What would be a more condensed way for me to explain "why medicine" in an interview?

[mrh125]

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Can I have some examples on how to answer this in an interview? I've tried writing it out a few times to prep for an interview but it's so long and involved. help?

 

[nemo123]

Honestly, this is a very personal response, so I don't anyone is going to give you any examples. That being said, I never got asked why I was pursuing medicine explicitly during interviews. I got asked weird variations of it, so I never really got to use my practiced "Why Medicine?" answer.

 

[mrh125]

Honestly, this is a very personal response, so I don't anyone is going to give you any examples. That being said, I never got asked why I was pursuing medicine explicitly during interviews. I got asked weird variations of it, so I never really got to use my practiced "Why Medicine?" answer.

How did you answer similar questions? One of my big worries is saying too much. Basically what I'd say and unfortunately end up going into a lot more depth is this. If anyone can cut this down you'd be my hero 🙂. Keep in mind this a rough free write and not a personal statement (mine's done and editted the hell out of), otherwise it'd be formatted way differently.
What bugs me the most about this question is there's so much to say and I don't have an aha moment. I also want to leave a good response, but not overwhelm the interviewer and most importantly I need to be convincing:
I grew up with difficult circumstances and each time I encountered adversity I learned from it including when i struggled and had to drop out of high school and take an exam twice to get the equivalent of a high school diploma and take courses at five different community colleges commuting across my state.
I want to do medicine because it challenges me in a unique way and I'll learn from it because I can always find positives no matter how negative circumstances may appear. I'll take the knowledge I learn to help affect the lives of others like I did in a program called opportunity school, where students expelled from high school and had broken home lives, were exposed to murder, abuse, and gang violence, were given a last chance at an education. This program like my high school wasn't personalized for their individual needs, and what I did is tutor them, mentor them, and listened to them even when I couldn't provide them help and I was the only person between them and a night in an abusive household. I structured a curriculum for them, raised money to provide them concurrent technology so they can receive the education they need. When one student was weak and ailing I took him to a pediatrician. This doctor not only treated the student's issues, but encouraged him to pursue his education, talked about his own difficult circumstances growing up and came in as a guest lecturer. This experience gave me insight into the power of leadership in medicine mixed with compassionate care and how I could use medicine to positively affect the lives of others.

I want to do medicine because I love learning about sciences, how things work, why they do, and I want to use that knowledge and my ability to think critically to positively affect the lives of others on an individual basis through diagnosis and care. I want to do medicine because I've grown up in a rural underserved area and saw the consequences a lack of care could have in a community where there many elderly and children that needed care. I saw the consequences of a hospital that teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and cut essential programs to stay afloat to the expense of the livelihood of those around me, including my grandfather who wasn't able to receive adequate care for pneumonia and leukemia and died after he was transported. I wanted to be able to make a difference for those around me through proper medical care and understanding that wasn't available and I did this by volunteering with a pediatrician as well as gastroenterologist in my underserved area and others. I saw the difference a caring doctor, who worked on and off call to give patients the care they need, can make and the difference I can make with my scientific knowledge and empathy for others. I translated for patients who didn't speak english, was given the responsibility of calming down anxious patients, I helped an autistic child who was brilliant calm down by listening to him about algorithms of a rubrics cube and provided him one during visits. I helped the pediatrician in my community rally to my community's ailing hospital to develop a pediatric unit and encouraged him and I saw the change that imparted upon my community when implemented. I want to do the same.

I also saw the power medicine holds when my grandfather had five months to live earlier on and a compassionate and direct oncologist helped encourage him to accept experimental medicines and take on blood transfusions that were very risky because of the chance of contracting HIV. This doctor and his wisdom gave my grandfather five years of life and I want to affect other's in the same way. I want to do medicine because no knowledge I learn is useless in medicine. I can take knowledge of different languages, cultures, and religions that I love and use it to bridge the gap and facilitate understanding of those of different backgrounds. In medicine my ability to discern pertinent information, ask difficult questions, and learn multitudes of material rapidly is constantly put the test. I loved doing research in college and how it made me become literate and develop expertise in subjects such as human physiology, environmental sciences, politics, microbiology, cultural and linguistic understanding and disease. Medicine offers the same need for one to become an expert and rapidly assimilate knowledge, but you're directly able to use it to impact the live's of others and devise treatments for them as a community leader.

 

[snowflakes]

Wow, I just read your free-write and it felt very sincere to me. If you can showcase that same sincerity and passion during your interviews, I'm sure however you answer "why medicine" will go over very well. It seems like you have a lot of great raw material in your free write and it seems obvious to me you've done a lot of introspection. I'd focus on what you write in the last two paragraphs. Also make sure you also include how you've tested your interest in medicine. As to length, people really vary in response time, but I'd say about 2 minutes tops. Make sure you don't memorize your answer or it'll come across very rehearsed. Also, try to pause several times when you speak to give your interviewer a chance to interject if they would like, and also so it doesn't feel like a monologue.

Best of luck! 😀

 

[Heday]

@snowflakes , 2 minutes is eternity!

 

[allantois]

OP you have all the right reasons for going into medicine as well as some really great experiences to back up your claims. You just need to articulate them well to adcoms.

You always want to be to the point when answering any question (e.g. a few sentences do not answer the question "why you want to be a physician?) I am sure you can bring up most of your experiences on different questions and at the same time keep each answer to each individual question shorter. You gave a lot of reasons for pursuing medicine but you should pick the top ones and elaborate on them a little bit more.

I edited it to a somewhat more condensed form:

I want to do medicine because I like to accept challenges as they push us to become better individuals. Here you can talk about your high school drop out, 5 community colleges and how it was challenging but made you a better person at the end.
By pursuing medicine I could take the knowledge and directly apply it to change people's lives for the better like I did in a program called opportunity school, where students expelled from high school who were at risk for abuse, violence, and neglect were given a last chance for their education. This program wasn't personalized for their individual needs but I tried to make a personal impact on every individual that I got to work with. I tutored them, mentored them, listened to them and even when I couldn't provide them with direct help, I was the only person between them and the night in an abusive household. I came up with personalized curriculums , raised money for the program to provide students with modern technology so they can receive the education they need. I once took a student to a pediatrician. Elaborate on this one This doctor not only took care of the student's health issues, but also encouraged him to pursue his education, talked about his own difficult circumstances growing up and later on came in as a guest lecturer. This experience gave me insight into how I could use medicine to positively affect the lives of others.

I want to do medicine because I love learning about sciences, but I also see it as a unique way to acquire knowledge which I could use to positively affect the lives of individuals. As I grew up in a rural and undeserved area I saw the consequences a lack of medical care could have on a community. From my shadowing experiences, I saw the difference a doctor can make by providing patients with help both on and off call. I translated for patients who didn't speak English, and was given the responsibility of calming down anxious patients. I helped the pediatrician in my community rally to the local hospital to develop a pediatric unit there and I saw the positive change that made on my community when implemented. Elaborate how you helped the pediatrician

I also saw the power medicine holds when my grandfather was given a prognosis of five months but his oncologist encouraged him to accept experimental treatment which involved blood transfusions. That doctor gave my grandfather a gift of five years of life and I want to affect others in the same way. Unless you elaborate more on this, I would take this whole thing out because the doctor interviewing you may have different views on pushing experimental treatments on cancer patients as every case is unique in a way and a doctor should approach every patient according to their needs (there is a great book on this topic written by an oncologist, called "How doctors think"). I can take knowledge of different languages, cultures, and religions (give examples) and use it to bridge the gap and facilitate understanding of those from various backgrounds. I like that in medicine my ability to discern pertinent information, ask difficult questions, and learn multitudes of material rapidly will be constantly put to the test.

I took HIV out (it is very rare to contract it from blood transfusions these days) and also took out your accusations of the hospital, I think it's enough to just say that it was an undeserved area without going as far as saying that the local hospital was the one to blame.

I don't know when you will be applying, but I strongly suggest that you have somebody good at writing help you with editing your essays. Also, if you get nervous during interviews you may also want to practice interviewing or even record yourself and then watch it yourself or with someone.

 

[Aerus]

You shouldn't say anything bad about any of the doctors/hospitals that you've encountered in the past. It gives off an arrogant "I've met bad healthcare providers so here's why I'm going to be better than them" vibe. Otherwise, it sounds good. Your reasons SHOULD be personal, which is why no one can give you their own reasons for going into medicine.

 

[mrh125]

OP you have all the right reasons for going into medicine as well as some really great experiences to back up your claims. You just need to articulate them well to adcoms.

You always want to be to the point when answering any question (e.g. a few sentences do not answer the question "why you want to be a physician?) I am sure you can bring up most of your experiences on different questions and at the same time keep each answer to each individual question shorter. You gave a lot of reasons for pursuing medicine but you should pick the top ones and elaborate on them a little bit more.

I edited it to a somewhat more condensed form:



I took HIV out (it is very rare to contract it from blood transfusions these days) and also took out your accusations of the hospital, I think it's enough to just say that it was an undeserved area without going as far as saying that the local hospital was the one to blame.

I don't know when you will be applying, but I strongly suggest that you have somebody good at writing help you with editing your essays. Also, if you get nervous during interviews you may also want to practice interviewing or even record yourself and then watch it yourself or with someone.

you're my hero, thanks so much for the feedback and awesome advice. I'll definitely check out that book too. yea, the hospital stuff is negative I don't want to be negative.

You shouldn't say anything bad about any of the doctors/hospitals that you've encountered in the past. It gives off an arrogant "I've met bad healthcare providers so here's why I'm going to be better than them" vibe. Otherwise, it sounds good. Your reasons SHOULD be personal, which is why no one can give you their own reasons for going into medicine.

great call thanks 🙂

Wow, I just read your free-write and it felt very sincere to me. If you can showcase that same sincerity and passion during your interviews, I'm sure however you answer "why medicine" will go over very well. It seems like you have a lot of great raw material in your free write and it seems obvious to me you've done a lot of introspection. I'd focus on what you write in the last two paragraphs. Also make sure you also include how you've tested your interest in medicine. As to length, people really vary in response time, but I'd say about 2 minutes tops. Make sure you don't memorize your answer or it'll come across very rehearsed. Also, try to pause several times when you speak to give your interviewer a chance to interject if they would like, and also so it doesn't feel like a monologue.

Best of luck! 😀

Thanks so much, I was getting really frustrated today trying to condense this and timing myself. Your idea about just using the last 2 paragraphs is brilliant! 🙂

 

[nemo123]

How did you answer similar questions? One of my big worries is saying too much. Basically what I'd say and unfortunately end up going into a lot more depth is this. If anyone can cut this down you'd be my hero 🙂. Keep in mind this a rough free write and not a personal statement (mine's done and editted the hell out of), otherwise it'd be formatted way differently.
What bugs me the most about this question is there's so much to say and I don't have an aha moment. I also want to leave a good response, but not overwhelm the interviewer and most importantly I need to be convincing:
I grew up with difficult circumstances and each time I encountered adversity I learned from it including when i struggled and had to drop out of high school and take an exam twice to get the equivalent of a high school diploma and take courses at five different community colleges commuting across my state.
I want to do medicine because it challenges me in a unique way and I'll learn from it because I can always find positives no matter how negative circumstances may appear. I'll take the knowledge I learn to help affect the lives of others like I did in a program called opportunity school, where students expelled from high school and had broken home lives, were exposed to murder, abuse, and gang violence, were given a last chance at an education. This program like my high school wasn't personalized for their individual needs, and what I did is tutor them, mentor them, and listened to them even when I couldn't provide them help and I was the only person between them and a night in an abusive household. I structured a curriculum for them, raised money to provide them concurrent technology so they can receive the education they need. When one student was weak and ailing I took him to a pediatrician. This doctor not only treated the student's issues, but encouraged him to pursue his education, talked about his own difficult circumstances growing up and came in as a guest lecturer. This experience gave me insight into the power of leadership in medicine mixed with compassionate care and how I could use medicine to positively affect the lives of others.

I want to do medicine because I love learning about sciences, how things work, why they do, and I want to use that knowledge and my ability to think critically to positively affect the lives of others on an individual basis through diagnosis and care. I want to do medicine because I've grown up in a rural underserved area and saw the consequences a lack of care could have in a community where there many elderly and children that needed care. I saw the consequences of a hospital that teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and cut essential programs to stay afloat to the expense of the livelihood of those around me, including my grandfather who wasn't able to receive adequate care for pneumonia and leukemia and died after he was transported. I wanted to be able to make a difference for those around me through proper medical care and understanding that wasn't available and I did this by volunteering with a pediatrician as well as gastroenterologist in my underserved area and others. I saw the difference a caring doctor, who worked on and off call to give patients the care they need, can make and the difference I can make with my scientific knowledge and empathy for others. I translated for patients who didn't speak english, was given the responsibility of calming down anxious patients, I helped an autistic child who was brilliant calm down by listening to him about algorithms of a rubrics cube and provided him one during visits. I helped the pediatrician in my community rally to my community's ailing hospital to develop a pediatric unit and encouraged him and I saw the change that imparted upon my community when implemented. I want to do the same.

I also saw the power medicine holds when my grandfather had five months to live earlier on and a compassionate and direct oncologist helped encourage him to accept experimental medicines and take on blood transfusions that were very risky because of the chance of contracting HIV. This doctor and his wisdom gave my grandfather five years of life and I want to affect other's in the same way. I want to do medicine because no knowledge I learn is useless in medicine. I can take knowledge of different languages, cultures, and religions that I love and use it to bridge the gap and facilitate understanding of those of different backgrounds. In medicine my ability to discern pertinent information, ask difficult questions, and learn multitudes of material rapidly is constantly put the test. I loved doing research in college and how it made me become literate and develop expertise in subjects such as human physiology, environmental sciences, politics, microbiology, cultural and linguistic understanding and disease. Medicine offers the same need for one to become an expert and rapidly assimilate knowledge, but you're directly able to use it to impact the live's of others and devise treatments for them as a community leader.

Like others have said, don't bad-mouth anyone, no matter what he/she did. I think what could also help to cut down your answer is that some of it is very wordy. For example. when you say "I loved doing research in college and how it made me become literate and develop expertise in subjects such as human physiology, environmental sciences, politics, microbiology, cultural and linguistic understanding and disease", you don't really need to elaborate with the various subjects you developed expertise it. It's not necessary, and whoever's listening won't remember those details.

As for your question that I bolded, honestly, I just said some random stuff to the interviewer. I sometimes integrated some parts of my whole "Why Medicine?" answer, but other times, I said some nonsensical stuff. Honestly, it's questionable how much the interview even matters. As long as you don't do something extremely crazy (emphasis on extremely, since I've done some crazy things at interviews), you'll be fine.

 

[DK2014]

Do not give a 2 minute speel. You are going to sound like a robot. Get right to the point and keep it to 1 minute max.

 

[amvet70]

"Why medicine?"

Didn’t you pretty much answer this question in your personal statement? Is OP just a rehash of personal statement which if repeated to an interviewer could come across as redundant and boring; or could come across as desperate in that it's as if you're trying to throw everything at the blackboard in the hope that something sticks.

 

[islandfighter]

"Why medicine?"

Didn’t you pretty much answer this question in your personal statement? Is OP just a rehash of personal statement which if repeated to an interviewer could come across as redundant and boring; or could come across as desperate in that it's as if you're trying to throw everything at the blackboard in the hope that something sticks.

Yeah, this should be answered in your personal statement .... but it does get asked again during interviews. I think you have to find that balance where you're not giving completely new reasons that were never mentioned in your PS (making them question how honest you were in your PS) and repeating exactly what they probably already read (boring and redundant)