Taking a Theme Too Far

[993444]

Several of us have a theme in our applications. But I feel like having too strong of a theme can take you into another profession all together:

If you love patient care... why not nursing?

If you love research.... why not PhD?

If you love service.... why not social work?

If you want to solve healthcare disparities..... why not hospital administrator?

If you love teaching.... why not professor/teacher?

Is there such a thing as taking a theme too far? Does this become a problem for applicants?

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[907914]

Several of us have a theme in our applications. But I feel like having too strong of a theme can take you into another profession all together:

If you love patient care... why not nursing?

If you love research.... why not PhD?

If you love service.... why not social work?

If you want to solve healthcare disparities..... why not hospital administrator?

If you love teaching.... why not professor/teacher?

Is there such a thing as taking a theme too far? Does this become a problem for applicants?

Literally every part of my application is dripping with leadership/teamwork as the main theme. I can’t think of any other career that would make them think I am interested in, but I can definitely foresee how it would be like “Are you interested in the independent component of medicine? You have research, but you don’t really emphasize anything scholarly?” And so on.

So, yah...you can probably take it too far I would say.

 

[premed20172017]

I think if you’ve got a solid answer to “why do you want to be a doctor?” it should be ok.

 

[deleted1005514]

I was asked this in my interview (why not something else) and I spoke about my experiences with other providers. I have family who are nurses and respiratory therapists, and I spent some time with NPs, PAs, etc while shadowing. No one else had the depth of knowledge or the scope of practice that being a doctor does, and I wanted to be the team member who was responsible for the decision making. That seemed to be a satisfactory answer.

 

[marcosma]

I have a lot of teaching experience but everybody reassured me that they would never ask me “why not be a professor?” but I was just asked that at a T10 interview two days ago, so it’s definitely something to think about. Try to find one point for anything you think you could be asked and you can just elaborate on that!

 

[Engrailed]

Im legit concerned that my research will raise eyebrows. I do have a lot of clinical and shadowing exp since high school but STILL.

 

[star-lily]

I'm not applying for a while, but I've been thinking about this (I have multiple "sub-themes" that I could potentially present). I'm wondering if there's a way that I could eloquently say that I am interested in several major dimensions of what doctors can be involved in (advocacy, research, teaching), and that doctors are relatively unique in that several of these things CAN be bundled into your life-long career (without having to switch gears completely) and that you get to use a solid, in-depth foundation of technical knowledge (and also including more subjective/humanistic knowledge/"soft skills") for these things, all while having a decent amount of autonomy and, if you're in an urban center, being able to interact people from many walks of life on a regular basis (I do feel that many jobs tend to drag you into a "bubble" over time). I know, of course, that in a PS, I would really have to simplify everything to keep someone's attention, haha.

 

[Heliobacter]

My theme is "impact", from the individual level in patient care to the systemic level in research, with the obvious intermediate of teaching and mentoring. I probably sound indecisive, but this flexibility and variety of ways to touch others' lives is really why I want to be a doctor over other professions.

A PhD may be able to do research and teach but doesn't care for individuals.
A teacher may be able to impart knowledge on students but can rarely effect systemic change.
A social worker may be able to help individuals through difficult situations but lacks the opportunity to teach alongside working.
A healthcare administrator or policymaker may be able to institutionally lead industry disruptions but cannot personally contribute to the development of the state of the art.

A physician has clear paths for accomplishing each of these three priorities of mine.

So far, I guess this theme has worked for me. *fingers crossed*

 

[star-lily]

My theme is "impact", from the individual level in patient care to the systemic level in research, with the obvious intermediate of teaching and mentoring. I probably sound indecisive, but this flexibility and variety of ways to touch others' lives is really why I want to be a doctor over other professions.

A PhD may be able to do research and teach but doesn't care for individuals.
A teacher may be able to impart knowledge on students but can rarely effect systemic change.
A social worker may be able to help individuals through difficult situations but lack the opportunity to teach alongside working.
A healthcare administrator or policymaker may be able to institutionally lead industry disruptions but cannot personally contribute to the development of the state of the art.

A physician has clear paths for accomplishing each of these three priorities of mine.

So far, I guess this theme has worked for me. *fingers crossed*

I love this. You managed to sum it up.

 

[Goro]

Several of us have a theme in our applications. But I feel like having too strong of a theme can take you into another profession all together:

If you love patient care... why not nursing?

If you love research.... why not PhD?

If you love service.... why not social work?

If you want to solve healthcare disparities..... why not hospital administrator?

If you love teaching.... why not professor/teacher?

Is there such a thing as taking a theme too far? Does this become a problem for applicants?

Only if the app is dripping with the theme. I had one interviewee whose app went overboard with an interest in research, so I gave him the "why not PhD?" question.

 

[907914]

dripping

I had a theme dropping from my application (as mentioned above)....What...what question would you throw my way?

 

[Goro]

I had a theme dropping from my application (as mentioned above)....What...what question would you throw my way?

I could tell you, but Then I have to reject you

 

[907914]

I could tell you, but Then I have to reject you

That is fine, I didn’t apply to your school lol

 

[premed20172017]

My theme is "impact", from the individual level in patient care to the systemic level in research, with the obvious intermediate of teaching and mentoring. I probably sound indecisive, but this flexibility and variety of ways to touch others' lives is really why I want to be a doctor over other professions.

A PhD may be able to do research and teach but doesn't care for individuals.
A teacher may be able to impart knowledge on students but can rarely effect systemic change.
A social worker may be able to help individuals through difficult situations but lacks the opportunity to teach alongside working.
A healthcare administrator or policymaker may be able to institutionally lead industry disruptions but cannot personally contribute to the development of the state of the art.

A physician has clear paths for accomplishing each of these three priorities of mine.

So far, I guess this theme has worked for me. *fingers crossed*

YES! Whenever I'm asked "why not x," I use this line of reasoning. So many doors are opened as a physician.

 

[Engrailed]

I could tell you, but Then I have to reject you

When you ask that question (whatever that question is based on the application), is this something you do in the interview or just a mental note and then straight to the rejection pile PRE-interview invite?