"Why I want to become a doctor"

[Tippyboat]

Hi guys,

There's still some time before I apply, but since the personal statement seems to be the same, I'm getting started on brainstorming.

So my question is, as you describe the process that brings you to decide on a medical profession, is it okay to honestly describe my reasons for ultimately rejecting another field I was previously interested in? Say I wanted to be a journalist, then decided against it because I feel like it's commercialized these days and true journalistic integrity doesn't exist anymore. Should I honestly relate that? Is that just inviting people to be offended?

Thanks!

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[FadingPromise]

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[189362]

I dont get why its hard. Here me out.

These personal statements are "supposedly" genuine reasons why you want to go into mediine. ****, in the time I spent volunteering and shadowing I loved it. I felt comfortable in the hospital enviroment. Medicine gives me a purpose to strive harder daily.

You know what Im saying? Tell the schools why this isnt just an irrational impulsive decision. this is what you want to do and why. This is what you are going to do to make everyday meaningful today and your career. Be honest and genuine and the adcoms will enjoy it. Of course, it might not hurt if the reason that compelled you to see what medicine is all about was something major.

Good luck.

 

[RSAgator]

Hi guys,

There's still some time before I apply, but since the personal statement seems to be the same, I'm getting started on brainstorming.

So my question is, as you describe the process that brings you to decide on a medical profession, is it okay to honestly describe my reasons for ultimately rejecting another field I was previously interested in? Say I wanted to be a journalist, then decided against it because I feel like it's commercialized these days and true journalistic integrity doesn't exist anymore. Should I honestly relate that? Is that just inviting people to be offended?

Thanks!

It all depends on how you do it. Coming from someone who switched to medicine at some point in undergrad, the thing you need to be incredibly careful about is that you don't answer "why medicine" with "because i didn't want to do journalism."

There's always a motivating factor for getting into a specific profession, and they're not always good ones. I think your idea is a bad one because how does a disillusionment with journalism connect with medicine? If you can't come up with great reasons why you want to become a doctor then it's going to be difficult for an adcom to come up with great reasons why they should accept you.

 

[dienekes88]

As was said earlier, don't talk about the negatives of journalism. There are a thousand other jobs you could do. Talk about the positives of medicine.

If you poke around SDN, you might think the most typical reason is... "I want to be a martyr."

 

[Legato]

For some reason I'm a good writer normally, but when I have to talk about and lie about myself, my writing starts sucking, so my personal statements always suck. My problem was that I was too honest. It still worked out, but honestly, think of a few good points to make and write very, very confidently about them and expand on them without commenting too much about how great you are. Just say "I did this where I did X and Y amazing thing...i really was motivated to...blah blah blah."

Don't add negatives to the piece. Sometimes you may get a good reader who will identify with you and respond positively, but I doubt someone will get the full effect of your words when they have thousands of applications to read. You will write negatively, so they will think negatively.

 

[UNMorBUST]

Never talk bad about a field. Just explain why it it leads to your choice of becoming an MD.

 

[montessori2md]

I had this problem too, as I had to explain why I wanted to stop teaching in order to go into medicine.

Describe what you wanted from journalism that is actually medical in nature. Like, for example, interviewing people.

I don't know that it helps, but there are stupid career books/websites that discuss traits needed for various careers, and for me, I found it helpful that teaching and medicine differed only on one "trait" (I think it was interest in science). Realizing they were more alike than different helped me create my essay.

 

[202781]

if i was honest I would have to say
1. The challenging/ interesting work
2. The money
3. The women (seriously even saying I was pre-med got me ass)
4. The respect
5. Sets you up to get into positions dealing with the politics of medicine