Primary Care

[kingcer0x]

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If you are interested in primary care, is it bad to convey your interest during the application process? Specifically, how do you think it is perceived if you state your intention to focus on primary care after graduating? I am referring to how Research schools view this, not schools which are already focused on primary care / underserved populations / rural areas / military.

This thread really isn't for me, but it would have been good to know what other applicants think about this issue when I was applying. It seems like all the applicants to research schools are very focused on specialty, while I was a very open applicant with a distinct interest in internal medicine.

 

[WalterSobchakk]

That's a good question. I don't know, but I'm bumpin it

 

[WatchingWaiting]

If you are interested in primary care, is it bad to convey your interest during the application process? Specifically, how do you think it is perceived if you state your intention to focus on primary care after graduating? I am referring to how Research schools view this, not schools which are already focused on primary care / underserved populations / rural areas / military.

This thread really isn't for me, but it would have been good to know what other applicants think about this issue when I was applying. It seems like all the applicants to research schools are very focused on specialty, while I was a very open applicant with a distinct interest in internal medicine.

Given your likely relatively limited exposure to medical practice, you don't want to come off as too dead-set or dogmatic on your choice. However, having a solid interest in a field based on shadowing or some other well-defined set of experiences, being able to convey excitement/passion about it, can only help your application. Generally, as long as you have a set of experiences that back up your interest, stating a specific interest will be a positive for your application.

In general, all schools would like to hear about your interest in primary care as long as it is well fleshed out. The reality is, if you look at the us news ranking of percentage of graduating students by med school that go into primary care, you will find that the difference between your average top-10 school and your average school is not actually all that different. If anything, too many applicants write about their interest in serving the underserved because it sounds good, even though they don't have very well-stated or convincing reasons for this interest.

 

[futuremsfdoc]

in an interview, my friend was asked if he'd like to pursue a primary care specialty. his response was, "i'd rather be dead than do primary care." that's not really an exaggeration, either. needless to say, he was rejected.

 

[kingcer0x]

If anything, too many applicants write about their interest in serving the underserved because it sounds good, even though they don't have very well-stated or convincing reasons for this interest.

Ok you make good points, but they are the underserved afterall... I dont think you need to have spent 3 years working in a clinic in rural alabama or inner city detroit to be able to validate your general interest. This is provided that one actually follows through.

 

[skypilot]

I agree that if you have a passion and excitement about primary care it translates into a passion and excitement for medicine in general. So I would definitely talk about it.

Isn't the basis for all medicine primary care anyway? Even the internal medicine subspecialists do a fair amount of something resembling primary care.

 

[kingcer0x]

I agree that if you have a passion and excitement about primary care it translates into a passion and excitement for medicine in general. So I would definitely talk about it.

Isn't the basis for all medicine primary care anyway? Even the internal medicine subspecialists do a fair amount of something resembling primary care.

It indeed is... but you wouldn't believe the amount of med students I know who are dead set against primary care. Like the person from an above post who 'would rather be caught dead'... kind of scary that many of these people will match to IM or FP or PEDS and be totally disgruntled about it. Of course, attitudes can change as one progresses on in med school.....

 

[WatchingWaiting]

It indeed is... but you wouldn't believe the amount of med students I know who are dead set against primary care. Like the person from an above post who 'would rather be caught dead'... kind of scary that many of these people will match to IM or FP or PEDS and be totally disgruntled about it. Of course, attitudes can change as one progresses on in med school.....

I agree-- a decent number of my med school classmates after I've mentioned, in effect, that I wouldn't be caught dead doing FP or Peds have basically acknowledged feeling the same way. I felt the same way when I was an applicant, but there are certain beliefs that you hold that if you have a brain, you don't share with adcoms! Popular to contrary belief, the world needs surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists every bit as much as it needs primary care guys.

Also, there is a reason that half of the people who match IM go on to do nephrology, gastroenterology, cardiology, etc. fellowships-- primary care has an awful lot of negatives which have been discussed extensively on some of the other boards (allopathic, general residency issues, etc.). The non-compliant malingering uninsured patient who wants to spend twenty minutes talking to you about his or her shattered home life seems much more interesting in the context of your five hours a week in the free clinic when you are happy to have any kind of clinical exposure than when you are working like a dog eighty hours a week in residency or when you are in practice and actually have to pay the bills!

 

[kingcer0x]

I agree-- a decent number of my med school classmates after I've mentioned, in effect, that I wouldn't be caught dead doing FP or Peds have basically acknowledged feeling the same way. I felt the same way when I was an applicant, but there are certain beliefs that you hold that if you have a brain, you don't share with adcoms! Popular to contrary belief, the world needs surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists every bit as much as it needs primary care guys.

Also, there is a reason that half of the people who match IM go on to do nephrology, gastroenterology, cardiology, etc. fellowships-- primary care has an awful lot of negatives which have been discussed extensively on some of the other boards (allopathic, general residency issues, etc.). The non-compliant malingering uninsured patient who wants to spend twenty minutes talking to you about his or her shattered home life seems much more interesting in the context of your five hours a week in the free clinic when you are happy to have any kind of clinical exposure than when you are working like a dog eighty hours a week in residency or when you are in practice and actually have to pay the bills!

The world does need talented surgeons, radiologists, dermatologists, and ENTs. Primary care is the trenches of medicine and does have its problems. It probably isn't for everybody, and everyone should have the drive to achieve a level of success for themselves. If this means a specialty, then no problem. But pre-med education shouldnt foster a mentality where it is assumed that people only go into primary care only because they couldnt get a more competitive specialty. Thats a topic for a different forum, though.

I just wonder how much this really matters in the application process, and whether or not it should.

 

[ravaha08]

If you do suggest you are interested in primary care, make sure you are telling the truth. Many schools can see right through lies like that. Especially schools focused on the underserved.