You have always known you wanted to become a doctor, so you worked hard to get good grades. So now that medical school is within reach, it’s time to convince the admissions board why you want to be a doctor. The reasons you give for the question, why do you want to become a doctor? can determine whether you’ll be accepted or rejected from medical school.
Out of all the med school essay questions, this is one of the most common yet challenging to answer. Explaining it to a panel can be easy, but putting it on paper within a specific word limit is not easy. Luckily, we have compiled this guide to help candidates who want to become doctors know how to craft an impressive “why I want to be a doctor essay.”
Why Does Admission Committee Ask Why Do You Want To Be A Doctor?
Every med school receives hundreds of applications from qualified candidates each year. Grades alone cannot help the admissions officer determine who is passionate about the medical field.
That is why they go further and ask applicants to submit “why do I want to be a doctor essay?” Besides, only limited spots are available, and the board wants to fill them only with the most qualified individuals who can handle the rigorous demands of medical school and thrive.
Being a medical doctor is not a career for people who aren’t passionate about helping others. On the other hand, to be a doctor requires the student to put in years of study and complete numerous assignments.
Thus, by asking this question, the admissions officer wants to see your passion and commitment to the path of becoming a doctor. So when composing your answer, think about what it is like to be a doctor, and the values patients look for in their physician.
Reasons to Become a Doctor
If you ask doctors why they chose that career path, you’ll definitely get different unique answers. But all of them will have a great reason that made their decisions to become a doctor easy. So why be a doctor and not pursue any other profession?
A genuine answer to this question can make it easier to craft an essay that convinces the board to accept you into that specific med school. Some of the wrong reasons to include in your essay are:
- To make a lot of money
- To earn the respect of your parents or community.
- To build a name for yourself
- Because the career you want is not challenging enough
- To prove your self-worth
If you can identify with most of these reasons, the chances are high that you don’t have the right motivation to become a doctor. So why do people want to be doctors?
- To help others make the right decisions about their health
- To be in a position of influence and get respect
- To pursue a clinical research field
- To build meaningful relationships with people
The right answer should focus on your strengths and unique experiences that made it clear you wanted to pursue medicine. Then tailor these two things to you and use them to make your essay stand out.
How to Answer Why Do You Want to Be a Doctor
The essay should focus on communicating the event that led you to choose medicine as a career, then explain what you did to learn more about the field. Here are steps to follow to answer this question in an essay effectively:
Use a Personal Story
Something must have motivated you to become a doctor, and that is what you should write about in a story format. So consider your primary motivations for studying medicine and weave them into a fascinating story.
When giving the narrative, focus on specific aspects that stood out to you, relate it to patient experience and what you aim to do when you become a doctor. A personal story makes it easier to connect with the reader emotionally. But avoid cliché stories as they don’t show sincerity.
Highlight Your Knowledge and Expertise in a Specific Medical Career
Apart from communicating your personal reasons for pursuing medicine, you must also show awareness of what the career entails, what is expected of you, and the steps you have taken to prepare for the role.
Besides, you need a medical degree to become a doctor but have a specific specialty in mind. For example, if you want to become an audiologist, give in-depth knowledge of ear-related issues or show what you have done to help children with hearing loss learn to communicate.
Structure Your Answer
While the primary function of the essay is to answer why you want to become a doctor, the information presented must be logical and easy to understand. Your thoughts must be organized. For starters, the introductory paragraph should discuss your initial interest in medicine, i.e., how you developed a curiosity for medicine and the specialty you want to pursue.
The body section should give examples of your experiences, skills, and steps you have taken so far to understand medicine and patient care better. This can include volunteering in a hospital or any extracurricular activities related to the medical field. Don’t forget to be specific and use one or two instances to back up what you say.
Use another body paragraph to speak about your successes and how you overcome failure. What you learned from your failures, how they affected you and motivated you further to become a doctor. Add a concluding sentence that leaves the reader with a strong impression.
Final Thought
When the admissions board asks why you want to be a doctor, they want to get insight into who you are and which values and elements of the medical profession you cherish most. They also want to gauge whether you are cut out to pursue a medical field. So avoid mentioning anything that can hinder your chances of getting accepted into med school.
Hopefully, this post has given you insight into how to answer this question in your essay better. But in case you have difficulties writing the essay, don’t waste time. Click the order now button, and an expert will craft an impressive essay that convinces the reader you are the right fit for medical school.
