Why Medicine?

Common reasons why people want to study Medicine/ become a doctor include:

• An interest in Science, the human body, diseases, public & global health etc.

• An interest in a particular condition, e.g. cancer or a specialty, e.g. psychiatry which then led to a wider interest in Medicine.

• Wanting to contribute to science/research/public health/global health.

• Wanting a job which helps people and makes a difference to their lives/ to society

• A dynamic profession, constantly evolving, requiring constant life-long learning.

• A career which means you will need and learn many skills and have knowledge from many disciplines, as well as the chance to work in and alongside many different disciplines.

• A challenging, exciting, interesting, varied job. There are many careers within Medicine, and the training involves a wide exposure to these varied disciplines.

• A stable, well respected, well-paid career with excellent career progression and job prospects nationally and internationally.

• A degree (and later a profession) which incorporates elements from Medicine, Surgery, the Sciences, Pharmacology, Psychology, Sociology, Epidemiology, communication skills, human factors, management, teaching, research and more.

• A very interesting, intellectually demanding and varied undergraduate degree with excellent graduate prospects in the UK and internationally.

Why Medicine?

Firstly, why are you interested in medicine as a science? You could focus on what interests you specifically in the physiology, anatomy or pharmacology of medicine for example. Try not to go into books you’ve read or academic achievements here as you will go into this more in the main body of your statement.

Link to Medicine as a Profession

Next, link this to medicine as a profession. You could mention the clinical aspect, working within a healthcare team or how it is patient-centred- but remember to state why you want to do this as part of your career.  A reader should be gripped by the enthusiasm you have for this career, so make it passionate! If you’d like more guidance on how to brainstorm your motivation for medicine, be sure to check out our video on writing about your motivation.

Writing Style

So next is writing style. As I’ve already covered, your introduction has to be captivating and engaging. Think of the admissions staff reading your statement, they have probably read hundreds of them so make yours stand out! You want them to want to keep reading. An important point here is that a lot of applicants may come across as having an idealistic view of medicine. By this I mean they will use language such as ‘Medicine is my dream’ ‘medicine is the perfect career for me’, which can come across unrealistic and does not show that the applicant has a realistic understanding of medicine as a career- it is tough. You need to show that you are ready for the challenge.

Give Examples

Finally, give examples. Although you will provide more examples in the body of your statement, it can be good to drop one in here – make it a good one! For example, if you were particularly interested in the science, instead of saying “I have always been interested in the workings of the human body”, you could say

“From an early age I have been fascinated by the workings of life. The human body is a remarkable machine with many diverse systems producing an organism that could never be artificially reproduced”. This is much more insightful and gives reasoning. When giving examples for your motivation, as mentioned in a previous video, you can give personal anecdotes, however, do avoid making them clichés. Again, keep them realistic and link them to how it will make you a great medic.