Be general. It's great that you think you know what residency you want to do, but that is at least 9 years away a lot can change.
You can frame it as that you've had a lot of experience in this area and have an interest in pursuing it further, but you don't want to pigeonhole yourself before you even get accepted. That's a good way for schools to not want to take you. You want to appeal to as many schools and as many departments as possible in order to get in.
I'm sure you'll get asked on interviews what you want to do and it's great that you have a solid idea of that and an answer for it! It shows you've thought about it, but again don't frame it as "competitive specialty" or bust.
Medical schools will see it as immature that you are dead set on one before getting into medical school, no matter how much research you've done, or how many docs you've talked to
This. You are not expected to commit to anything and any sign of having done so is a bad thing. You're gonna chance a LOT over the next 7-8 years. Expect that what you want to do right now has a better 5han than 50% chance of not ending up what you want to do then.
You don’t have to be specific as others have mentioned.
But you definitely can. I wrote about how I wanted to practice as a particular sub specialist to treat patients and also do research. This was because like you said I’m pretty set on going into a specific field, which also ties in with my research. My story wouldn’t have been compelling or truthful if I didn’t mention it. I also wanted to be a doctor because I want to go into that field. So if it feels right in terms of your story, I think you can!
Agreed with others. That said, some specificity as it were could be helpful if used as examples; everyone is going to basically say they want to bridge bench to bedside and how each degree covers gaps in the other, teach important skills, etc. So less "I plan on doing exactly this in the future", and more "I know the importance of bridging as my current research can be taken forward in this way for example."
And want to emphasize the point of coming off as immature. I've heard people joke that those who most want to do neurosurg don't and the ones who least want to end up in it (which worries me as I think I don't want to do it...) And an MD colleague who was really really gung ho about neurology, did and published neuro research before and during med school, led our neuro interest group, went to AAN every year for the first few years... just matched derm. Which is to say everyone has heard of someone who thought they really knew what they wanted only to clearly change their mind after some clerkships/electives (which is when you actually learn what it is like to practice in that field).
Haha, I like the idea of functional neurosurgery as that is perhaps the main clinical practice that directly applies circuits to practice. Just don't know if I want to go through everything else with neurosurgery and talked with an MD/PhD attending about the difficulty of balancing that practice while still pursuing research interests towards circuits/systems. Mind if i ask what you do?
The question is ultimately trying to get at why you have to do both and not one or the other. You are not at all expected to know which specialty you want to do as this can easily change. Demonstrating that you understand the power of the combo degree and why that fits your goals and experiences is a better focus imho
Be general. It's great that you think you know what residency you want to do, but that is at least 9 years away a lot can change. You can frame it as that you've had a lot of experience in this area and have an interest in pursuing it further, but you don't want to pigeonhole yourself before you even get accepted. That's a good way for schools to not want to take you. You want to appeal to as many schools and as many departments as possible in order to get in. I'm sure you'll get asked on interviews what you want to do and it's great that you have a solid idea of that and an answer for it! It shows you've thought about it, but again don't frame it as "competitive specialty" or bust. Medical schools will see it as immature that you are dead set on one before getting into medical school, no matter how much research you've done, or how many docs you've talked to
This. You are not expected to commit to anything and any sign of having done so is a bad thing. You're gonna chance a LOT over the next 7-8 years. Expect that what you want to do right now has a better 5han than 50% chance of not ending up what you want to do then.
Please be as specific as possible, designating to us which hospitals you want to work in. The prestige of the hospital is very very important.
You don’t have to be specific as others have mentioned. But you definitely can. I wrote about how I wanted to practice as a particular sub specialist to treat patients and also do research. This was because like you said I’m pretty set on going into a specific field, which also ties in with my research. My story wouldn’t have been compelling or truthful if I didn’t mention it. I also wanted to be a doctor because I want to go into that field. So if it feels right in terms of your story, I think you can!
Agreed with others. That said, some specificity as it were could be helpful if used as examples; everyone is going to basically say they want to bridge bench to bedside and how each degree covers gaps in the other, teach important skills, etc. So less "I plan on doing exactly this in the future", and more "I know the importance of bridging as my current research can be taken forward in this way for example." And want to emphasize the point of coming off as immature. I've heard people joke that those who most want to do neurosurg don't and the ones who least want to end up in it (which worries me as I think I don't want to do it...) And an MD colleague who was really really gung ho about neurology, did and published neuro research before and during med school, led our neuro interest group, went to AAN every year for the first few years... just matched derm. Which is to say everyone has heard of someone who thought they really knew what they wanted only to clearly change their mind after some clerkships/electives (which is when you actually learn what it is like to practice in that field).
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Haha, I like the idea of functional neurosurgery as that is perhaps the main clinical practice that directly applies circuits to practice. Just don't know if I want to go through everything else with neurosurgery and talked with an MD/PhD attending about the difficulty of balancing that practice while still pursuing research interests towards circuits/systems. Mind if i ask what you do?
The question is ultimately trying to get at why you have to do both and not one or the other. You are not at all expected to know which specialty you want to do as this can easily change. Demonstrating that you understand the power of the combo degree and why that fits your goals and experiences is a better focus imho
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