why medicine? Interview responses

[sunshinegirl0808]

Hello all... posting on behalf of my spouse who is prepping for upcoming med school interviews and was curious what reasons beyond "helping others" and "intellectual challenge" people have for the inevitable "why medicine?" question.

Of course, he has his own reasons for pursuing medicine and is not interested in plagiarizing someone else's response....just curious.

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[AMCASTuesdays]

Idk if this can be answered without anyone doxing themselves. In general I think the advice I got was that the answer has to reflect you as a person and what you honestly feel. It shouldn't be a shopping list of your attributes, or test scores but if you can speak towards a larger experience, experiences, or traits that have influenced why you want to pursue medicine you should speak on those. I did that and feel pretty good with what I end up saying in interviews. Everyone has their own reasons for applying, and only you *know* what yours is.

 

[SeaHusky]

Hello all... posting on behalf of my spouse who is prepping for upcoming med school interviews and was curious what reasons beyond "helping others" and "intellectual challenge" people have for the inevitable "why medicine?" question.

Of course, he has his own reasons for pursuing medicine and is not interested in plagiarizing someone else's response....just curious.

Disclaimer: Current applicant giving overly-generalized advice

For me, my "Why Medicine?" answer revolves around what separates a physician from other healthcare professions. What traits/qualities separate doctors from nurses? From PAs? From social workers? I would inundate every single explanation of a trait/quality with a personal anecdote from my ECs that helped me learn why I liked that specific trait/quality. All in all, I can deliver my answer in ~2 minutes, and I've gotten very positive reviews from my interviewers so far.

"Helping others" and "intellectual challenge" are great reasons, but they're too general. Dig deeper. How do doctors help people in ways that nurses don't? How does the intellectual challenge presented to doctors differ from that presented to PhDs?

You don't need some fantastical answer that is unique from 99.9% of applicants, but you do need an answer that draws upon your personal experiences. A succinct answer that shows your interviewer you know what the hell you're getting into and why you chose this path from the beginning is great. You need to show a deeper level of thought than a generic answer that will immediately invite four different follow-up questions (which you should be able to counter relatively easily). Hope this helps!

Second disclaimer: This is an n=1 opinion.

 

[sunshinegirl0808]

Idk if this can be answered without anyone doxing themselves. In general I think the advice I got was that the answer has to reflect you as a person and what you honestly feel. It shouldn't be a shopping list of your attributes, or test scores but if you can speak towards a larger experience, experiences, or traits that have influenced why you want to pursue medicine you should speak on those. I did that and feel pretty good with what I end up saying in interviews. Everyone has their own reasons for applying, and only you *know* what yours is.

Absolutely agree that this is a very personal answer. Additionally, I think it is an easy question to goof up at the interview by not really answering it....like you said, talking about achievements or their path to med school or something that is tangentially related but not truly answering the question itself.

 

[AMCASTuesdays]

Disclaimer: Current applicant giving overly-generalized advice

For me, my "Why Medicine?" answer revolves around what separates a physician from other healthcare professions. What traits/qualities separate doctors from nurses? From PAs? From social workers?

Disclaimer: This is an n=1 opinion.

Also a current applicant with general advice, but this is a super good point as well

 

[SeaHusky]

Also a current applicant with general advice, but this is a super good point as well

A faculty interviewer at one of my interviews explicitly worded his "Why Medicine?" question with "So why a physician specifically? Why not get a PhD, a BSN, etc.?"

I had to mentally restrain myself from interrupting him by immediately launching into my answer the moment I heard him begin to say the second part 🤣

 

[Cornfed101]

For me it was watching my wife give birth. When the doctor had to remind me to hold my screaming wife’s hand, and I thought “oh, I was totally just watching what you were doing”. That’s when I knew haha. Obviously I tell it more eloquently than that, but that’s really how it went down.

 

[907914]

For me it was watching my wife give birth. When the doctor had to remind me to hold my screaming wife’s hand, and I thought “oh, I was totally just watching what you were doing”. That’s when I knew haha. Obviously I tell it more eloquently than that, but that’s really how it went down.

Did you count those as PCP shadowing hours?

 

[Cornfed101]

Did you count those as PCP shadowing hours?

haha no! But I should have! Didn’t really think about it cause my wife is a super fast laborer. Like 1.5 hours each time.

 

[907914]

haha no! But I should have! Didn’t really think about it cause my wife is a super fast laborer. Like 1.5 hours each time.

My wife was on track to be done in about 2 hours, but she said “I give up on natural, gimme the epidural” and that held her up for another 8 hours...

*tangent done, this is a productive thread*

 

[Orangekiwi]

haha no! But I should have! Didn’t really think about it cause my wife is a super fast laborer. Like 1.5 hours each time.

"Assisted in providing expert care and stress relief to a patient undergoing labor from onset of contractions through birth, and was allowed to hold the the neonate following successful delivery."

 

[Cornfed101]

"Assisted in providing expert care and stress relief to a patient undergoing labor from onset of contractions through birth, and was allowed to hold the the neonate following successful delivery."

“continued to accompany both patients continuously for the last 5.5 years”

50000 hours clinical volunteering. Man I missed an opportunity there

 

[907914]

“continued to accompany both patients continuously for the last 5.5 years”

50000 hours clinical volunteering. Man I missed an opportunity there

I listed 10,000 hours of hiking and 300 hours of “attending powwows” lol family related ECs are great.

Now I should probably address the initial question of the post if I wanna stick around, shouldn’t I?

For me, I realized that medicine had the perfect combo of diagnostic, people, and critically thinking aspects I had fell in love with from different jobs. It was a very specific experience for me...you certainly don’t need a eureka moment and most people don’t...most ‘eureka moments’ are pretty cringe, and I am being fairly hypocritical in saying that mine was one...

My general advice though, if anyone has a ‘why medicine’ answer that is generic such as “help others” or “I love science”...I would suggest that person think long and hard about the path they are thinking of traversing. Medicine has a high rate of job dissatisfaction and I genuinely believe the majority of that can be explained by people entering medicine for other-than-the-right reasons. Having the vague idea of “science and help people” lends way to seeing the profession through rose colored glasses only to be crushed by the reality of it all.

 

[dr_kateb]

$cience i$ my pa$$ion

 

[710118]

For me, I talk about the healthcare disparities that affected me and my family and how thats motivated me to want to be a PCP in my community. I also talk about my mom getting injured and not having health insurance/a doctor she could go to for treatment who wouldn't charge her an arm and a leg

 

[notsobabydoc]

For me, I talk about the healthcare disparities that affected me and my family and how thats motivated me to want to be a PCP in my community. I also talk about my mom getting injured and not having health insurance/a doctor she could go to for treatment who wouldn't charge her an arm and a leg

you want to be a PCP? that won't convince me if I interview you.

 

[710118]

you want to be a PCP? that won't convince me if I interview you.

Its obv more than that. Im just giving the gist of my answer. There are very few PCPs in my neighborhood and many people cant get treatment for basic medical problems.

 

[notsobabydoc]

Its obv more than that. Im just giving the gist of my answer

oh ok, that's what I thought lol

 

[Kirby Smart]

you want to be a PCP? that won't convince me if I interview you.

Why?

 

[Icebird]

I give a narrative about my life growing up and the experiences I've had that led me to a passion for medicine. The key answer to any interview question, especially traditional ones such as this, is be authentic; genuine answers can really shine through and most people can sense fabrications/fakeness from a mile away.