Why Internal Medicine?

[Bluesaurus]

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Ok I'm trying to get ideas for my personal statement. Off the top of my head


-Internal Medicine has the most flexibility of any field in terms of working as a hospitalist, in outpatient, or pursuing a fellowship. the most subspecialities

-IM will allow me to learn to treat patients with complicated multi-system disease processes


What advantages are there in IM in your opinion?

 

[jdh71]

the hookers and cocaine!!

ok seriously though . . . I like IM because I get to be a "real" doctor, and not everyone can make the claim anymore these days, not that I'm putting down any of my sub-specialty colleagues (who have very needed and important roles as physicians in their own right), but there are very few ways left to become a "real" doctor - the guy that can diagnose and treat basically everything that comes in. I also thought IM gave me the chance to know the most stuff about the most things (arguably surgery should do this, but practically speaking it's just not the way it works out). I like, philosophically speaking of course (4AM admits for this reason drive me crazy), that IM is the last house on the block, when no one else will admit and take care of a patient, we will. I like the fact that we do often make a difference - yeah everyone likes to crap all over us because we never "fix" anything - who really does? Honestly? But we can make a patient's life more tolerable and manageable and I think that is important, especially since almost no on else can deign to even stoop so low to do the same.

 

[McGillGrad]

Reasons to go into IM:

1. Do not like treating children
2. Do not want to do surgery
3 Love working in hospitals

 

[Radonkulous]

the hookers and cocaine!!

ok seriously though . . . I like IM because I get to be a "real" doctor, and not everyone can make the claim anymore these days, not that I'm putting down any of my sub-specialty colleagues (who have very needed and important roles as physicians in their own right), but there are very few ways left to become a "real" doctor - the guy that can diagnose and treat basically everything that comes in. I also thought IM gave me the chance to know the most stuff about the most things (arguably surgery should do this, but practically speaking it's just not the way it works out). I like, philosophically speaking of course (4AM admits for this reason drive me crazy), that IM is the last house on the block, when no one else will admit and take care of a patient, we will. I like the fact that we do often make a difference - yeah everyone likes to crap all over us because we never "fix" anything - who really does? Honestly? But we can make a patient's life more tolerable and manageable and I think that is important, especially since almost no on else can deign to even stoop so low to do the same.

Why not stick with IM? Aren't you specializing? I agree with you though about the general overview of IM.

 

[jdh71]

Why not stick with IM? Aren't you specializing? I agree with you though about the general overview of IM.

I like pulm/cc better. Critical care is still a generalist but at the extreme end of the physiological spectrum - it used to be that ICU was just one more floor where an internist could possibly stick a patient, but medicine being what it is these days "specialists" in critical care do a better job. Plus, another reason to specialize is that it's much easier to be a good specialist than a competent generalist.

 

[AZhopeful]

Reasons to go into IM:

1. Do not like treating children
2. Do not want to do surgery
3 Love working in hospitals

4. Do not like treating pregnant ladies

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Have you considered writing something about yourself, your interests, instead?

Really, I see the same 4 personal statements over and over:

1. Why I want to be a doctor
2. Why I want to do IM
3. Let me tell you about my own personal health issue / sick friend / sick family member.
4. Let me retell my CV in prose form.

Guess what? These are usually really boring. Your answers to these issues is usually exactly the same as everyone elses.

Instead consider simply talking about something you're really interested in. Tell me something about yourself. Make me want to meet you.

Oh yes, the other two things that happen ALL the time are:

1. Starting with a quote. Really?
2. Telling me about some patient you took care of.

Is there some book that tells y'all to do this? It's pretty pointless. The personal statement is supposed to be "personal". Tell me something about you.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Have you considered writing something about yourself, your interests, instead?

Really, I see the same 4 personal statements over and over:

1. Why I want to be a doctor
2. Why I want to do IM
3. Let me tell you about my own personal health issue / sick friend / sick family member.
4. Let me retell my CV in prose form.

Guess what? These are usually really boring. Your answers to these issues is usually exactly the same as everyone elses.

Instead consider simply talking about something you're really interested in. Tell me something about yourself. Make me want to meet you.

Oh yes, the other two things that happen ALL the time are:

1. Starting with a quote. Really?
2. Telling me about some patient you took care of.

Is there some book that tells y'all to do this? It's pretty pointless. The personal statement is supposed to be "personal". Tell me something about you.

In various college and med school applications, I've tried:

1.) Bashing US foreign policy
2.) Subtly or not-so subtly stating that Christianity is the way to go

Neither were well-received, in my view.

When I wrote a boring ho-hum essay blathering about my goals, experiences, blablabla, it was accepted.

Like the interview suit, it's better boring and safe than sorry. Things that are interesting, unique - and most importantly, that matter - are often likely to be controversial. Someone who strongly argues their beliefs in an essay on any such issue runs the risk of angering one or many readers and getting their application trashed as a result.

That is why for my residency application essay I think I will try to write the safest essay possible. Plastic, boring, but safe.

 

[WorkaholicsAnon]

It's also not good to have a hateful doctor around with these very strong one-sided beliefs that will need to be treating peoples of all sorts of different beliefs and political views. So, I'm sure the committee that didn't receive your statements well were actually thankful to you for having been so frank and showing the real you. It wasn't that your essay wasn't well received, but rather, your essay revealed an attitude and mindset about you that aren't generally suitable to a future physician.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

It's also not good to have a hateful doctor around with these very strong one-sided beliefs that will need to be treating peoples of all sorts of different beliefs and political views. So, I'm sure the committee that didn't receive your statements well were actually thankful to you for having been so frank and showing the real you. It wasn't that your essay wasn't well received, but rather, your essay revealed an attitude and mindset about you that aren't generally suitable to a future physician.

How could you possibly know whether or not I am generally suitable to be a physician? Hateful?

All the things that matter - questions of history, of religion, of law, of governance, of death and life after death, even of science and the world's origins and our own human origins - are highly controversial. Someone who doesn't have clear views on most of these issues (that present themselves to him in a personal way) should first figure out what his (i.e. your) views are before lecturing to me that holding views and expressing them (and you don't know what my views are) - in and of itself - is hateful.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

I think a lot of people start with a quote because it's something taught in basic public speaking and it's kind of tough to come up with an introduction. When I wrote my PS I had the middle and the end finished before the beginning just because it's hard to come up with a good intro that doesn't sound like "Hi I'm such and such pick me pick me"

Best tip for the PS is be honest and be yourself- it's better to match at a place that wanted you and thought they'd be good for your career than to bait-and-switch yourself into something you're going to hate.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I recommend against discussing subspecialization. You might run into a general internist who is very tired of losing all the best people to cards and gi. Also, although aPD would like to be entertained, unless you are a borderline applicant, I would avoid taking a risk.

 

[WorkaholicsAnon]

How could you possibly know whether or not I am generally suitable to be a physician? Hateful?

If you have very strong views one way, it means you could potentially be hateful towards someone who doesn't share your point of view. I'm not saying you would be necessarily, but there is certainly a potential for it. I'm just telling you what probably went through the minds of the committees where your essay was "not well-received". It was likely not because of your personal views per se, but how you expressed them, suggesting that you feel VERY strongly about them (which there is nothing wrong with), but it suggests that you may not be too open-minded or tolerant of other views and may affect the way you treat patients.

My personal take on the issue is that physicians should largely be moderates, maybe leaning to one side or the other, but nothing strong enough to devote an entire career application essay to a tirade on your political/religious views. That begs the question-- so if patient X has different views (which is likely to happen with such a strong political leaning), will Mercaptovizadeh treat him/her differently as a physician because of the diverging views. Human nature is such that subconsciously you may.

Of course, a few of my colleagues have developed strong feelings about some political issue or other, I mean there's nothing wrong with that, but to feel SO strongly as to proclaim your political stance in a med school essay, that just suggests that you consider your political ideology to be your identity.

 

[WorkaholicsAnon]

All the things that matter - questions of history, of religion, of law, of governance, of death and life after death, even of science and the world's origins and our own human origins - are highly controversial. Someone who doesn't have clear views on most of these issues (that present themselves to him in a personal way) should first figure out what his (i.e. your) views are before lecturing to me that holding views and expressing them (and you don't know what my views are) - in and of itself - is hateful.

If discussing a controversial issue is what you intended, then you should discuss all viewpoints, not just your own.

All i'm saying is a med school essay is not the place to go on a tirade about your political or religious views. It's fine to have a view point, but like i said above, a one-sided voiced strong opinion in a med school essay begs the question about whether you will be able to provide equal, nondiscriminatory patient treatment. You will have patients of all faiths and all sorts of different nationalities, potentially US military veterans. Bashing US foreign policy--will you be treating your patient who is in the military differently? Will you be able to give equally good treatment to a patient who happens to be a US senator or work for the government as for someone who joins in with your bashing? Bashing all religions but Christianity--will you treat muslim, jewish, hindu, zoroastrian, atheist patients with prejudice? I dont know the answers to these questions, you may not either until you are faced with the situation. Neither does the committee, and they will not ask you--they will draw their own conclusion.

 

[Bluesaurus]

bumps