Personal Statement topic: working in another country

[xerei]

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Hey everyone,

I've been working on my personal statement for a while, and something just hit me recently. It's complicated and I don't want to go into details, but my PS is mainly about how I want to go practice medicine in the country my parents were born in, as it's a 3rd world one and I want to give back. Are there any cons to writing about practicing medicine outside of the US? On the one hand, medicine is about helping people of any kind, but on the other hand, if I'm going to school in the US, is it expected of me to practice here and give back to the US?

 

[DJ2MD]

Are you a US citizen/permanent resident? If you are, I think as long as you don't straight up say "I want to practice outside of the US," you should be fine. Just to err on the side of caution, you might want to make it sound like you are interested in international outreach. I personally don't like saying "this is what I definitely want to do," and instead I just say "I am interested in this matter," but that's just me.

If you are not a US citizen/permanent resident though, I wouldn't mention wanting to be outside of the US at all because I heard one of the reasons why it is so difficult for international students to get acceptance is because medical schools don't like to spend money and time to train a doctor that will only go back to their home country.

 

[LizzyM]

Tread carefully. Have you spent time in that country? How much? Do you speak the language? How well?

Are you familiar with the way health care is delivered in that country? How would you become familiar with the most common conditions in that country and develop differential diagnosis when the most common conditions associated with a constellation of symptoms may be very different than what we see in the US. Also, the diagnostic tests and devices we take for granted may not be available meaning that you need to learn to practice medicine in a completely different way.

Expect to be quizzed in this way if you use this as the topic of your essay.

 

[mimelim]

I agree with LizzyM, but to add...

The standard question is, if you want to practice medicine in a different country, why don't you go to medical school there? A lot of resources are invested in US medical students with the semi-unspoken understanding that the vast majority will practice in the US. Yes, some of the top schools may have a more international perspective, but for the most part, people want and are expecting US MD grads to help serve the local community here.

I would not put anything like this in a personal statement.

 

[Catalystik]

I've been working on my personal statement for a while, and something just hit me recently. It's complicated and I don't want to go into details, but my PS is mainly about how I want to go practice medicine in the country my parents were born in, as it's a 3rd world one and I want to give back. Are there any cons to writing about practicing medicine outside of the US? On the one hand, medicine is about helping people of any kind, but on the other hand, if I'm going to school in the US, is it expected of me to practice here and give back to the US?

Public schools (or privates that get some financial support from the legislature) in your state and others might tend to have an unspoken mission to train docs that will serve the tax payers in their state. Tread lightly there, too, lest you unnecessarily waste application dollars.

This might not apply to you, but if you plan to take out loans to finance your education, how will you pay them back? Have you considered joining a practice that would allow a 3-month annual leave to practice medicine internationally and still have a decent income?

 

[xerei]

Wow, that's a lot of input, thanks everyone.
To address some of what was asked/said,

My parents were born & raised there and they came to the US. I was born & raised here, but I've visited this country about 14 times (mostly over the summer, and I'm 22). I speak the language fluently and have a real connection with the country. The country is undergoing a civil war (I think that's the closest term to describe it), and I hope that (a) the country will be in a better, safer state by the time I am able to practice, and (b) I am able to go there and help 'rebuild' the country from a medicine & community standpoint. I'm not at all opposed to practicing in the US, and I doubt I would spend 100% of my career in either country. I just have a personal attachment to the country and I want to be there to assist.

 

[nwts]

Wow, that's a lot of input, thanks everyone.
To address some of what was asked/said,

My parents were born & raised there and they came to the US. I was born & raised here, but I've visited this country about 14 times (mostly over the summer, and I'm 22). I speak the language fluently and have a real connection with the country. The country is undergoing a civil war (I think that's the closest term to describe it), and I hope that (a) the country will be in a better, safer state by the time I am able to practice, and (b) I am able to go there and help 'rebuild' the country from a medicine & community standpoint. I'm not at all opposed to practicing in the US, and I doubt I would spend 100% of my career in either country. I just have a personal attachment to the country and I want to be there to assist.

Even with all of this being true, it is still not a good idea to say that you want to practice in another country. As others have said, US med schools invest into their students with the assumption that they are going to practice in the United States. If you explicitly tell them otherwise, this will likely be looked upon as a negative. Even though your reasons are very altruistic, many med schools would probably think about how many medically underserved areas there are in the United States and how you could serve people who needed help by practicing in one of those areas. Though you have a personal connection to the country, they still won't be keen on investing resources into someone who has already told them he/she will go elsewhere. Also, as LizzyM pointed out, there are huge issues that come up when you go to a third world country to practice medicine as a US-trained physician. Most of the routine tests and procedures that are done in the US are either completely unavailable or extremely difficult to gain access to in third world countries. There's also the issue of what you were trained to look for in patients. While symptoms a, b, and c might add up to condition x in the US almost all the time, they could indicate a very different condition in a third world country. These issues are things that might be brought up in an interview, and it would probably be very difficult to come up with a good answer to questions about them.

Bottom line: this is probably something that you shouldn't mention. If you still want to plan on practicing in another country, that's fine, but you probably shouldn't tell med schools that.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Is it ok to say you want to be a visiting physician in that country?
@LizzyM

 

[LizzyM]

Is it ok to say you want to be a visiting physician in that country?
@LizzyM

Same questions apply. How do you practice medicine as a "visiting physician"? I guess there are some organizations that parachute in, do some specialized surgeries, train local professionals in specifics of after-care, and get out. It didn't sound like you had that in mind.

I think it is one of those dreams you might best keep to yourself for now.