The Student Room Group

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Why do you want to be a doctor?

And actually, I was never asked this until my clinical school interview.

Reply 2

i aint gonna go into the answer i gave at EVERY interview i had.
but it went something about choosing a career being difficult and i wanted to do a career which combined my sceintific aptitude with communication skills etc.

something along those lines.....i said how interested i was in a profession that "constantly evolves">..that was my buzzword..
sounds kinda corny now though.
just sound enthusiastic not miserable.

Reply 3

I don't know :frown: I definitely find the workings of the human body interesting, and I particular find infections and how they interact with the human body fascinating. I think that doctors as well as other health professionals play an important role in society in both the treating and diagnosing on acute and chronic condition. Also having met with doctors when going into hospital with my Mum for appointments I can see the difference that having a good doctor compared to one that I would say were less good can make. I want to be able to make a difference if possible on an individual level to my patients by being a "good" doctors and by doing my best to treat them with dignity and to the best of my ability.

That is just a brief idea of why I want to be a doctor, it is actually much more complex than that. and I can't really explain it.

Reply 4

So that I can pose impossible questions to pre-freshers at their interviews.

Reply 5

Renal
So that I can pose impossible questions to pre-freshers at their interviews.

I would love to be on an interview panel!

Reply 6

I want to be a doctor because you get to meet lots of different people and you get to put something back into society. I also love Biology and learning how the body works as I find it a fasinating subject. I want a job that doesn't include sitting down all day and I want to feel active and involved.
Something along the lines of that anyway.

Reply 7

Nursing for you!

Reply 8

Why not?

mk

Reply 9

Renal
Nursing for you!


So, seeing as you seem to always have all the answers, what would you say?

Reply 10

themack889
WHY DO U WANT TO BE A DOCTOR?


I think it's a bit of an urban myth that you always get asked this question...

My main motivation for doing medicine was because I was told that I was not "good enough to do it" by a carrers advisor in year 10... and I wasn't having any of that nonsense...

Tbh, it's best just to be honest with answering questions... but it is a bit of a difficult question to answer - even us medical students would struggle to answer it!... but often people misunderstand why they are asked such question... they're mainly want to see how you react under pressure, which is why it is standard to ask a question that you won't expect at interview...

IMO, what makes a "good doctor" - is one that has a understanding behind what it will be like to be patient and to have a good understanding about people... It may have taken me a while to realise this (at first I thought all this clinical placements were just a waste of time - and why weren't we doing "real work")... but now i realise that when i see a GP or a consultant at a hospital, I don't give two ****s about his qualifications... I just want someone to listen to me, to explain to me what's wrong and to provide me with treatment and/or advice so I can get better...

And good luck with your interviews... They normally aren't as bad as you expect...

Reply 11

Renal
So that I can pose impossible questions to pre-freshers at their interviews.


You on the panel for Barts?

For this question are you meant to have a really direct short focussed answer? I really don't...:confused:

Reply 12

Well its like a calling - if you really want to do it its something within you. its quite difficult to discrib things like that. if you really are wanting to do medicine your passion wioll speak volumes for you.

Wangers

Reply 13

well when i was younger, i suffered from a cardiac disease called Kawasaki. NOT THE MOTORBIKE FOR U SMARTASSES!!
so i would say something along the lines of:
since i was in lower school, i've always been scientific minded, but particularly had a very biological-orientated mind. specifically, when something goes wrong with human body. When i was younger, i suffered from Kawasaki disease and just wanna put back into the society the help that i recieved. But that isn't the only reason, i've also grown up around doctors with my cousins being doctors and im always fascinated to listen to them talk about medicine and the procedures operations they do etc...

lol its sort of doing another personal statement really, but u gotta make it look like u never rehearsed!!

ok hears another question: say u talk about hw u always been scientific minded or u always wanted to go into the healthcare system, what if they say to u: Medicine is a very challenging subject. Why didn't u opt for something equally important, but slightly less pressure, such as Pharmacy or Nursing?

Reply 14

I was overqualified to be a nurse?

I want a big family & more £££s than mine had?

I like to feel important & powerful? muhaha.

I've always found hospitals exciting & people interesting?

edit - in 4 interviews no one asked.

Reply 15

The whole why I don't want to be a nurse...

I have thought about the career because when Im volunteering Im with the nurses and see how interesting the job can be, however I really want to know whats caused the diease/illness in a person, the science behind the problem, and I think nursing is more about the care not the scientifique basis. When I did my work experience I was with the SHO's and I realised that they get to see many more patients, they get to see more cases and interlectually its more demanding (not sure whether Id say that though cause I don't want to put nurses down cause ther cool and knowing me thats what Ill probably end up if i continually fail to get into med!). A nurse also told me when I was at the hospital that if I've always wanted to be a doctor, if I settle for nursing I'll always look at the doctors and think, I could do that and thats what I want to do and I'll never be truely happy! And I think shes right!

Well something along them lines, proabably more chatty though and hopefully it would flow and sound better, Im better at talking on the spot than thinking and writing!:smile:

Reply 16

wow thats a good one actually, saying how u wanna knw the scientific part etc....:cool:

Reply 17

themack889
wow thats a good one actually, saying how u wanna knw the scientific part etc....:cool:


Yeah, and no other medical students have ever thought of that before :wink:

Reply 18

Helenia
Yeah, and no other medical students have ever thought of that before :wink:

:rofl:

I actually got asked that question in all of my interviews. But they did make it sound like no big deal...something like, 'To start with, something youve been expecting..why do you want to be a doctor? [smile/blank expression]'
(but this isnt to say the question is unimportant at all)

Reply 19

Because I want to follow the crowd like I have been doing for the whole of my life :smile:
Only joking, I guess everyone wants to do it for similar reasons and you have to find some way of saying itlike you mean it. Plus, because everything's so cliche with this questions I don't think they're expecting some kind of dazzling never-been-heard-before answer, just an honest one.