Why medicine?

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Why medicine?

  • Humanitarianism

    Votes: 64 22.1%

  • Income

    Votes: 47 16.3%

  • Prestige/respect

    Votes: 42 14.5%

  • "I can't imagine doing anything else" (aptitude)

    Votes: 103 35.6%

  • Other (reply below)

    Votes: 33 11.4%
  • Total voters
    289
DoeAdeer

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An anonymous poll on prime motivation behind entering the field of medicine
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I made my decision taking several factors into consideration simultaneously, to single out one reason would be stupid.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
It's interesting and it pays well, although I'm not sure I'll apply.
 
I want to improve rural health in SD.

Also, chicks, money, power, and chicks. (Obligatory Dr. Cox reference).
 
because being an ibanker was hell, and i wanted to do something equally intellectually challenging yet inherently Not Evil.
 
Hmm, I wonder if this is to get some inspiration on any PS/Secondary PS's. ;)

Nonetheless, I agree with SunsFun. It's really hard to name a single reason. Going into medicine for one reason wouldn't be a very sturdy motive at all, anyways.
 
It's interesting, and allows for many well paying career pathways. Helping people is a bonus.
 
The jobs I had previously made me realize medicine is what I want to practice.
 
Bitches, money, and power.

And the great feeling that I get from servicing people in need as well as my love for science and all that bullcrap. :laugh:
 
I'm very interested in serving the Hispanic community as a doctor, since I've lived first-hand in a third-world country and seen the dire need for more doctors. I also have loved science since I was a little girl, and medicine provides plenty of mental stimulation. Also, interacting with patients is something I really enjoy. I never really thought about prestige in regards to this decision.
 
I'd imagine most people's decision to enter medicine starts with a fondness for science.

Further, there are many ways to help people (humanitarianism) besides medicine, many better sources of income, and multiple avenues to prestige. Medicine is not fundamentally the best at any of these things. Rather, it provides a combination of them that is very unique and perhaps ideal for those of us who happen to care about these things in a specific way.
 
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I don't have a single reason, and I don't see a problem with this. I love the hospital setting, I really enjoy working with patients, and I like the thought of having the ability to help someone get better. I would be lying if I said that the income didn't have a little to do with it (I don't want to be living paycheck-to-paycheck) but at the same time, I'm not interested in making millions, and I can't imagine doing a job where I'm not helping people directly.
 
I want to do something meaningful, I want to prove to myself that i can do it, I want to to have the experience.
 
Don't forget to reply if you choose "Other.":)
 
a very traumatic reason that I'll be sure to include in my PS.
 
Don't forget to use these results in your PS and explain why you are the 1%! ;)
 
Has every premed on here voted?
 
I want to stick it to the man!!!! Medicine is the perfect combination of humanism and logic.
 
Question can't be multiple choice and singling out one answer.
 
Because it's very interesting, and it provides a unique opportunity of connectedness to others.
 
I just want to gain knowledge and challenge myself.
I heard being a doctor and living as a doctor can be really hard, so I want to see if I can do it or not....

Income and whole respect does matter but knowledge is what I am after....but that doesn't make me a heartless person...
 
I love this question. No pre-med has any real idea what it's like to be a medical student, much less why he or she is a perfect fit for medicine. This notion that a pre-med should be able to answer this, to the level that a faculty member believes it, it a real shame. This changes for medical students even in their 4th year of schooling, and becomes much more genuine and true as time passes.

I got into it b/c I thought I liked pathology. Even though I really hadn't had any real pathology. I also really liked diseases... although I could only name a handful of diseases that a random person off the street could name.

I want to be a doctor because I love the relationship that I have with my patients. It's so simple and honest that you will only really understand it once you get there. There's a special bond between a physician and his or her patient, that even nurses don't get to experience.

The science is just icing on the cake.
 
fahimaz7 said:
I love this question. No pre-med has any real idea what it's like to be a medical student, much less why he or she is a perfect fit for medicine. This notion that a pre-med should be able to answer this, to the level that a faculty member believes it, it a real shame. This changes for medical students even in their 4th year of schooling, and becomes much more genuine and true as time passes.
Click to expand...

This is an overly presumptuous and condescending post. The question wasn't "why are you a perfect fit for medicine" or "why do you think you'll be a good med student." It was "prime motivation behind entering the field of medicine", which anyone can and should be able to answer. I can just as easily say that as an MS4, you have no idea what it's like to be a doctor, since you aren't actually one yet and haven't experienced the rigors of residency or being an attending or having your own practice. Your reasons for liking and staying in medicine will change when you're actually a doctor. Get off your high horse.
 
I enjoy being part of people's decision making process and like to use my qualities as a great communicator to be an ambassador for my patients. I love getting to know people in ways other people don't see them. I enjoy how alike and how different people are from each other. I love complex problems that revolve around people and I love seeing the way the environment affects people, how they develop, and any abnormalities they may experience.
 
Simple, no-BS answer:

It pays handsomely to "do good".

...A somewhat rare combo in the job market.

While the pinnacle of the business and law professions def get paid more, they aren't "doing good". While the bulk of the service professions (social work, public health, et al) "do good", they are not paid very well.
 
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I just really want to help people.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xhTE0Km0BA[/YOUTUBE]
 
CuttingCorneas said:
I just really want to help people.

[YOUTUBE]4xhTE0Km0BA[/YOUTUBE]
Click to expand...
Luckily for me I have an actual interesting reason for medicine. I wonder how many people actually go to interviews and state they "want to help people"? Seems like such a cliche.
 
mirimonster said:
This is an overly presumptuous and condescending post. The question wasn't "why are you a perfect fit for medicine" or "why do you think you'll be a good med student." It was "prime motivation behind entering the field of medicine", which anyone can and should be able to answer. I can just as easily say that as an MS4, you have no idea what it's like to be a doctor, since you aren't actually one yet and haven't experienced the rigors of residency or being an attending or having your own practice. Your reasons for liking and staying in medicine will change when you're actually a doctor. Get off your high horse.
Click to expand...

Actually I'm not sure it will change between now and when I finish my residency. Interestingly enough the main reason that I decided to get away from Radiology and pursue ER was to stay in a field that offered me the patient-doctor relationship that I was interested in. Fortunately for this conversation I've already seen what that relationship is like, so it's not a mute point.
 
fahimaz7 said:
Actually I'm not sure it will change between now and when I finish my residency. Interestingly enough the main reason that I decided to get away from Radiology and pursue ER was to stay in a field that offered me the patient-doctor relationship that I was interested in. Fortunately for this conversation I've already seen what that relationship is like, so it's not a mute point.
Click to expand...

My point was that you can share your experience without making the snotty comments about how pre-meds have no idea what they're talking about. I like many others gained a pretty strong idea of the physician-patient relationship through extensive clinical experience. I'm glad to hear you've found a new purpose in medicine, but don't presume that no pre-meds can understand because you're just so much more developed. I know many pre-meds whose initial motivations do not change through med school, just like you assume that yours won't over the next 3-5 years and beyond. No need to get all higher than thou and rain on the warm fuzzy "I want to help people" feelings of us naive pre-meds.
 
maybe he/she's telling the truth and we don't know what we're talking about? how can we know what we don't know?

in the context of this question he/she really is "so much more developed" and we probably can't understand. i would comfortably say to my teenage self "you have absolutely no idea how much everything is going to change." and it wouldn't be condescending

I agree with fahimaz that it is a terrible question for faculty to ask us with any expectation of a reasonable answer, but not a terrible question to ask in order to get a sense for a person and what they care about.

no, that's not true. having tried to come up with a good answer for interviews... it's a terrible question.
 
Neurosis said:
Luckily for me I have an actual interesting reason for medicine. I wonder how many people actually go to interviews and state they "want to help people"? Seems like such a cliche.
Click to expand...

I've never understood why we have to have a compelling reason to be a doctor. It's not a calling, it's a job. Do police academy trainees have to write essays on why they want to be police officers? It's ridiculous.
 
I agree with the first posts. There are many reasons for me to pursue medicine.

The combination of intellectual challenge, the ability to help so many, the ability to live without the burden of insufficient income, and maybe above all others, the KNOWLEDGE.

The knowledge allows you to see intricacies of the world that most don't have the ability to see. The things you can do with the knowledge is almost boundless. Amazing I think.
 
circulus vitios said:
I've never understood why we have to have a compelling reason to be a doctor. It's not a calling, it's a job. Do police academy trainees have to write essays on why they want to be police officers? It's ridiculous.
Click to expand...
It's problem a means of arbitrarily elimanating candidates. Or it could be a way of elminating those without a "legitimate" reason for medicine.
 
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