You're answering "Why Medicine?" wrong
Hello, future doctors.
"Why Medicine?" is the most over-prepared question. It is so prepared for so much that most answers are in similar veins. Ergo, so long as your answer is genuine, you'll be average and you won't lose points here. Especially if your answer is cliché.
What students miss however is the natural follow-up: "Why not other allied healthcare roles?". You might have explained "Why Medicine?", but you have not answered why you want to be a doctor over other professions. This article covers exactly that.
Warning
It is very important not to put other professions down. Everyone provides value to society. Also, this is not a good look. Instead, walk the interviewer through what makes a doctor different to other roles.
Doctor vs nurse
The nurse and the doctor are the closest of the allied healthcare roles. I like to answer the follow-up by contrasting them.
A nurse focuses on continuous care. Always there with the patient — drawing blood, giving pills, noticing when the mood changes.
A doctor focuses on acute care. Comes in when there is a problem, diagnoses it, moves on to the next.
Now that you have put your finger on their differences, you can continue to explain why you chose medicine. I would say something along the lines of
Both professions have very different care types. Different personalities suit each type, and I personally think I am better suited to acute care.
Bonus points if you can give a personal example where you demonstrate acute care. Even better, if you had clinical experience and noticed this difference, you could integrate that into your storyline as a nice introduction:
Last summer, I spent a day with the surgical team at Princeton Plainsboro. It was an incredible opportunity for a number of reasons, one of them being that it cemented my choice in medicine over other healthcare degrees. This is because I realised that…
Delivery
I think it is powerful to predict the interviewer's next move. That's why I recommend you answer "Why not other allied healthcare roles?" in the same answer as “Why Medicine?". Don't wait for the natural follow-up.
Concluding thoughts
Every battle is won before it is fought.
— Sun Tzu
This is the third article in my medical school interview prep series. Past articles have answered the technicalities of "Why Our University?". Also, I have written on my favourite reply to the neglected "Any Questions?". It is one I have never revealed to the public before.
Got an interview coming up? Get the Free Interview Prep Guide.
Michael
First-year AUSoM medical student,
Future Swiss doctor
