, but another part of me believes we grossly underestimate the naivete of the premed population.

 

[intangible]

There are plenty of nuances to the medical profession that aren't as entertaining as the trademarked "saving lives," à la Grey's Anatomy. The physician's work is highly variable depending on setting (hospital v. private practice), specialty, level of experience, actual rank...the list goes on and on.

I'd be hard pressed to find four people on a hospital floor that do exactly the same thing.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I think you forgot to shadow doctors.

 

[Goro]

Then you haven't shadowed enough doctors.

Hey everyone, writing the personal statement freeking SUCKS- the main thing im having trouble with is identifying a theme for my statement (i have a couple good anecdotes im happy with, but i need to bring them all together)
Part of the problem is that i feel like i don't really know what a doctor does (i know, i know, dont judge!) - i work as a scheduler for a oncology clinic now, and from my experience...its like the nurses and PAs who do most of the work- our doctors pop in and read lab results and then maybe write some referrals?
Anyway, i feel like my limited experience isnt giving me the right image of the field, so, what do doctors do? All i have so far is that they do procedures and lead the healthcare team by consolidating the info they get from the NPs, nurses, other doctors... but mainly, what is it that doctors do that is unique to being a physician, that other people in the healthcare field cant do? can anyone help explain?

 

[qwerpoiuqwer]

they do a lot of documenting, perform clinical duties, make angry phone calls to pharmacies and third party payers, perform procedures, sneak in to secret lounges
to grab free milanos and coffee, make punny jokes about disease acronyms, spend all day inside darkly lit rooms training the dragon and reading charts, deal with
privileged college kids in the er upset at the fact they came second to an eighty year old with a dislocated hip, remind themselves to keep on smiling...
it varies.
but i thought the point of PS was not to write about what doctors do but rather on why one wanted to become a physician.
granted i suppose you really can't do the latter without an understanding of the former...

 

[The Real SVB]

Part of me agrees with you, but another part of me believes we grossly underestimate the naivete of the premed population.

Oh, I'm not surprised by stupidity. But between that and being a troll, what's the difference?