What if NOT MEDICINE?

[Medbound786]

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I know that this is one of the common questions in the interview. Why is it so important to them? What have you guys planned?

 

[BadVB750]

working as an adventure travel tour guide

 

[Turkeyman]

I'd be like "biaa there is no NOT MEDICINE!"
And then I'd throw a fireball in the interviewer's face and run out of the medical school campus screaming like a banshee.

I would then be handed an acceptance a week later 🙂

 

[dajimmers]

I'd say PhD- mixing research and teaching. But that's me, and I like research.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

I'd be like "biaa there is no NOT MEDICINE!"
And then I'd throw a fireball in the interviewer's face and run out of the medical school campus screaming like a banshee.

I would then be handed an acceptance a week later 🙂

Yeah baby, Medicine or Bust!!! Don't know about the whole fireball facial thing, but to each his own 🙄

 

[DoctaJay]

lol, ur funny Turkeyman. Yeah, personally I would just go with my hobby. Like my hobby is computers and websites. If your hobby is skateboarding, say you would go into that. I thnk they just want to hear something. Your plan B doesn't have to be as academic as medicine. Something that you would do even when you have your M.D., sounds fine to me.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Novelist and/or physicist. But I would really, really want to be a doctor.

 

[Jon Davis]

Investment Banker.

 

[evade]

The whole point is that the adcoms want to know that you're not just trying to go to med school because being a doctor is the only thing you've ever thought of being. Asking what you would be if you could not be a doctor is a way for them to see if you've really thought about what your dreams and interests are, and that you've thought about all the ways you could incorporate them into your life plan. This also helps to screen out the people who are just applying to med school because mommy and daddy always wanted their child to be a doctor.

I must say, though, that I like Turkeyman's response.

 

[Hoberto]

I'd be like "biaa there is no NOT MEDICINE!"
And then I'd throw a fireball in the interviewer's face and run out of the medical school campus screaming like a banshee.

I would then be handed an acceptance a week later 🙂

OMG, I am literally laughing out loud!!

Tears are rolling down my face.

Just picture the screaming banshee interviewee in a tailored suit running across the med school lawn..heheheeee I'm dying here.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

i don't think there's any right answer to this question. if they're asking what you'll do it if you don't get in this year, i think it's always good to say you'll consider something altruistic like americorps or peace corps or strengthen your app other ways and reapply. if not medicine ever, personally, i'd look into something like clinical pscyhology (actually harder than med school to get into), occupational therapy, or just trying to move into different insurance gigs like contract analysis or underwriting. my brother didn't get in his first year and decided to take classes needed to get a teacher's license -- he got in the next year and discussed his his teacher's ed classes in his interviews. if he didn't get in at all, he'd be a high school science teacher.

as others have stated, there's no right answer. they just want to make sure you've thought about your options and know that it's not the end of the world if you don't become a doctor.

 

[Chris127]

I'd be like "biaa there is no NOT MEDICINE!"
And then I'd throw a fireball in the interviewer's face and run out of the medical school campus screaming like a banshee.

I would then be handed an acceptance a week later 🙂

LMAO!!! omg, I am in the library taking a break from studying when I read this, and I let out a burst of laughter (couldnt help it!) and everyone stopped and looks at me. I'm still trying not to laugh, but I am now able to contain the laughter under my breath. lol nice post...

But yes, I would say pursue your something to do with your hobbies. For me, I love computers, and know a lot about them, but I also know there is really no high succesful or secure future there, as everyone else and their brother seems to be going into computers. But if I didnt have a passion for medicine as well, it would be computers.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

LMAO!!! omg, I am in the library taking a break from studying when I read this, and I let out a burst of laughter (couldnt help it!) and everyone stopped and looks at me. I'm still trying not to laugh, but I am now able to contain the laughter under my breath. lol nice post...

But yes, I would say pursue your something to do with your hobbies. For me, I love computers, and know a lot about them, but I also know there is really no high succesful or secure future there, as everyone else and their brother seems to be going into computers. But if I didnt have a passion for medicine as well, it would be computers.

nah, computers suck! 🙂 my spouse is in IT, and i've got to admit there's no way in hell i'd do it. IT is one of those things that's sort of like medicine, though, because there are people who totally love it and can't imagine doing anything else, like my spouse. overall, i'd say there are more unhappy IT professionals than doctors because so many people pursued it just for money in the '90s.

 

[musiclink213]

I would say bioengineering, since I really have thought about it. Or maybe physical therapy, but that would fall kinda into the medicine field, wouldn't it? I might say I would have pursued music more seriously and tried to be in a Broadway orchestra. That's what my original plan was going to be, and medicine was a back up. Then things kinda got switched.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

nah, computers suck! 🙂 my spouse is in IT, and i've got to admit there's no way in hell i'd do it. IT is one of those things that's sort of like medicine, though, because there are people who totally love it and can't imagine doing anything else, like my spouse. overall, i'd say there are more unhappy IT professionals than doctors because so many people pursued it just for money in the '90s.

My thoughts exactly, two years ago I was well on my way to pursuing a degree in Computer Science with ambitions of becoming a video game designer. Thank God for wake up calls. Kinda feel like I wasted half of my undergrad, but I still use the the basic computer knowledge I received to pick up chicks. Females and computer trouble seem to go hand in hand. 😎

 

[Shredder]

I know that this is one of the common questions in the interview. Why is it so important to them? What have you guys planned?

i was asked and told them id go into business in the healthcare industry. as an aspiring md/mba it only makes sense, even if its a lie and i wouldnt really go into the healthcare industry. but i figure thats what they want to hear, healthcare something or other. i dont know why they care, but im cautious about giving an answer too readily, for obvious reasons. or maybe not so obvious, but i dont feel like typing any more

 

[JustR]

I would.......Research ........on what you all would do if you don't go to medicine.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

I know that this is one of the common questions in the interview. Why is it so important to them? What have you guys planned?

This question addresses what type of person you are and where your passions lie. If not medicine, then are you doing something completely different? If not medicine, then you should be doing something related. For me, it was going to be medical research as a PhD and cure cancer. 😉

 

[Shredder]

If not medicine, then you should be doing something related.

i think this is the logic to follow, whether you mean it or not

 

[Saluki]

Become a patent attorney and work for one of the big pharmaceutical companies- I'll make more than as a doctor....

Join the Peace Corps

Go to grad school in the history of science....

 

[JustR]

i think this is the logic to follow, whether you mean it or not

I agree!!! 👍