Your reasons. . .

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WannabeaMD

Full Member
10+ Year Member
What are your reasons for the following question
Why do you want to become a Doctor?

*What do you think set you apart from the average pre-medical student applicant?


Thanks!
 
This thread has come up before. I'm going to say the same thing I said in another thread: the reasons are unique to each person. Whether or not that person is honest when writing those "why medicine/why do you want to be a doctor" essays or answering that question in an interview, it has to be something personal, genuine, and unique to your experiences.
 
akinetopsia said:
This thread has come up before. I'm going to say the same thing I said in another thread: the reasons are unique to each person. Whether or not that person is honest when writing those "why medicine/why do you want to be a doctor" essays or answering that question in an interview, it has to be something personal, genuine, and unique to your experiences.
Click to expand...
👍👍
 
akinetopsia said:
This thread has come up before. I'm going to say the same thing I said in another thread: the reasons are unique to each person. Whether or not that person is honest when writing those "why medicine/why do you want to be a doctor" essays or answering that question in an interview, it has to be something personal, genuine, and unique to your experiences.
Click to expand...


this
 
akinetopsia said:
This thread has come up before. I'm going to say the same thing I said in another thread: the reasons are unique to each person. Whether or not that person is honest when writing those "why medicine/why do you want to be a doctor" essays or answering that question in an interview, it has to be something personal, genuine, and unique to your experiences.
Click to expand...

I "fourth" this... Also, if you're looking for help on your PS, that is a different thread...
 
WannabeaMD said:
What are your reasons for the following question
Why do you want to become a Doctor?

*What do you think set you apart from the average pre-medical student applicant?


Thanks!
Click to expand...

This sounds like you are trying to get ideas for your own personal statement or are trying to figure out if your reasons are the "right" reasons. At least that is what is almost always the case when this question is asked in pre-allo. I would suggest taking a sheet of paper or a few sheets of paper and ask yourself why you are looking at the careers you are looking at and the majors you are looking at and just free write. You'll hopefully get some insights into yourself.

As others have said, everyone's reasons are going to be unique to themselves and, with few exceptions, all reasons are perfectly valid and as equal as anyone else's.

As far as what makes us more likely to stand out from the traditional aged pre-meds, probably maturity, life experience, dedication, greater amount of hours in our ECs (like I have several thousand hours of research, volunteering, teaching, and publications), and better perspectives on things. Of course some of us have more than that including having personal issues and obstacles to overcome. In my case it was being a transsexual with a medical phobia and while I was, by age, a traditional student, I was raising four kids.
 
An exercise that was helpful for me in figuring out my motivation, and being able to describe it, was to define the job I want without using the word doctor.

One reason I did this was to figure out whether nursing/PA/CRNA/ARNP/DNP met the definition of the job I want. I was definitely willing to consider these options.

This exercise worked for me because:
1. I already had 15 years in another career and a bit of self-awareness (what I'm good at, what I'm not, how I work, what I can change, what I can't change)
2. I had already spent a couple years shadowing & volunteering, interrogating nurses/PAs/docs/residents about their frustrations and responsibilities
3. I had access to practicing physicians (roommates) who had the time to correct my misconceptions as I misconceived them, and keep me honest (vs. idealizing the job or my wherewithal)
4. I really, really wanted to avoid making it through med school to find myself regretful on the other side - so I was willing to be talked out of medicine.

Best of luck to you.
 
Sorry, for asking somenthing that has been posted before. But, its' hard to find those old posts since there are millions of old posts in these forums.

Thanks for the last two great posts! Great exercise ideas that I will practice and I am also thinking about getting in touch with medical staff such as RN, PA, NP, MD to get a more clear concept of this careers.
I asked for reasons because sometimes I feel lost and I guess I was trying to see if someone had experienced or felt the same in some sort of way about wanting to become a Doctor.

But, thanks anyway for the last great posts!!!
Thank you so much.
 
back in my day as a pre-med on SDN this kind of post was also known as:
"HEY WHO WANTS TO WRITE MY ESSAY FOR ME?"

🙂
 
Why do you want to become a Doctor?
- Career advancement and following my passion. I can't say I always wanted to be a doctor, but I always wanted to work in health care. I had written medical school off straight from undergrad because as a dirt poor international student attending medical school in the US is not a reality. Instead I worked on making myself a competitive applicant for US programs and, unlike most pre-meds on here, the first thing I did to become competitive was try to get my green card (which I did). Now, I'm working on lifting my GPA to over the 3.6cGPA/3.5BPCM (which I'm pretty close to). Finally, I'll work on the MCAT (aiming for a 28-34 score). I love kids and find pediatric diseases fascinating (kids are very resilient, and fairly naive to the dangers of life threatening illness and it's amazing to watch). That in combination with the fact that I have gone about as far as I can within the biotech world without an advanced degree makes now an ideal time to transition. At best, I love being a pediatrician. At worst, I get to take a step forward in the biotech industry.

What do you think set you apart from the average pre-medical student applicant?
- A lot of things likely set me apart. Neither of my parents attended college. I spent my teenage years in a third world country post a civil war dirt poor. I was in and out of school because my folks couldn't afford the tuition for most of my childhood. To add insult to injury, my dad lost his (not so well paying) job when I was twelve and my parents' lived in different countries for over a year (this was what prompted my move to a post civil war country since my dad was able to find a job there). During these years I was more concerned about safety (my school came under fire a few times in the post civil war aftermath) than worrying about learning. Despite this background, when given an opportunity to spend my last two years of high school in the US, I excelled academically. I made it to an Ivy League school where I did relatively well. I've spent over five years working in health care (and have worked at Harvard and Stanford affiliated hospitals as well as in biotech).
 
To mspeedwagon
I am also an international student who came here because I am looking for better opportunities and I believe that American College Education is excellent.
Thanks for sharing your information, I think that you have an outstanding background and I am pretty sure you are a great candidate to go to Medical School and you also stand out from the crowd.

Thanks for your input
 
familyaerospace said:
As others have said, everyone's reasons are going to be unique to themselves and, with few exceptions, all reasons are perfectly valid and as equal as anyone else's.
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I totally agree. But you still have to be careful how you communicate those reasons. When I told QofQuimica the real reason I want to become a doctor, she told me:
QofQuimica said:
Never repeat this to any adcom, interviewer, admissions secretary, or even the janitor.
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:laugh:

Thankfully, after a few more PS edits, I figured out a better way to express it! Feedback is invaluable! 😍
 
WannabeaMD said:
What are your reasons for the following question
Why do you want to become a Doctor?
*What do you think set you apart from the average pre-medical student applicant?
Click to expand...

Its dependent completely on you what your reasons are. No one can answer that for you other than you. Just make it positive.
 
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