Why do you want to be a doctor?

(link opens in new window)

What is the format of a good team? Do you read any medical publications? Would you prescribe the oral contraceptive pill to a 14-year-old girl that is sleeping with her boyfriend? How do you see Britain's healthcare system in 20 years time? If you had 1 billion to spend on a certain aspect on healthcare, what would you spend it on? Tell me about any medical advances you have read about recently. What are the good and bad points about being a doctor? How would you balance your outside interests with studying a degree? What are the qualities of a good doctor? Which quality is the most important? What single healthcare intervention could change the health of the population the most? Name a sector of society which has poor access to healthcare? What have you gained from your work experience/hobbies/community work? What qualities do you have that mean that you will be a good doctor? How do you cope with stress? What are your best and worst qualities? When you graduate what will you be remembered for by your peers? What did you do in your year out? What areas of responsibility do you have? How would you deal with angry/distressed patients? Were you scared of doctors when you were young? What do you think about abortion/euthanasia etc? What qualities do you think colleagues appreciate in a doctor? How many hours do you think a junior doctor works? How is the NHS structured? What is the difference between primary and hospital care? Why is medical research important? What is the postcode lottery? What makes you angry? Can you describe a situation that has been stressful? How do you deal with stress? If complains were made about you as a doctor, how would you respond? Do you think that doctors need to ask for consent when taking organs from a dead person? Where would you draw the line? What if it was only a small blood sample? What do you think you will find most difficult about a career in medicine? Give an example of when you have worked in a team, and why is teamwork important Who works as part of a team with doctors? What have been the most significant advances in medicine over the past 10/20/50 years? Why don't you want to be a nurse? (link opens in new window) How have you found out that medicine is the correct career for you? What aspects of the course here appeal to you

You've got the answer to "Why Medicine?" Medicine is a science and you like it! Doctoring is different. I'm in the fertile ground between being smashed by residents and being clueless.

Doctoring is about listening, is about hearing and translating what you hear into actions - and that my be scratching your Rx pad, but more frequently, it's telling someone they'll be okay. That they need to excercise a muscle and showing them how. That "excercise" need only be 30 minutes of walking three times a week. The science is much easier compared to the things that people throw at you. Note: The point is doctoring - teaching. It's not a good point, it's the profession. __________________

We want to work in healthcare because it's unlike any other field. It provides an opportunity to work with people, make people feel better or at least provide an explanation, it combines science with real interaction and outside/practical stressors, it provides unlimited educational/intellectual challenge/stimulus, and it's more than likely always going to be a "booming" field. We want to be doctors because we want to lead, invent, make sense of things for people, be the direct line of communication frustrated or scared people are looking for, understand the ultimate "why" behind what we do, and we want to apply our technical know-how in a way that benefits people like ourselves before we knew ****. I want to be a doctor because I want to be dependable. Whether it's a scared patient, an unconscious or confused patient, an angry patient, or to teach a skill to a resident, student, volunteer, or patient. Because I know when I'm scared, I'm just looking for an explanation. Plus it pays well. This is actually hard to do, though, for many people who are just out of college or who haven't had many medical experiences. You need to get out there and DO the things you're passionate about so you can TALK passionately about them. That way you also know that medicine isn't some grand, brilliant world where things are rosy and patients are always grateful and lives are always saved and people do the right things all the time... You know the realistic side of medicine and STILL want to be a doctor. So... For me, the old, "I want to help people, and I want to study medicine with my life," is a fine answer-as long as you back it up with a little bit of good old fashioned honest enthusiasm and a realistic picture of what medicine actually is. Because I want the challenge of diagnosing - my reason for wanting to be a doctor I suppose is more a feeling than something i can put accurately into words. I am really stuck. I also enjoy the science of it and I'd love the opportunity to combine science with being with people and helping people. an innate yearn for a stethascope. i think it is probably influenced by the media portrayal as well. saying that you are interested in helping people is important as well. a love / amazement of biology and its relationship to disease. its a very personal thing. just being honest about why you want to do it is the most importnat thing. 1. i love the idea of it being me agaist nature and being the one thing stopping. it being the combination of my knowledge, instinct and practical skill that makes a difference. i want to be able to be able to walk into any situation and be able to take control of it, like an accident or something where you can tell someone to do something - phone for an ambulance or something - and there is something inthe way that you say it that makes people feel able to do it no matter what else is going on around them.

i know that sounds really pretentious and smug but thats how i feel about it i want to be able to go home at the end of the day and think today i saved someones life or i helped someone, someone will remember me because i did something right. bert 2. In March 03 right after my 17th birthday my grandfather had his first heart attack. He actually had the heart attack six days before he said anything to anyone and by the time he went into hospital 70% of the heart tissue was dead. He had a stent put in and was sent home on fifteen different tablets which he was told he would be on for the rest of his days. He had to be re-admitted twice after this and on the second time he was given a pacemaker. He has since been back in hospital four times, had his medication changed four times, the most recent being two weeks ago. He has been told that there is nothing more that can be done for him as too much of the heart was damaged from the original attack. What really pisses me off is that he is only sixty-three having had the first attack when he was sixty-one. He never smoked, rarely drank and was extremely fit, refereeing at least two schoolboy football matches a week. If someone like that can get to the point where he won't actually call an ambulance because he doesn't want to go to hospital anymore and is actually hoping that his next admission would be his last than I want to try everything I can to prevent other people and their familes from going through the same hell of waiting and wondering as my family and I are. I don't think I would actually say all that in an interview because the thought of using that as some sort of excuse to use in an interview is a little disgusting to me but that is my reason for wanting to get into medicine. 3. I used patients expectations as my 'why a doctor'. I said patients often present with an expectation of how ill they are, and the job of a doctor is to narrow that expectation. You as the medical practitioner understand how ill they are and your role is to narrow these expectations. Sounds weird but worked for me lol 4. Stable employment, I mentioned that... but the money doesn't interest me. If I wanted to be a millionaire I'll study investment banking (which I nearly made the mistake of doing). My reason was that you are given an awesome responsibility as a doctor. Not everyone can handle such a demanding profession and I believe I have the determination and skills needed to succeed. I also owe a debt to my community which I intend to fully repay - to squander the unique chances that I have been given would be a disservice not only to myself but also to society. Finally I said that you never choose medicine, in a funny way it chooses you!

10.I wanna die satisfied that i have achived something for myself!!!!!!

The best thing to say is that you have a passion for people and want to be in a environment that involves the care of fellow human beings. You feel u have the commitment, intelligence, and passion for a career in medicine. I specifically want to be a doctor because i feel that i would like to be involved in the entire process of assessment, planning, diagnosis, and implementation of patient care and have the key skills required to effectively communicate with people from all walks of life. I work well under pressure and am committed to a life long learning process.
Why medicine? I already do a job where I help people and make a difference, every day. I am part of the medical continuum, and the social one. I see how medicine and health makes a difference, not just in the acute setting, but in the community. How obesity affects women in pregnancy. The implications of drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking, mental health. How clients and patients (there IS a distinction) use services successfully or are ill-treated by the system. How sometimes the NHS is inefficient, and Trusts and PCTs are short-termist in their thinking. I don't just want to be 'a doctor'. I want to be an Obstetrician, caring for women who have additional care needs to those who can be seen by midwives, with the aim being to reduce morbidity and mortality (and most importantly the section rate!) by basing my practice on best evidence and not on outdated studies, or 'the way we've always done it'. The only way we are going to make the NHS workable for the future is by investing in public health and in services for women and children; there is so much evidence out there to show that the way a baby develops and is born affects its future health prospects, and at the moment we are sitting on a time bomb with the section rate at 28%, as the younger generations get iller and the elderly live longer. We will not be able to shoulder that burden as things are at present. Its so hard to come up with something original to say when, you are just genuinly interested in all sciences but also want a purposfull career (rarther than using your science skills to trade shares) which also is social/involves people and helps them out. For me Its like when your on the street and someone colapses I want to be able to help them using the best of currently known procedures. But no, I don't want to be a paramedic because that career has a limit and once you've reached it thats it, i want to get to the edge of current knowledge. Simialry being a nurse although you help people in the career its not technical or interlectually challenging enough as a doctors career and all the people who get into medicine would not be fufilling their full potential in a health career if they didn't apply for the highest career path. Thats what i think, hmmmmm. Couple of reasons for wanting to be a doctor - I deal with 7 point mutations in one protein, which is an incredibly narrow focus, so an attraction of medicine is that you deal with whole humans for whom a number of things could be awry when they walk through the door and you get to see a lot more of the interplay between different physiological, psychological and sociological systems. There is the challenge of dealing with people and with scientific concepts simultaneously and coming up with a diagnosis. Also as I've got older I've become more and more envious of people who are at med school or work as doctors (although I'm not sure that I can admit to this in an interview!). Something that is also appealing to me is the ongoing educational part of being a doctor - I think that this is because I love learning new things and so the fact that cutting edge research and new techniques are continually changing healthcare is appealing to me, but I may just be odd

1. 1. job security, and therefore financial security (to a certain extent) - NOT SURE I WOULD MENTION THIS IN AN INTERVIEW, THOUGH...WHAT WILL THEY THINK?! LOL...CAN ANYONE HELP ME? WOULD YOU MENTION THIS IN AN INTERVIEW? 2. i think that it is important to choose a career that i am interested in, and i will enjoy doing, because it is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life...and i love biology and i am really interested in knowing how the body works...therefore i found it the most suitable career for me. 3. i enjoy talking to, and working with, people...the idea of helping other people via medicine appeals to me...i can do two things that i love at the same time! lol 4. being a doctor is a humbling profession...you can use your skills to help lots of people...of course, sometimes there is nothing you can do to help people, but i think that going out there and meeting new and different people, talking to them and learning about their lifestyle and problems, and discovering so many people's lives and playing a part in their lives (and hopefully helping them to get a better life) is something that would mean a lot to me. i will learn a lot from being a doctor, so i can thrive to be a better person than i am the previous day (yes KINDA cheesy lol...but also true ) 5. (this is similar to point 4 but...)i would love to be a doctor so that i can help the people less fortunate than myself, especially in the third world countries. medical care is something so basic that i think every human being should have the right to, and to be a part of the medical profession would make me personally feel contented that i am doing something with my life to help those who need and deserve the respect and help SHOULD I SAY THIS OR NOT? AS SOMEONE ALREADY MENTIONED, IT MAY NOT LOOK GOOD TO TALK ABOUT LEAVING THE UK WHEN YOU WILL BE GETTING UR EDUCATION IN THE UK...what say?? and finally... 6. as some people say, it is honestly a gut instinct that that is what you really want to become, and something that you are willing to put in a lot of hard work and money for... i will be following my gut instinct, which is that i really want to become a doctor, and living my life independently and the way i want to...which of course will make me feel satisified with myself a question: if you say that you are really interested in sciences, and you're actually only interested in biology and you have taken only chemistry and biology for a levels, would they actually ask you why you didn't take a physics A level if you were that interested in the sciences?? and also, if they ask you whether you have considered any other career options before thinking about medicine, and you were very seriously thinking about ICT, would you actually mention that or would you just say "no not really.... i have always wanted to be a doctor" to 'impress' the judges, even though it is not true?? 2. I remember initially wanting to go into medicine for all of the usual reaons, such as wanting to combine science and helping people, and because I am a compassionate person, which are all valid (if fairly generic) reasons. However, I can remember seeing one clinical case which cemented things for me, and this happened when I did saome work exp. at a GPs surgery. Dr. X saw all of the patients on the list that day, and then he took my on his rounds. I noticed that the next man to be seen was a 49y.o man named Mr Y! Mr Y l lived in a 24-hour care home for those

with sever disabilities, and was profoundly affectted by down's syndrome. When I first saw Mr Y, it was clear that he was almost unable to breathe, and had even begun to show slight blueish tinges in some areas. After some talking, it was decided that Mr Y had acquired severe pneumonia, and was admitted to hospital by Dr X, and was given some drugs to ease the symptoms. What I saw in that home that day seriously scared me and made me question if medicine was right for me. People were screaming and shouting like animals and grabbing us- it was a scary experience for most people. On the following Monday, I went to my usual work placement on the emergency assessment ward at the local hospital, and looked at the whiteboard showing the patients that had been clerked that day. It was then that I noticed the name Mr Y again. I went to the bed that corresponded, and saw Mr Y laughing and walking around, able to breathe almost normally. I found this moment totally amazing. I knew then that I wanted a job where I could make someones quality of life noticably better, and although Mr Y still had the down's syndrome, Dr X had given him a new lease of life, and did the best for him. I also loved the chance I got to see how the medicine that Mr Y had been given had affected him, and realised then also what a wonderful thing drugs themselves could be. These are my reasons and they are completely true. 1. I rode a bike for 200 miles and climbed the highest mountain in america: interpretation, I have amazing endurance skills. 2. I learned new language, lived in 4 different states, 2 different countries: interpretation: adaptability and culturally aware. 3. Supported myself through college: interpretation, self dependability. 4. Majored in chemical engineering: interpretation, strong problem solving and analytical skills. 5. Starcraft champion: interpretation, amazing dexterity 6. Saved company $200,000 in cost savings; interpretation, badass 7. Boss of 2 people; interpretation, leadership skills. In any interview when you are asked "why should we accept you?" what they are really asking is "What have you done to prepare yourself for medical school?" You should answer with all of the activities, personal experiences, and professional experiences that apply to that question. You need to let them know you are ready to step up to the challenge. That you are prepared and well informed about what is ahead of you. You need to tell them specific things about why you are ready for medical school. Don't fall into the cliche of "I want to help people." I don't have any idea how to make myself sound special or worthy of an admit for any school. I had a really bad high school GPA, did bad on the ACT, started off bad in college (major improvement in my grades junior and senior year), couldn't get a normal job for several months after college. I've been broken down in almost every way possible that a human can be broken down. I know I have more limitations than strengths. I know I'm not smart, I just work hard. All I could accomplish in collge was working full-time (auditor, pt. chart prep, secruity guard, etc), voluntership, and took courses. I didn't start some new program or recieve any academic praise. Heck, I had two professors question my ability to memorize anything....even though all I did was memorize the

whole immuno book to get an A. Interviewer: What makes you speical? Me: Well, I'm not a special person. I'm not a genius, I'm not brilliant minded, I don't have a wealthy family, I grew up on a farm, I have always been poor, I have always driven a used car, etc. All I can assure you is that you will never meet another person that works as hard as me (go into all of the blah blah I did in college and before college). When I gradauted from college, I couldn't get a job. Thus, I started my own company (X2) and work an entry level chemist job during the 3rd shift. Give me a cours packet and I will do what I can to get an A. But you shouldn't expect a nobel prize out of me. You might be asked the same type question when you actually apply for a real job too. This is not just pharmacy school specific. If you are gonna say you are "smart" you need to explain why and give examples. If you are going to say you are disciplined you need to explain why and give examples. If there is something that has occured in your life that might be unusual and you feel you can relate it to pharmacy or being a student you can use it. Heck if you were on the debate team and did well it means that you are a very good communicator.....AND listener (an important aspect of being a pharmacist) Heck if you like to fix motors and are very good at it, it likely means that you have a strong attention to detail.....otherwise the silly engine would not start. There are usually many things that can make you stand out. You just have to find it and be able to effectively communicate this to the Adcom.