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Doctors in the family - does it make a difference?

Hi,
I was just wondering if there were many people applying to/studying medicine who have no doctors in their immediate family?
I don't, but nearly evry1 else I know comes from a "medical family". Do you think it makes a difference to your chances of getting into medical school?

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Reply 1

graemematt

It used to in the olden days. My dad had an interview at one of the London universities...he was asked two questions:
1) Is your father a doctor?
2) Do you play rugby?

Poor guy had to answer no to both...he was screwed from there. Fortunately he went to Bristol and is now a consultant :biggrin:

Which brings me to my point...today it rarely matters. People who make an effort of bringing it up in interviews are often frowned upon to be honest. You could say that you gained an insight into medicine through your father/mother, but dont push it. Personally, I'll only say it if my mind blocks in the interview, which it probably will!

I cant wait for my interview...feeling excited about it. I love wearing a suit and all the hype leading up to it :biggrin:

Reply 2

Johnny C.

graemematt

Oh I love the olden days "do you play rugby" - what a fantastic question -lol :biggrin:

Best of luck with your interview. I love wearing my suit too :smile:

Piece of advice I've given evry1 since my first interview - Remember to breathe!!! I was so focussed on answering the first question, I didn't stop for breath until I had finished by which time I had expelled all the air in my lungs and needed to take a huge gasp to stop me passing out. I got a few strange looks :smile:

Reply 3

j00ni

I would still say it can make a big difference, as it makes it a hell of a lot easier to arrange medical work experience. Though this is hardly necessary to get a place, it certainly doesn't hurt.

Having said that, I come from a non-medical family and got in :smile:

Reply 4

darzona

I'd agree that it probably makes it easier to get work experience, but if you have good friends with medic families that can be almost as good.
I'm from a non-medic family and it doesn't seem to have been a problem.
I would possibly go so far even as to say that if they are aware of a medic family (and I'm not certain they would) they would ask more questions about your motivation and why you want to do medicine because they're increasingly alert to people sort of 'falling into' medicine just because their parents are medics. You might have quite good answers about the 'bad side' of medicine though I suppose, as you'd perhaps have seen more of it.

Reply 5

xJanex

My parents are medical and St. Georges asked me whether that was why i wanted to be a doctor. I just said it allowed me to see positive aspects and negative ect. and the positive outweighed the bad. I also said that choosing a career was such an important thing that i wouldn't choose something just because my parents did it but would ask their opinion.

P.S i love wearing a suit too!

Reply 6

danesh

graemematt

The same thing happened to my dad!!

He never applied to Bristol uni - but his father (being a top WHO diplomat) asked the dean whether his son could go to the university. Two weeks before term started the dean asked him to come for a chat. The interview was just him and the dean! He was asked if he played rugby (and answered no having lived in pakistan, sudan and libya for most of his life).

Really he strolled into medical school. And that is not a bad thing considering how well he has done in his field.

Ahhh, if only it was like that these days! :p:

Reply 7

*Princess*

why did they ask if u played rugby?

Reply 8

Johnny C.

*Princess*

why did they ask if u played rugby?

Rugby is a sport associated with public school boys, so in asking if he played rugby, he was asking not only if he was a sporty person who liked to get involved in non-academic things, but also whether or not he went to a private school. At that time, simply going to a public school was enough to get you into most universities for most courses.

Reply 9

person 34

My Dad's a dr and my Ma's a nurse. No it doesn't make a different, I want to do medicine because it's my choice. For a while though, I didn't want to do anything related to medicine. I've actually heard that the job where the children are most put off doing it by themselves, is when their parents are drs.

Reply 10

Wangers

My parents are medics and I arranged all my own w/e.
They loaded me with all the bad stuff as well.
Its not I want to do - to choose medicine for ****s and giggles is selfish and just wrong.

Reply 11

Johnny C.

Wangers

My parents are medics and I arranged all my own w/e.
They loaded me with all the bad stuff as well.
Its not I want to do - to choose medicine for ****s and giggles is selfish and just wrong.

So your parents didn't help you even a little bit e.g. telling you who to write to for work experience?

No one in my family has ever been medical at all, but without the help of neighbours who work in local hospitals, I'm fairly sure I would never have got any work experience...

I wrote to 10 different hospitals in London and none had work experience placements for over a year. I asked my neighbour who is a nurse, she spoke to a consultant and I had a placement in 8 weeks.

I really think having medical connections helps with getting into medical school (albeit indirectly)

Reply 12

7589200

Yeah agreed - it does make it easier to get work experience and probably some information about the NHS. (although, both of these are attainable with a little persistence.)

At interview however, remember, you're the first one ever, in your family. Saying anything else will probably work against you.

Reply 13

Pratik_thakkar

There arent any doctors in my family so you're not on your own Johnny C

Reply 14

marzibar

I think getting medical work experience can be more of who you know, rather than what you know. Rather annoying I know but such is life! If your determined to do medicine then if you dont know any doctors you will still get work experience through sheer determination and perserverance!

Reply 15

Philosoraptor

I have completely no-one in my family in medicine, or law, or dentistry, or a vet etc. Nothing like that at all :P. Yes work experience was very hard come by!

Reply 16

Helenia

marzigirl

I found this to be very true. I had a nightmare of a time trying to get work experience from local hospitals when going through the "official" routes - the only hospital which would take me was almost an hour away from my house, despite there being at least 4 closer than that. On the other hand, a friend of mine whose dad was a fairly well-renowned consultant just had to tap a few contacts and he had all sorts of amazing things. In that respect, having parents in the field can probably help.

On the other hand, the mere fact you have a parent/relative who is a doctor won't impress any interview panels or anyone reading your PS, so I'd advise against mentioning it. Unless of course your parent is some world-famous expert, in which case it might not be such a bad thing :wink:

Reply 17

Landy3693

I agree that being from a medical family is certaintly an advantage, in terms of getting work experience, having an insight, having a good understanding of medical issues etc and im sure they can offer some good advice on your perosnal statement. However coming from a medical family is certaintly not so much of a disadvantage to stop good medical applicants getting into med school, none of my family have ever been to university let alone studied medicine but i would never see it as an excuse for not getting in. Furthermore although it may be more difficult to get work experience it certaintly isn't an excuse for not having any, it just takes some determination. I ended up writing 30 letters before i got a placement, which doesn't really take a lot of effort (although it does cost a lot in stamps!). I'm glad in some respects i don't come from a medical family, it's allowed me to take a completely impartial look at medicine and i've been in no way influenced by anyone but myself in my career choice. I just hope now that i manage to get in and make it possible.