the dreaded question:
"why do you want to be a doctor?"
"First things first. If you have an interview already, that means you’ve passed much of the screening so you have a good shot at acceptance at this point. How do you capitalize on this?
Here’s how you want to think of this question. When we ask this question, we are basically asking you to tell your story, your story being how you came to choose a career in medicine.
Some people have really amazing stories, and those are the ones that interviewers enjoy listening to, so thinking about this long before interviews start is great. If you can tell a great story of why you wanted to become a doctor, this is what sticks to us in the end. You are not your stats. I can vouch that few people will remember your stats at the end of the day, but if you tell a story, we will certainly remember.
Bad answers are very short, superficial, clichéd responses like “I want to help people”, which doesn’t really explain “Why medicine?”, and the better way to respond is how you found out that you wanted to help people.
The idea here (heavily romanticized) is basically to figure out if you randomly decided to go into medicine, whether this is just something your family told you to do, the prestige and money that comes with the profession, or if you have had life experiences that have affirmed and reaffirmed your decisions to pursue medicine.
You should take this opportunity to answer the question in a way that expresses your passion and dedication to your pursuit of medicine. Use your answer as a way to express yourself as someone who is driven, mature, and caring."
-Andrew
Here’s how you want to think of this question. When we ask this question, we are basically asking you to tell your story, your story being how you came to choose a career in medicine.
Some people have really amazing stories, and those are the ones that interviewers enjoy listening to, so thinking about this long before interviews start is great. If you can tell a great story of why you wanted to become a doctor, this is what sticks to us in the end. You are not your stats. I can vouch that few people will remember your stats at the end of the day, but if you tell a story, we will certainly remember.
Bad answers are very short, superficial, clichéd responses like “I want to help people”, which doesn’t really explain “Why medicine?”, and the better way to respond is how you found out that you wanted to help people.
The idea here (heavily romanticized) is basically to figure out if you randomly decided to go into medicine, whether this is just something your family told you to do, the prestige and money that comes with the profession, or if you have had life experiences that have affirmed and reaffirmed your decisions to pursue medicine.
You should take this opportunity to answer the question in a way that expresses your passion and dedication to your pursuit of medicine. Use your answer as a way to express yourself as someone who is driven, mature, and caring."
-Andrew