Why do/did you want to be a physician?

Started by Rmaurer754
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Rmaurer754

Rmaurer754

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7+ Year Member
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With everyone else posting about their panic attacks because of pre-req's, I thought I would ask a fun question. What motivates/motivated you to become a doctor? Someone save your life once? Too much House, M.D.? Are you interested in a specialty? Any members of your family already in the medical field?
 
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Realistically, I was forced by my family when I wanted to either be a HS math teacher or an attorney, but along the way I found a real joy and passion for emergency medicine.

I found I loved the rush of keeping pace with unpredictability and with being in touch with every other specialty. I am reminded how awesome my job is when I come home riding the extremes of emotion.

My life won't be stale...exciting, loving, infuriating, exhilarating, saddening, thankful...never stale.
 
obligatory liking science and wanting to help people. Also, the too honest fact I'm in so far it's hard to consider anything else.
 
I'm not too into biology; it's boring, mostly. But humans have the most fascinating brains, with such a huge range of behaviors, motivations and capabilities. Physicians get unrivaled access to humans. Doctors work in every facet of our society and are therefore afforded the opportunity to affect more change than almost any other profession. I've come to think of children/young adults as the most important generation at any point in time, and being able to make certain that they are healthy, happy and educated is well within the scope of what a doctor can accomplish.
 
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I want to be in a field that is constantly changing. Also, I want to pursue an MD/PhD and be able to research what I learn about patients in my clinical practice. I want a job that is never boring, keeps me on my toes, and allows me to impact the lives of other people. I couldn't think of another field in which I would be so happy.
 
In Judaism, saving someone's life is of the most noble things you can do. Of course, religion isn't needed to see this, but when it's expressed so explicitly in something that's been impressed upon you since you were growing up, that's what I tend to associate it with. Regardless, pursuing medicine bridges me to this goal - over and over again, as a career. I know I won't be literally saving lives on the daily as doctors are often glamorized to be doing, but there's definitely an intimate relation that comes out of a doctor having impacted a patient's life, that I'd like to be part of.
 
Avicenna said:
In Judaism, saving someone's life is of the most noble things you can do. Of course, religion isn't needed to see this, but when it's expressed so explicitly in something that's been impressed upon you since you were growing up, that's what I tend to associate it with. Regardless, pursuing medicine bridges me to this goal - over and over again, as a career. I know I won't be literally saving lives on the daily as doctors are often glamorized to be doing, but there's definitely an intimate relation that comes out of a doctor having impacted a patient's life, that I'd like to be part of.
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ok then why not be EMS
 
Rmaurer754 said:
With everyone else posting about their panic attacks because of pre-req's, I thought I would ask a fun question. What motivates/motivated you to become a doctor? Someone save your life once? Too much House, M.D.? Are you interested in a specialty? Any members of your family already in the medical field?
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Nice try at getting personal statement ideas, noob.
 
Venko said:
Realistically, I was forced by my family when I wanted to either be a HS math teacher or an attorney, but along the way I found a real joy and passion for emergency medicine.
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Ah, explains a lot. You really had no interest in medicine when you first entered?
 
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I know this is JUST the thing a guy trying to get personal statement would say, but I'm honestly not trying to get a personal statement.
 
xnfs93hy said:
I want to be in a field that is constantly changing. Also, I want to pursue an MD/PhD and be able to research what I learn about patients in my clinical practice. I want a job that is never boring, keeps me on my toes, and allows me to impact the lives of other people. I couldn't think of another field in which I would be so happy.
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And the Emmy goes to....
 
Avicenna said:
In Judaism, saving someone's life is of the most noble things you can do. Of course, religion isn't needed to see this, but when it's expressed so explicitly in something that's been impressed upon you since you were growing up, that's what I tend to associate it with. Regardless, pursuing medicine bridges me to this goal - over and over again, as a career. I know I won't be literally saving lives on the daily as doctors are often glamorized to be doing, but there's definitely an intimate relation that comes out of a doctor having impacted a patient's life, that I'd like to be part of.
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So then why not become an EMT or a cop?
 
so I can have people think I make $100k for every procedure obviously.
 
DermViser said:
Another "fun" question you'll ask: What medical ECs did you guys do?
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You're just pissy because your specialty involves wading in pus all day examining benign tumors and prescribing amoxicillin to fat kids. Here's a "fun" question for you, why don't you stir up an argument on another peaceful thread?
 
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Rmaurer754 said:
You're just pissy because your specialty involves wading in pus all day examining benign tumors and prescribing amoxicillin to fat kids. Here's a "fun" question for you, why don't you stir up an argument on another peaceful thread?
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1) Benign tumors usually don't have pus (which is usually indicative of underlying infection, not malignancy)
2) You combined General Surgery and Pediatrics
3) That's no where close to what dermatologists do
4) Great humanism there on the jab at fat kids - which doesn't make sense as Amoxicillin has nothing to do with treating obesity. Even skinny kids get strep throat.
5) If that's truly what you think I do, then you'll need a lot more help than your personal statement.
 
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Rmaurer754 said:
You're just pissy because your specialty involves wading in pus all day examining benign tumors and prescribing amoxicillin to fat kids. Here's a "fun" question for you, why don't you stir up an argument on another peaceful thread?
Click to expand...

Protip: Unless you've spent an extensive amount of time working within that particular specialty, don't assume you know as much/more than the person actually in that specialty. You'll only succeed in annoying the other guy and looking like a fool yourself.
 
xnfs93hy said:
I want to be in a field that is constantly changing. Also, I want to pursue an MD/PhD and be able to research what I learn about patients in my clinical practice. I want a job that is never boring, keeps me on my toes, and allows me to impact the lives of other people. I couldn't think of another field in which I would be so happy.
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Nobody here has mentioned prestige or money. How about volunteering to go to Iraq or Afghanistan as some "peace keeper" soldiers instead of trying the "hard" way via med schools to do the above things you want ?? You could get accepted and sent there almost right away to do the above things you mentioned without spending much time or money in schools. Heck, the US Army will even pay and train you to "be all you can be" 🙂
 
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I thought this was a very fun question. I want to become a physician because I watched 3 of my loved ones pass away from cancer and I was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. I tried research, but I didn't find the experience invigorating. Medicine is by far the only profession that would allow me to adequately learn more about this disease while also helping diagnosed patients.
 
jlt2665 said:
I thought this was a very fun question. I want to become a physician because I watched 3 of my loved ones pass away from cancer and I was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. I tried research, but I didn't find the experience invigorating. Medicine is by far the only profession that would allow me to adequately learn more about this disease while also helping diagnosed patients.
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Great reason! I hope you are successful.
 
DermViser said:
1) Benign tumors usually don't have pus (which is usually indicative of underlying infection, not malignancy)
2) You combined General Surgery and Pediatrics
3) Great humanism there on the jab at fat kids - which doesn't make sense as Amoxicillin has nothing to do with treating obesity. Even skinny kids get strep throat.
4) If that's truly what you think I do, then you'll need a lot more help than your personal statement.
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Your job involves both pimples and tumors. Why you think I was connecting the two to the same cause is beyond me. I also never mentioned the removal of a tumor. What accompanies an unhealthy diet and obesity? Oftentimes, acne. What helps stave that off? That aforementioned strep throat remedy.

The whole moral high ground thing you came up with is pretty cool though. I was being mean, oops.
 
jlt2665 said:
I thought this was a very fun question. I want to become a physician because I watched 3 of my loved ones pass away from cancer and I was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. I tried research, but I didn't find the experience invigorating. Medicine is by far the only profession that would allow me to adequately learn more about this disease while also helping diagnosed patients.
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wow... 4 cancers / 3 cancer deaths in the family ?? throw in a 30++ on the MCAT and some good LORs, you would probably have your choice of med school 🙂
 
I've been around sickness/disease my entire life, mostly illnesses that could have been prevented by lifestyle choices and better access to health care/education. Lots of diabetes, high cholesterol, some alcoholism problems and two family members with HIV.

I've seen their struggles and it has motivated me to pursue a career where I can help others that suffer from similar ailments. Also, increasing diversity in health care is important.
 
MedWonk said:
Getting dx with Graves' Disease got me interested, working in an ED (which I never thought I would like) got me hooked. The money is also attractive, even if the debt decidedly isn't.
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you are one of the brave to admit it on SDN 🙂

but I seriously doubt that anyone dares to say it in their personal statements :poke:
 
Venko said:
Realistically, I was forced by my family when I wanted to either be a HS math teacher or an attorney, but along the way I found a real joy and passion for emergency medicine.

I found I loved the rush of keeping pace with unpredictability and with being in touch with every other specialty. I am reminded how awesome my job is when I come home riding the extremes of emotion.

My life won't be stale...exciting, loving, infuriating, exhilarating, saddening, thankful...never stale.
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That's one of the best answers in this thread. Keep on keeping on, man.
 
Rmaurer754 said:
Your job involves both pimples and tumors. Why you think I was connecting the two to the same cause is beyond me. I also never mentioned the removal of a tumor. What accompanies an unhealthy diet and obesity? Oftentimes, acne. What helps stave that off? That aforementioned strep throat remedy.

The whole moral high ground thing you came up with is pretty cool though. I was being mean, oops.
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And you would be wrong as derm is not just limited to those 2 things. Also, I've never prescribed Amoxicillin for acne. Minocycline, yes, but not Amoxicillin. Also you do know that the correlation between fatty foods and acne is a myth, right?
 
jlt2665 said:
I thought this was a very fun question. I want to become a physician because I watched 3 of my loved ones pass away from cancer and I was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. I tried research, but I didn't find the experience invigorating. Medicine is by far the only profession that would allow me to adequately learn more about this disease while also helping diagnosed patients.
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This isn't a very fun question for you. I'm going to make a safe bet and guess oncology is what you'll be moving on to?
 
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DermViser said:
And you would be wrong as derm is not just limited to those 2 things. Also, I've never prescribed Amoxicillin for acne. Minocycline, yes, but not Amoxicillin. Also you do know that the correlation between fatty foods and acne is a myth, right?
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I'm trivializing your job because you're being snarky in my thread. It's fun. About that amoxicillin for acne, I guess I'll be the first to tell you that it's a thing.
I'm also not going to sit here and act like I'm a doctor, because I'm not. I'm just going to tell you off because you're annoying.
 
Rmaurer754 said:
I'm trivializing your job because you're being snarky in my thread. It's fun. About that amoxicillin for acne, I guess I'll be the first to tell you that it's a thing.
I'm also not going to sit here and act like I'm a doctor, because I'm not. I'm just going to tell you off because you're annoying.
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You don't have enough street cred to have the ability to trivialize ANY specialty in medicine, much less any other profession at this point.
 
There are things I want to do in life (travel, live in a nice area, expensive hobbies etc.) that I will need to be able to finance somehow. I also can't think of something I would enjoy doing more to accomplish that. It's cool to feel as if I'm I'm a part of something more meaningful than working out of a cubicle all day or forming fake relationships with clients.
 
Got sick of butting up against the edge of my knowledge base and training in the ICUs. I want so badly to know more and be able to do more that I'm basically throwing away a good career, relationship, and life to do so.
 
Rmaurer754 said:
This isn't a very fun question for you. I'm going to make a safe bet and guess oncology is what you'll be moving on to?
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But it is - I've learned to live with and accept what has happened. Despite the devastation is causes, cancer itself is extremely fascinating, and I enjoy talking about it. And yes, you are correct. Oncology and radiation oncology are fields I would love to pursue, but I also don't want to stay narrow-minded. Ob-Gyn is a specialty I'd also consider looking into.
 
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