- Today, we're going to talk about how you should answer
the why do you want to be a doctor question
in your medical school interviews.
You've worked so hard to be a competitive applicant
and earn your invitations to interview
at medical schools you've been dreaming of for years.
Now, it all comes down to this final step.
Just one last barrier between you and your white coat.
Imagine yourself sitting down
at your medical school interview.
You're nervous, but slowly start relaxing
into the conversation.
Then, your interviewer asks,
why do you want to be a doctor?
You hesitate, what do you say?
How do you answer without being cliche?
You start spouting vague generalities
about helping people and notice your interviewer's eyes
shift around the room.
You've lost their interest by giving the same answer
as every other med school applicant.
So what can you do differently?
How can do you avoid this common med school
interview mistake, to the why do you want
to be a doctor question?
If you're nervous about acing your med school interviews,
we're here to help you put your best foot forward
by preparing you to give a memorable and unique,
why do you want to be a doctor response.
I'm Dr. Pranjal Gupta, medical school admissions expert
from Shemmassian Academic Consulting.
In this video, we'll show you how to approach
the why do you want to be a doctor question,
and prepare a standout response.
We'll warn you about the topics you should avoid,
and give you expert advice on how to impress
your interviewers with your delivery.
We'll offer you a sample answer
to the why do you want to be a doctor question,
and then guide you through a brainstorming activity
so you can start outlining your own unique response.
Let's get started.
For the why do you want to be a doctor question,
let's first consider what you interviewers
are looking for when they ask you,
why do you want to be a doctor?
On a fundamental but important level,
they want to hear a coherent, direct answer
that demonstrates consistency
with your medical school application.
They interview as a whole is meant to evaluate
you communication skills and see if you're as great
in person as you were on your med school application.
So keep those objectives in mind
as you prepare for every medical school interview question.
With the why do you want
to be a doctor question specifically,
your interviewers want you to show
that you possess strong self awareness.
What are your reasons for becoming a physician?
Why is medicine your dream career?
After four or more challenging years
of pre-med study, you're expected to have
a well thought out answer to this interview question.
Many med school applicants have the misconception
that they should avoid talking about
a love for science or helping people,
thinking that that's too common of a response.
And we get it.
When the competition is so high,
you want to find a way to stand out in your interviews.
But medicine at its core, is a combination
of science and helping people.
Med school adcoms expect to hear
that those are two of your greatest passions.
Besides loving science and helping people,
what are your other valid motivations
you might have for wanting to be a doctor?
Maybe it's because you want to make
a positive impact, you enjoy solving puzzles or problems,
like collaborating with others.
You want to engage in life long learning,
or love regularly facing new challenges.
Most why do you want to be a doctor responses
will feature a few of these reasons.
So maybe your reasons and motivations
for becoming a doctor are the same ones
that many other applicants have,
and really that's okay.
You don't have to come up with a totally new,
unique reason for pursuing medicine
to give an interesting and memorable answer
to the why do you want to be a doctor question.
Here's the secret: you should focus your response
on your unique experiences that illustrate your reasons
for pursuing medicine.
Here's what that looks like.
Share specific anecdotes that have been significant
to your journey towards medical school.
You could use the experiences you referenced
in your personal statement,
or your work and activities section.
It might be a volunteer, work, or academic event
that triggered your medical interest.
Your reasons for becoming a doctor may not be
100% unique, but no one else have lived your life.
Your story is one of a kind.
And it offers great material for a memorable
why do you want to be a doctor response.
Now that you know how to approach
the why do you want to be a doctor question,
let's go over a few common mistakes you want to avoid
in your response.
First, don't repeat your resume
or work and activities section.
That'll be dry and boring to the interviewer.
Plus it's likely information they already know.
Second, don't be vague or generic.
We touched on this already, but it's worth repeating
because it's so important.
Saying, I want to be a doctor because I love
helping people and I love science,
is fine only if you use specific
and memorable anecdotes to show why.
Even then, consider how you can be even more focused
in your response.
Is there a specific aspect of science
that you love the most?
Or a certain goal that you want to help people achieve?
For example, saying I want to help people
in low income communities live healthier and longer lives,
is more unique, and it's a more unique answer
that will likely stick with your interviewers.
Here's a third mistake for you to avoid.
Don't over rehearse your response.
If you memorize your answer word for word,
you'll end up sounding robotic and stiff.
You want to create an outline of key points
and practice delivering your response
until it comes out smoothly.
But you still want your answer to have
a conversational and sort of natural feel to it.
This brings us to a few other tips
we want to share with you on how to impress
your interviewers on interview day.
In your medical school interviews,
what you say is just as important as how you say it.
You want to show confidence by making
appropriate eye contact,
by speaking at a normal volume,
not too loud - not too quiet,
and by using a self assured tone.
You want your answers to progress clearly
from one point to the next,
without rambling and seeming like you don't really know
where your response is headed.
And you want every answer to directly address
each of the questions at hand.
These are the standard guidelines you want to use
when answering every medical school interview question.
But to be memorable in your why do you want
to be a doctor response,
you have to up the ante.
Above all, you want to be engaging and authentic.
You want to speak from your heart.
After all, these are your experiences
and your motivations that you're sharing.
Express the passion and enthusiasm that you feel.
Your interviewers know it's there,
otherwise you wouldn't have made it this far
in the med school admissions process.
Let them feel that intensity of your desire
to be a doctor and convey these emotions
contained within your story.
If you're interviews are able to connect emotionally
with what you share, you'll be sure to make
a long lasting impression on them.
For even more suggestions on how to impress
on interview day and improve your admissions odds,
as well as sample answers to the most common
interview questions, check out our medical school
admissions guide and medical school interview guide
after this video.
The link to the interview guide
is in the description box below.
It's a perfect resource to boost your confidence
and help you ace your medical school interviews.
Before we help you outline your answer
to the why do you want to be a doctor question,
here's a sample response that incorporates
all of the advice that we've just shared.
So here it goes.
I started college as an engineering major
because I love science and innovation.
But talking to my freshman roommate
who was a pre-med bio major peaked my interest in medicine.
So I went home that summer and I shadowed a local doctor.
That's when I realized what was missing for me
from an engineering career.
It was that personal interaction
of working directly with people.
I love that doctors get to use science
to help people live happier and healthier lives.
When I got back to school my sophomore year,
I started to volunteer at a university hospital.
Right from the start I was helping patients
in the oncology department recover
from their cancer procedures.
I discovered the work of an oncologist
and it seemed like it was solving a challenging
and complex puzzle, which was right up my alley.
Doctors examine all the available options
and figure out the best way to put them together
to achieve the optimal result for the patient.
This is exactly the type of work I want to do
and the impact that I want to have in my career.
As you can see, this response tells a story
of how this applicant discovered and explored
their interest in medicine.
At the same time, it weaves in the reasons
why they're a perfect fit for medical a career.
They love science, love working with people,
and love solving challenging puzzles.
An answer like this is sure to make a positive impression.
All right, now it's time for you
to participate in the process and create an outline
for your own why do you want to be a doctor response.
Get ready to pause the video
and jot down a few of your thoughts.
First, think of two or three of the main reasons
why you want to be a medical doctor.
Some of the ones we've already mentioned
are desires to explore science, help others,
make an impact, solve puzzles, work as a team,
face new challenges, and engage in life long learning.
You might have different ones all together
and that's great.
Pause the video and take a minute or two
to clarify your reasons.
All right, welcome back.
Set your reasons for pursing medicine aside for a moment.
Now we want you to recall the first moment
when you became interested in a medical career.
Was it in that biology class when you couldn't stop
being amazed at the intricacy of the human body?
Were you in the hospital visiting a sick family member?
Whatever that moment was, it's completely unique to you.
Pause the video to write down the details.
Next, think of how you went about
exploring medicine as a potential career.
Did you take further science classes?
Did you volunteer at a hospital?
Did you shadow a doctor?
Did you even watch Dr. Mike videos you YouTube?
Pause the video and write down one or two steps
you took to explore medicine.
Now that you have those, try to identify
the moment when you decided for sure
that medicine was your calling.
Maybe you were volunteering or working
and all of a sudden it hit you,
this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Or perhaps you were inspired by a doctor you were shadowing.
Pause the video to find that specific moment.
All right, let's review what you've written down
during this activity.
You have your main reasons for wanting to be a doctor.
You have three significant experiences
in our medical journey.
The moment you first thought about pursing medicine,
the ways in which you explored a medical career,
and the moment when you realized that medicine
was your calling.
That's the prefect outline for your
why do you want to be a doctor response.
Connect those three experiences into a narrative
and weave in your motivations for pursuing medicine.
And with a bit of practice, you'll be ready
to impress our interviewers with a unique and memorable
answer to the why do you want to be a doctor question.
There you have it.
Everything you need to give a standout
why do you want to be a doctor response,
and ace your medical school interview.
Getting you one step closer to making
your medical school dreams come true.
If you found this video helpful,
give it a thumbs up and subscribe
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And if you'd like to learn more about
the med school admissions process,
click the link in the description
to get our free comprehensive guide,
How to Get Into Medical School.
The guide contains a bonus section,
Harnessing Psychology to Ace your Medical School Interviews
where we share the best strategies
to help you impress your admissions committees
on interview day.
Alright, thanks again for watching!
See you next time.