Med School and Motivation Questions Flashcards
Discuss your decision to pursue medicine. When did you decide to become an MD, and why?
- Brain Tumor In High School
So, it started as I was saying when I had a brain tumor in high school. I was pretty scared, I barely even knew what that was, was I going to be okay? It was scary. And they were so patient and kind and took the time to explain everything to me and to comfort me. I really idolized them and the idea of spending your life dedicated to helping sick children to feel better physically but also emotionally was so admirable to me. Wow, I really want to do this when I’m older. They made it look so simple and easy. - Finding Out the Real Story
I went back to spend the summer with them my freshman year and I was like this was not what I was expecting at all. It was so much harder and more draining – it was emotionally difficult to be dealing with all of these children, it was mentally difficult trying to keep all the information on each patient straight, it was physically difficult walking to the ICU and to different patient locations all day. It’s kind of like when you see the end product of like Lebron James and you’re like wow that’s so amazing and it looks so easy but you don’t see the behind the scenes of how difficult it actually is to make it look so easy. - Why I liked it
It was different than I was expecting and also much more exciting in a lot of ways – it was never static, it was chaotic and you were always learning new things, which really appeals to me.
- I love to learn and I am excited about a job where nothing is simple, you never know what is going to be thrown at you. Being in a job where I can communicate and empathize and build connections with and help people is important to me.
- Puzzles of medicine really excited me. I remember going home and telling my parents how excited I was.
Why did you decide to choose medicine and not some other field where you can help others, such as nursing, physical therapy, pharmacology, psychology, education, or social work?
I think that would be great, but medicine is so immediate and scientific. I love the challenge and the breadth of medicine, where a patient can come in with any number of infinite symptoms and you have to decipher the problem and choose the solution. It means every day is completely different with a completely different set of issues and puzzles to decipher.
How have you tested your motivation to become an MD? Please explain.
Yes, the first time I really found out that I wanted to become an MD was when I shadowed freshman year. Dr. Gardner. I went back and shadowed at CHOP where I probably did not want to become a surgeon. But, frankly, I wish I would’ve had the chance to work this year. The pre-med courses themselves are a huge test of motivation, studying for the MCAT, I spent a whole summer just reading textbooks. But I actually just got a job at a COVID vaccine clinic that I am pumped about the get some more hands-on experience.
What will you do if you are not accepted to medical school this year? Have you an alternative career plan?
- Apply again – work on areas of application that aren’t good enough
- Work on projects, especially in data science in the meantime.
I will apply again, and take feedback and try to improve aspects of my application that didn’t work because I am really set on patient interaction being a central part of what I do. If I literally was prevented from being a doctor for the rest of my life, I would set my focus on using my data science background and providing improvements in health care. I think I would continue practicing my health data science skills and work on projects because I love that.
What general and specific skills would you hope an ideal medical school experience would give you? How might your ideal school achieve that result?
I would really like to be trained in dealing with patients as much as possible. I think every medical school pretty much will teach me about the basic knowledge required for medicine, but one of the main challenges is making sure I become an effective communicator. That’s the most challenging part, so I would prefer a very in-person, hands-on experience to learn to combine the information aspect with the patient aspect. The information means nothing if you can’t explain it to the patient in a clear and digestible way.
What special qualities do you feel you possess that set you apart from other medical school candidates? What makes you unique or different as a medical school candidate?
I think I come at it from a slightly different perspective having been trained in data science and statistics and being incredibly interested in neuroscience and cognitive biases, I think I can bring a lot in terms of using these concepts to make myself a more effective doctor.
