Will I get laughed at if i say i want to be a pediatrician in my PS?

[helpsomeoneout2018]

Iv mentored kids and love them but i know thats not the same as being a doctor treating sick kids.

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[Goro]

If you haven't shadowed a pediatrician, or volunteered with sick kids, it's makes a screener's job a LOT easier.

 

[tammyp]

I was advised by an admissions director in a workshop to take a childhood dream and build upon it to show growth, maturity and openess. But like others have said, your EC have to back the claim

 

[Catalystik]

Iv mentored kids and love them but i know thats not the same as being a doctor treating sick kids.

Rather than saying that you want to be a pediatrician (based on the experience you gather), tell the things about being a pediatrician that draw you, in a way that could be generalized to other medical specialties. Adcomms know that 80% change their minds about their specialty before they enter the match, so you need to seem open to other possibilities.

 

[helpsomeoneout2018]

Rather than saying that you want to be a pediatrician (based on the experience you gather), tell the things about being a pediatrician that draw you, in a way that could be generalized to other medical specialties. Adcomms know that 80% change their minds about their specialty before they enter the match, so you need to seem open to other possibilities.

oh thank you! that makes so much more sense for me. that makes a lot of sense too

 

[tammyp]

How much shadowing is substantial for this?

I shadowed a pediatrician for a day and then a pediatric orthopedic doctor for a few days. i shadowed a lot more in other specialities though so maybe that looks bad

I havent volunteered with sick children yet i just got approved to after my first adult patient on hospice.

But i have mentored children from disadvantaged families where I saw some heavy stuff sometimes. i know its not the same

i mentored at risk youth during my years after graduating. They werent sick but they had been through a lot but i was able to be a good mentor to them.

my problem is narrative wise why couldnt someone say i just wanted to be a social worker or teacher, but i also love biology and have done research as well in my gap years. medicine combines that for me, intellectual and humanistic passions. but my personal statement was awful so im stumped now lol.

I think the point is that medicine or pediatrics is very different from working with children in a social aspect and from what you've said, you haven't had much experience working with medically ill children to say that you want to dedicate your life to that field specifically. In fact, your mentoring experience seems more in line with being a child psychiatrist than a pediatrician. So to avoid sounding naive or immature, I wouldn't say that you want to be a pediatrician but instead maybe say that your work with children and research got you interested in medicine.

 

[helpsomeoneout2018]

I think the point is that medicine or pediatrics is very different from working with children in a social aspect and from what you've said, you haven't had much experience working with medically ill children to say that you want to dedicate your life to that field specifically. In fact, your mentoring experience seems more in line with being a child psychiatrist than a pediatrician. So to avoid sounding naive or immature, I wouldn't say that you want to be a pediatrician but instead maybe say that your work with children and research got you interested in medicine.

oh okay i see what youre saying. yeah i had the same worry about naivete. thanks for your input!