"What type of medicine are you interested in?"

[degoo_]

With the greater emphasis on primary care nowadays, do you guys think it would diminish the chances of acceptance if one were to mention academic medicine as a career goal?

I was told that the need for family physicians etc. is high, and if you say academic medicine is your goal (and not MD/PhD applicant), then it lowers your chances. Any comments?

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[kevster2001]

not really...

i said i wanted to be an emergency physician at a teaching hospital since that looked interesting. but i also added i'll probably have a better idea in med school

 

[HumbleMD]

With the greater emphasis on primary care nowadays, do you guys think it would diminish the chances of acceptance if one were to mention academic medicine as a career goal?

I was told that the need for family physicians etc. is high, and if you say academic medicine is your goal (and not MD/PhD applicant), then it lowers your chances. Any comments?

Not at all. Many schools are absolutely looking for people to go into academic medicine. UPitt, for example, has a five year program which puts people on the track into academci medicine and research (and that's also the only way you'll get scholarship money out of UPitt, apparently).

 

[Eric Lindros]

With the greater emphasis on primary care nowadays, do you guys think it would diminish the chances of acceptance if one were to mention academic medicine as a career goal?

I was told that the need for family physicians etc. is high, and if you say academic medicine is your goal (and not MD/PhD applicant), then it lowers your chances. Any comments?

Won't matter at all. Every school knows that your chances of sticking with your original intent going into med school are slim-to-none. They don't really care, they just like to see that you have thought about it

 

[Richspiders07]

I always joke that at this point I really want to be a liscensed physician... and I'll worry about the rest later!

 

[etf]

i told my student interviewer that if i had to choose at this point, i'd want to go into neurosurgery. from the look/comments she gave me, i learned never to repeat that mistake again.

 

[photo_girl07]

You know...be honest. What are you interested in?

For me, I think I'm really open to anything...I just super excited about interacting with patients

I am leaning to OB/GYN...and specializing, perhaps in Gynecological Oncology.
Other interest...Orthopedics/sports medicine....everyday they change j/k

 

[TMP-SMX]

i told my student interviewer that if i had to choose at this point, i'd want to go into neurosurgery. from the look/comments she gave me, i learned never to repeat that mistake again.

Lol. Ouch... Yeah that's not exactly the least competitive route to go. Good luck though! I hope that books are your best friends.

As for me, it's most likely IM. I've thought about some type of subspecialty such as infectious disease, endocrinology, or nephrology, but I've definitely had the most background in microbiology so that's my current thought process. Other than IM, I have thought about neurology. It's likely going to be IM though.

This is a great webpage by the way:

http://residency.wustl.edu/medadmin/resweb.nsf/WV/62353A93C5C35CB186256F850071BD86?OpenDocument

It provides information about competitiveness and also a background on length of training and what it is about.

 

[Four]

My premed advisors constantly warn the general premed collective that announcing what area of medicine one wishes to enter is walking into a trap at the interview, no matter what one says. They gave a sample response of : "Well, how you know you'll like that area? You've never been to medical school."

I've been a little skeptical of the advice the premed advisors have been giving out lately (especially after coming to SDN), but I can see this happening in an interview.

If I had to answer, it would be IM, sub Cardiology, or perhaps Emergency. Hopefully I'll see on the inside.

And gapotts, thanks for the link!

 

[madbay]

This is a great webpage by the way:

http://residency.wustl.edu/medadmin/resweb.nsf/WV/62353A93C5C35CB186256F850071BD86?OpenDocument

It provides information about competitiveness and also a background on length of training and what it is about.

So, at the top of the page, the site reads: "This information is not available to users accessing the Residency website from outside of Washington University's computer network." Riiiiight. Go have fun, kids!

 

[Four]

What? That's weird...

Well, if you really want to see it, just use a proxy IP or something to get around it...not exactly the hacker myself, but I thought the site was a really interesting read.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

EM followed by a critical care fellowship; or anesthesia followed by a CCM fellowship; or neurosurgery.

 

[madbay]

Yea, I got around just fine. I just thought it was a funny paradox.

 

[degoo_]

Thanks for the very informative website.

I also think that its kinda a trap to answer specifically about ones specific career goals.

I am really into academic medicine. I want to work at the interface of research and patient contact, and the latter is extremely important.

You guys hear about the new mechanical heart that substitutes a transplant?
http://www.muhc.ca/media/news/?ItemID=23153

That's where I want to be!

 

[degoo_]

Turns out its already been done in the States. Probably not exciting for you guys!

 

[deleted127837]

.

 

[LIRRfriend]

I think being honest is probably the best thing. If you are going to say what you are interested in, you should have good reasons to back it up, just like you should have a strong argument about why you want to practice medicine. Some things are probably easier to argue than others though. For example, I'm most interested in pediatrics (although I have no idea in what capacity) and really enjoyed my time as a camp counselor and volunteering at a children's hospital, so I can talk about my experiences. I'm sure that many other things are harder to talk about, but I think coming up with some strong reasons is a good idea. I agree with Eileron in that I wouldn't be really really specific. Also, I'd check the sheet with the interviewers' names to see if a specialty is listed. You don't want to end up bashing what they do or pretending to be an expert in what they are an expert in.

 

[Tinman]

.

 

[UMP]

Family Practice in the Ghetto... riiight... but my state schools would love that

 

[Yipster32]

Neurosurgery

 

[Law2Doc]

With the greater emphasis on primary care nowadays, do you guys think it would diminish the chances of acceptance if one were to mention academic medicine as a career goal?

I was told that the need for family physicians etc. is high, and if you say academic medicine is your goal (and not MD/PhD applicant), then it lowers your chances. Any comments?

Schools don't care which one you pick. They know that 90% of all med students change their mind anyhow, and some percentage of the class isn't going to have as many options by 4th year based on med school and Step 1 performance.
The only caution I would give is that if you are going to say something like derm, you probably are going to want a pretty compelling reason, because so many people who go into this end up doing it for lifestyle rather than a longstanding passion reasons, so it can reflect negatively on your motives (unless you have a good explanation).
Fields where you have patient contact generally go over best with clinician interviewers but the emphasis needn't be primary care.

 

[Four]

Law2doc, I understand that some of the "lifestyle" based specializations are popular, but what constitutes as a good enough reason? I'm sure anyone who does their homework know pretty well what each path includes.

I feel that people should be prepared for the backlash, regardless of what they say. It's not so much of what the applicant said, but the fact that they said one. I'm just getting ready for the worst case scenario where my interviewer is looking areas to pry open in my responses.

 

[Law2Doc]

Law2doc, I understand that some of the "lifestyle" based specializations are popular, but what constitutes as a good enough reason?

I just meant if you say you want to go into derm and they ask why, the answer cannot be that you want a career where you can work short hours with no night call for high pay. If you can talk about a dermatologist who inspired you, or have had a long horrible battle with psoriasis, or otherwise can point to a reason why such practice really gets your juices going, then super.
Males who say they want to do gyn probably have to have a very good story as well.
With the non-lifestyle areas (surgery, IM, etc) the interviewer isn't going to have any preconceived notions about your motives, so it is an easier sell.
And it's never wrong to be undecided, but have an initial leaning

 

[dutchman]

With the greater emphasis on primary care nowadays, do you guys think it would diminish the chances of acceptance if one were to mention academic medicine as a career goal?

I was told that the need for family physicians etc. is high, and if you say academic medicine is your goal (and not MD/PhD applicant), then it lowers your chances. Any comments?

Just be carefull not to come off as one of those people that want an MD degree but don't really want to practice medicine. Yeah you might have met some pre-meds that will say something stupid like "I am not really planning on practicing, I just want to do research" and I always ask them--****er why don't you go get a PHD? You know research is what they do right?

 

[TMP-SMX]

Just be carefull not to come off as one of those people that want an MD degree but don't really want to practice medicine. Yeah you might have met some pre-meds that will say something stupid like "I am not really planning on practicing, I just want to do research" and I always ask them--****er why don't you go get a PHD? You know research is what they do right?

Even for applicants to MD/PhD programs, it is wise to use your personal statement on the AMCAS to show why you want to practice medicine. It's what the MD is for after all... PhD programs usually are very eager to accept new students, so the research portion isn't something you really have to sell yourself on. Clinical experience is far more important, because without that getting an MD degree is a bit useless. Even MD/PhD is about translational research.

 

[BNSN]

Psychiatry.

 

[Gut Shot]

Nobody's busted out "pediatric gynecology" yet? Damn, you guys are slacking.