What makes doctors different?

I think you are going down the wrong route with trying to say doctors are different because of x,y,z. This kind of question surely is more about what you have done to make you think that you want to be a doctor? i.e. talk about your work experience and your life experience that has lead you to this interview. I would suggest that the interviewer is not looking for you to list the differences between a doctor and another professional's job spec.

In medical interviews and applications, they often ask why you want to be a doctor and not x. What answer do you think they are looking for as many other professions involve caring, helping others, making a difference etc.?

Not really listing differences but I know people are asked things like, ''If you want to be in a profession which helps people, why did you not become a nurse or teacher instead?''

To give a funny example, I have sat on the interview panel for a couple of years at the uni I studied at, and when asked why do you want to be a physio, one interviewee said "because I didn't get into nursing". Another sat there and said "well why don't you sell me this university". Both these two obviously had no answer to why they wanted to be physios - yup, they didn't get in. The ones that expressed a passion for the profession with a good mix of experience and reasoning were just fine. In short, the interviewers can smell a bull****ter a mile off and this is what you need to avoid.

Wow, their answers are amusing though I expect that nerves may get to us all.
I want to go into medicine to make a difference in people's lives and I believe this career will give me a greater sense of purpose, and medicine is an area which will touch the lives of every person. I don't want to go into any other healthcare profession because, from what I have seen on work experience, it is doctors who have the huge responsibility of making crucial decisions regarding the patient and I do not simply want to provide care which the doctor prescribes.
Well, that's what I would probably say if they asked me. It isn't as interesting as the personal statements I have read about clothes being set on fire and family tragedies, but it is genuine so I think I shall stick to it.

From personal experience over the years, you can say that most healthcare professionals make crucial decisions about patients. There have been plenty of times where as a physio I have had to say that someone has no rehab potential and will be bed bound, or will not be suitable for prosthetic limbs, or will not tolerate further invasive suctioning/intervention thus withdrawing active treatment, or might need a bolus of Alfentanil / Propofol to calm them down (Nurses), or putting them on high flow O2, or spotting a DVT that has been missed, a fractured NOF that has been sent to me by the junior doctor in orthopaedics for a set of crutches (Yup, that happened - matey missed the fracture and this guy was understandably in agony trying to stand up) etc etc. I think you run the risk of the come back answer being so you think that doctors play god and don't involve the MDT with decisions about care? They dictate all care and everyone else is simply a drone? Why do we need anything other than doctors in the NHS? Purely for wiping bottoms and handing out walking sticks to little old ladies?

I know what you are saying, and in a way I am being devils advocate, but what about when medicine doesn't work/has run out of options? Who decides where a patient should die? Who decides whether someone should be placed or fast-tracked home? Who rehabilitates the person in their home or supports them through terminal illness? Who makes decisions on financial support? Decisions on carer provision? Decisions on power of attorney? Decisions on whether someone will walk again after a stroke? Decisions on if someone needs that back surgery or if it is purely self-induced pain? And on. And on. And on. I am not by the way trying to say that physios do this alone either, or that doctors play no part in the above, but my point is that there are teams of healthcare professionals for a reason.

I would agree with you that senior doctors are the ultimate decision makers, but in my years of experience they very rarely make a decision without the input of a wide variety of people. Doctors don't prescribe what I do or don't do - there is plenty of stuff that myself and others do autonomously. I would certainly be struck off if I tried to operate on someone, but one of the things that the medical profession is renowned for is living purely within the medical world, as per your statement. The psychological and social aspect of things (look up biopsychosocial model) is just as important if we are truly going to care for the person and not the disease.

As an aside, the next batch of F1's start at my trust next week I think it is - black Wednesday is it? You would be surprised at how many of them will be asking the nurses, physios, radiographers etc etc all sorts of questions! A friend of mine who is now an orthopaedic registrar has said on numerous occasions that he quite simply wouldn't have survived without the nurses and others on his ward.

I think you need to revisit your statement about only providing care that the doctor prescribes. It comes across as the stereotypical elitist doctor view that I know from personal experience is very rare in the NHS. 99% of doctors of all grades who I have met actively involve everyone in decisions about patient care, and value their input into the process. Nobody knows everything - not even your 60 year old consultant who has been a senior doctor longer than you have been alive! I think that unfortunately there is so much pressure applying and succeeding in getting into med school that it gives people this elitist view - no other profession is as hard as this, no other profession is as academic as this, no other profession is as important as this, makes as important an input into the patient etc etc. There has been so much work over the years in getting rid of this image. Development of the GEP course, admissions standards lowering for pupils at disadvantaged schools, 6 year courses for those without relevant A levels and/or grades etc. I fear that if you say something along the lines of doctors are god then your interview will quite quickly be terminated.

Just a semi-rant dressed up as advice. Hope some of it is helpful.

Thanks That was very definitely very helpful. I understand what you mean with the idea of the elitist doctor view. I think that part of my understanding of this actually came from work experience / volunteering and the doctors I worked with. Also, many interview books seem to indicate that medical schools want us to talk about the decision making role of the doctor as being one of the most distinguishing features of the career. Then at the same time, they also stress the importance of viewing other healthcare professionals as equals. I don't know, like you said, perhaps it is all these entry procedures which instill the elitist view from the very start.

They're looking for you to go beyond the obvious. "Helping people" and "caring" are all very well, but every service job involves helping people.

Have you done any work experience? What else did you see the doctors doing apart from personally treating/reassuring patients? Based on what you've read and seen, what else is there about medicine which makes it unique compared to other jobs?