Why medicine versus why do you want to be a physician?

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MedGrl@2022

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So I have an interview coming up real soon. I have heard that they ask two specific questions "tell me about yourself" and "why medicine..."

In the "tell me about yourself" question, I am basically planning to rehash my personal statement ending it with "why their school"... this answer would describe where my interest in medicine stems from... it stems from personal events in my life... a medical condition that I had at an early age that the physicians were able to diagnose, treat me, and essentially change my life and also from a close family friend who was very ill but able to get well due to the help of her physicians and overcome her illness and is doing well now... these events got me interested in medicine and I could really see the impact that physicians and medicine could have... it ultimately led me to medical research but overtime I have been involved with and developed a strong interest in outreach, public health and serving vulnerable populations, etc.

I feel like my answer to "tell me about yourself" answers some of the question "why medicine", I am also currently working in medical research so I feel like I am in "medicine" but I am not a physician which is what I want to be so I can provide medical care to patients and communities in need.

My question is this: If they ask me "why medicine", do I need to have a different answer than my answer to "why do you want to be a physician"?

For the latter question, I was going to talk about physicians that I have worked with and shadowed and how I want to be like them. For the former question, I already feel like I am in medicine as a medical researcher and I want to study to become a physician to move from research to patient care to improve the health of communities in need.

What do you think? What should I say if they ask me "why medicine"?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

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So I have an interview coming up real soon. I have heard that they ask two specific questions "tell me about yourself" and "why medicine..."

In the "tell me about yourself" question, I am basically planning to rehash my personal statement ending it with "why their school"... this answer would describe where my interest in medicine stems from... it stems from personal events in my life... a medical condition that I had at an early age that the physicians were able to diagnose, treat me, and essentially change my life and also from a close family friend who was very ill but able to get well due to the help of her physicians and overcome her illness and is doing well now... these events got me interested in medicine and I could really see the impact that physicians and medicine could have... it ultimately led me to medical research but overtime I have been involved with and developed a strong interest in outreach, public health and serving vulnerable populations, etc.

I feel like my answer to "tell me about yourself" answers some of the question "why medicine", I am also currently working in medical research so I feel like I am in "medicine" but I am not a physician which is what I want to be so I can provide medical care to patients and communities in need.

My question is this: If they ask me "why medicine", do I need to have a different answer than my answer to "why do you want to be a physician"?

For the latter question, I was going to talk about physicians that I have worked with and shadowed and how I want to be like them. For the former question, I already feel like I am in medicine as a medical researcher and I want to study to become a physician to move from research to patient care to improve the health of communities in need.

What do you think? What should I say if they ask me "why medicine"?

Thank you in advance for your advice.
When they say "tell me about yourself" they are not asking for your personal statement and they are not asking why do you want to be a doctor. They want you to actually tell them something new about yourself. Don't use that question to tell them what they already know, use it as an opportunity to tell them how you are a real human being, not just a pre med robot. Describe a non medicine hobby, or something that makes you unique, or something that you are interested in or passionate about other than being a doctor.
 
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I am confused... should I tell them about my hobbies and interests outside of medicine and not talk about "why medicine"?... the couple books that I have read... seemed to have examples to the "tell me about yourself" where the interviewee was telling the interviewer about his/her accomplishments in undergrad. I am a non-trad that has been working in medical/clinical research for 5-6 years and I have been advised not to talk about it because I was told that physicians do not care about medical research. Plus, I want to become a community physician. I could see myself contributing to research but not as a PI. I could also see myself becoming an educator for future physicians, but I first want to be a community physician and not a medical researcher.
 
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I am confused... should I tell them about my hobbies and interests outside of medicine and not talk about "why medicine"?... the couple books that I have read... seemed to have examples to the "tell me about yourself" where the interviewee was telling the interviewer about his/her accomplishments in undergrad. I am a non-trad that has been working in medical/clinical research for 5-6 years and I have been advised not to talk about it because I was told that physicians do not care about medical research. Plus, I want to become a community physician. I could see myself contributing to research but not as a PI. I could also see myself becoming an educator for future physicians, but I first want to be a community physician and not a medical researcher.
so just about everybody does some sort of research/medical related research to strengthen their med school application but you're saying that research doesn't matter and physicians don't care about it?

tell me about yourself is just tell them more personal things about you.. hobbies/interests/etc.

personally i would answer why medicine and why physician the same way
 
so just about everybody does some sort of research/medical related research to strengthen their med school application but you're saying that research doesn't matter and physicians don't care about it?

tell me about yourself is just tell them more personal things about you.. hobbies/interests/etc.

personally i would answer why medicine and why physician the same way

Okay cool... I know that everyone does... not everyone spends 5-6 years doing medical/clinical research... I don't know... this was the advice of a physician in my laboratory... he is a genius but I have to take everything that he says with a "grain of salt"...

I am probably just being neurotic... I have an interview tomorrow with my top choice medical school... I want to have the perfect answers... that show them that I want them and make them want me too. I feel so blessed to even have the opportunity to interview there. I think I would sound more fun and interesting if I told them about my hobbies but it might seem a little off topic... maybe I will just do a little of both... I don't know... :)
 
When they say "tell me about yourself" they are not asking for your personal statement and they are not asking why do you want to be a doctor.

Completely disagree, they absolutely ARE looking for why you want to be a doctor/why you want to be in medicine. Its important to highlight the unique aspects of yourself and why you are different from all the other applicants - what you could bring to the table thats different, but this doesn't mean you can escape answering the basic "why medicine" question. Yes, they have read your personal statement, but they want to hear your personal journey towards medicine, and it doesn't have to be in a robotic sort of way. If can highlight some stuff that didn't come through in your app, that would be great, but don't talk about something totally unrelated. Whatever you do, don't answer the tell me about yourself question by talking for 5 minutes about your love of bird watching. If they are really concerned about your hobbies, they'll ask you what you do for fun, which is a question I got a few times. This strategy has worked just fine for me so far, and resulted in multiple acceptances. The strategy you initially described is almost exactly the strategy I used, and it worked great.

Also, you should highlight the research aspects of your application, thats one thing that makes you unique - physicians DO care about medical research, it will only help you if you can spin it the right way. Just be prepared for the "why not research" question.
 
I agree with others that say "tell me about yourself" is really more a question about you (not a prompt to restate your PS). I usually talk about where I'm from, where I went to school, what I studied, and a quick mention of my hobbies.

As far as why medicine vs. why a physician, that's where your clinical experience comes in. The two questions are similar but not identical. An answer to "why medicine?" could just as easily apply to nurses, NPs, the various techs, and anyone else involved in medicine. The answer to "why a physician?" should emphasize what your understanding of the role of the physician in medicine is and how you think you're prepared to handle that role. They are slightly different questions, and I'd say you'd be remiss if you answered one as if it were the other.
 
They want both -- Who you are as a person, including a few interesting tidbits or 'hooks' they could follow up on. And absolutely why you want to be a doctor. They'll almost certainly ask you both questions in some form, but if the first question they ask is the generic "Tell me about yourself", then tell them about the human you - the background and personal stuff. You could certainly follow that up with "Or were you asking why I want to become a doctor?" though most will ask that directly if that's what they want to know.

If this is your top school and you've got a lot of research, I'm wondering if maybe it's a top tier research-focused school? In which case, being a "real person" cannot be assumed and you should strive to show that you're a good guy in additional to being a brilliant scientist.
 
For the latter question, I was going to talk about physicians that I have worked with and shadowed and how I want to be like them. For the former question, I already feel like I am in medicine as a medical researcher and I want to study to become a physician to move from research to patient care to improve the health of communities in need.

There is nothing wrong about his answer, but be prepared for a follow-up to it. I got burned at one interview when I was asked why I would not consider nursing or PA school instead of med school if I wanted to provide clinical and community care. Make sure you can speak to why a physician in different from a nurse of PA (more knowledge of normal/abnormal pathology, leadership role, etc...).
 
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