Question for all you lawyers out there

[Tofurkey]

Hello,

I have a J.D. (never practiced law) but as I'm starting to work on my personal statement, I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with a reason as to why medicine over law--or, rephrased, why I did law and now am switching to medicine.

Has anyone out there come up with anything that's worked well for them? I'm having trouble verbalizing my reasons. I know med schools want to see a "logical progression"--i.e. I worked in a health law clinic and decided that hands-on medicine was for me, but I have no logical progression. What really happened was I just decided one day that medicine was what I really wanted to do, and enrolled in a post-bacc. There was no "defining moment." But I know that med schools don't want to hear that--they want concrete tangibles that point from path A to path B.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

T

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[jlee9531]

im no lawyer or a member of an adcom but i dont think you can really say what med schools dont want to hear.

just be honest and write it the way it is. i think it might be interesting to hear how one day you just thought med was for you while you were working in a health law clinic. there is no formula for writing a personal statement i believe.

 

[Tofurkey]

I meant to say that I wish I'd worked in a health law clinic....I had no such experiences, didn't even like my health law classes.

In other words, I just woke up one day, said "enough with this law crap" and decided to become a doctor. I feel that med schools will frown on this because there was no "revelation" and no "defining moment."

Thanks

T

 

[jlee9531]

so you think everyone has a "defining moment"?

i know a lot of people who have these moments, but know a lot more that dont. some people just want to be a doctor because of family pressure, because they like the lifestyle it provides, because they hang around other premeds etc...no real defining moments.

a lot of these people do in fact get into medicine.

just have a genuine reason about why medicine instead of law. write down all your thoughts and go from there. like i said, i still think it would be interesting to hear your reasoning since it would be a lot different from the typical premed essay.

 

[TexPre-Med]

I agree that you are going to have to come up with a good reason why medicine is the correct path for you. From what you have said, it appears that law did not interest you, so why not try what is considered the other most prestigious field (usually attorneys and doctors are given the biggest hype just out of school). The big question: How do you know that you won't choose another profession after completing med school?

 

[Supadupafly]

I'm not a lawyer, but am a board certified microbiologist. I had to explain a few times why I'm leaving my perfectly good profession. Here's my recommendation:

I'd be carefull not to "badmouth" law as a profession (not implying that you would, just making a warning). There are two general types of people out there, regardless of profession: those who like what they're doing and those who hate it. If you appear too dissatisfied with law, they may wonder if you'll be just as dissatisfied with medicine. Show that you were good at law, and liked it, but that medicine is the field for you.

On accepted.com there is a PS by an engineer; it shows that a good engineer, plus a heartfelt desire to be a doctor, equals a great doctor. I'd recommend a look.

 

[Zweihander]

Tofurkey,

I said upfront in my essay a couple of different times that there were no "defining moments" in which I knew I wanted to be a doctor. If you have never had an epiphany, then you haven't. Just tell it like it is.

Good luck!

 

[Disenchanted 1]

I also agree with everyone here that you should state the truth and the fact that there was no progression of events in your life or "defining moment" that led you to medicine. I don't think there is anything wrong with that.....in fact I can only imagine that this would set your essay apart as every other applican't essay would imply or mention that "ever since I was a child I knew I wanted to be a doctor". However, I still think you need to worry more about why you all at once quit law and went into medicine.......b/c indirectly that would imply that you might act upon whims (of course, I am not saying that you are but that is what the might think). They might assume that since you put so much into law and all at once you have become dissatisfied with it, that this same trend might occur in med school. So if i were you I would bring some good reason as to why I quit law. And a great advice that was already mentioned, dont ever show dissatisfaction at anything that you do.......just express the oppurtunity as a great learning experience that you might have used at the time to achieve your higher goal!! they dont like students who nag or complain, even at jobs that are not so popular with them (such as law)!! But as far as your essay goes I would put down the truth !! Just every statement you right think about how they might question you in regards to it and be ready for anything. Best of luck with you!!

 

[DrWuStar]

maybe you had no defining moment, but i am sure you have thought about why you think medicine will suit you better than law does. write about that - what do you expect to get out of a career in medicine that you aren't getting out of a law career?

i also work in law right now. i am a medical paralegal, so i guess explaining the switch is a little easier for me than for you because (a) i didn't pursue an advanced degree, i just got a job (b) my work relates to medicine to some extent (c) i have spent time actually working in the field, so i know it's not for me. the way i explained my desire to switch fields is that although my firm works to help people, i think we are at least as driven by money as by justice. i want to work in a field that's a little more purely alltruistic... helping people for the sake of helping them, not because there is a profit to be made off of their misfortune. so maybe if you think along those lines, you will come up with something.

but i think ad coms will definitely wonder how you know you don't like law without ever having practiced. have you been working in another field since getting your JD, or did you just finish it and already want to start something else?

 

[Moose1]

Also, I think you got to think about whether or not you have some clinical experience (perhaps you can write about that?).

Your JD is very impressive, however, if you are having trouble with your personal statement (I know there is plenty of time), have no recent clinical experience, the fact you did a post-bac makes me think you have little research experience, your application is kind of screaming that you haven't thought enough about what you are doing and the reasons you are doing it. it seems you are doing it on a whim. you haven't shown a committment to medicine. There is still plenty of time, but come interview time you better have excellent explanations for that sort of thing.

Best of luck to you!

 

[oldtimer]

Tofurkey,

I was in your shoes last June when I was writing my personal statement explaining why I wanted to leave my non-science, non-medical job to go into medicine. In your personal statement, you have to accomplish several tasks. You have to explain convincingly why you want leave your current position to go into medicine. You should show how this thought progression happened, ie, personal event, tragedy, etc. You should also try to demonstrate that you know what you're getting yourself into by going into medicine and that the decision wasn't a spur of the moment sort of thing. Being a lawyer, I'm sure you've probably had lot of practice spinning stories. Having some experience outside of medicine will make you a more interesting candidate. You need to play up how you have more perspectives, maturity, and wisdom from having more life experience than other candidates.

 

[vtucci]

Hi Tofurkey.

I am an intellectual property lawyer and did have one of those defining moments-so that has taken center stage in my personal statement.

I saw that you just decided on a whim or so it seemed from your post. I am sure that you spent more time and effort thinking about this change. As we both know, it costs a substantial amount of money to get a law degree and a medical degree will cost even more so it is not something to be undertaken lightly.

I also agree that it should be the truth. Have you considered emphasizing the aspects of law that you initally found appealing and tying that to a similar theme in medicine (maybe it was the counseling aspect or maybe it was the desire to help underserved populations). If you enjoy counseling and plan to go into psychiatry- it is not such a stretch.

Do you have a substantial amount of clinical experience?

 

[Tofurkey]

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for your helpful responses. I can see from my original post that I do sound like it was a "on a whim" sort of decision. Let me clarify a little bit.

From the beginning, I knew law school was not right for me. I hated every minute of it, as well as my legal summer jobs, but decided to finish it out. While in law school, I started exploring other careers. I had always been very fascinated by the medical profession, but to be quite honest up until that point I had never "been a studier" so I never thought I could a) get through the pre-reqs and b) get through med school. Basically I never studied in both college and law school.

Anyhow, once I decided that yes, I can study hard, I decided that after graduation I'd enroll in a post-bacc and see how it went. As soon as I made the decision in law school to apply to med school, I started getting clinical experience.

To date I have:
volunteering in a nursing home
hospital
shadowed a doc for one semester
volunteer in a free clinic (currently)
and a few other medically-related things

So I feel that I do have sufficient clinical experience/ volunteering to back up why I want to go into medicine and that I've explored the field much better than I ever explored the legal field before I jumped right into it. Additionally, during my glide year, I plan to work as a medical assistant or ultrasound tech in a hospital, instead of a legal job, which I hope will show adcoms that yes, I am 100% committed to my new field.

However, despite the above, I still don't have a good reason for the switch, and I keep getting asked about it. Also, my work experience before law school is unrelated to law or medicine, so I think I'll also have to explain that too. There was no defining moment in law school--there was no medically-related experience in law school to make me decide to be a doctor. Plus, my family was 100% against me abandoning law and going into medicine, so I did not have their support at all.

Anyhow, I hope that clarifies things a bit. People have said don't say I hated law--and yes, I agree--but I'm not sure what I SHOULD be saying. I know that the JD is a hurdle I'll have to overcome.

Thanks,

Tofurkey

 

[DrWuStar]

Originally posted by Tofurkey
From the beginning, I knew law school was not right for me. I hated every minute of it, as well as my legal summer jobs, but decided to finish it out. While in law school, I started exploring other careers. I had always been very fascinated by the medical profession, but to be quite honest up until that point I had never "been a studier" so I never thought I could a) get through the pre-reqs and b) get through med school. Basically I never studied in both college and law school.

Anyhow, once I decided that yes, I can study hard, I decided that after graduation I'd enroll in a post-bacc and see how it went. As soon as I made the decision in law school to apply to med school, I started getting clinical experience.

To date I have:
volunteering in a nursing home
hospital
shadowed a doc for one semester
volunteer in a free clinic (currently)
and a few other medically-related things

So I feel that I do have sufficient clinical experience/ volunteering to back up why I want to go into medicine and that I've explored the field much better than I ever explored the legal field before I jumped right into it. Additionally, during my glide year, I plan to work as a medical assistant or ultrasound tech in a hospital, instead of a legal job, which I hope will show adcoms that yes, I am 100% committed to my new field.

tofurkey, i think you answered the question of why very well right there. it's a great explanation of how you came to this decision. mold it into a compelling personal statement, and you'll be golden. good job - both with your explanation and your decision to work hard enough to acheive your dreams.

 

[Tofurkey]

Do you think my above-listed EC's are sufficient for a J.D. turning M.D.? They have been done over a 1.5 year period, from the time I decided to do medicine until now.

Should I be doing more?

Thanks,

T

 

[Optimist]

Originally posted by Tofurkey
Do you think my above-listed EC's are sufficient for a J.D. turning M.D.? They have been done over a 1.5 year period, from the time I decided to do medicine until now.

Should I be doing more?

Thanks,

T

This JD to MD conversion isn't as bad as you're making it out to be. There are schools that even offer JD/MD combined degrees. Besides, having knowledge in law will definitely be of some benefit as a doctor.

Your explanation of wanting to go into medicine, and your ECs are very good. Just stick with it and relax.

 

[japhy]

tofurkey,

I think those are solid EC's. You have been in a hospital and been shadowing a doc, so you have a good idea of what your getting into.

I don't think having a JD is a hurdle at all. Think of it as a gigantic advantage! First, you have proven that you can handle professional training. Second, you finished law school, you didn't just drop out as a 1L when you hated it.

I am currently a MD/JD student. I applied to med school first, but I made sure and talked about my desire to go to law school on every app. Almost all my interviews asked about it. More and more med schools are beginning to see the value in being trained in more than one field.
The key is to know why you want to be in medicine. You can't say what the adcoms want to hear, it will only sound hollow and trite. If you tell them why you want to be a doc, some of them will listen. And there is no reason to apologize for having a JD.