How to answer “Why medicine and not nursing?” in a medical school interview

A good answer to "why medicine and not nursing" explains what draws you to the physician's particular role, grounds it in what you've seen of health care teams, and speaks about nursing with genuine respect. Interviewers want to hear that you chose medicine for reasons specific to it, rather than because you rank it higher.

What the interviewer is assessing

• Health systems and advocacy
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Self-reflection and growth

This question checks whether you understand the roles on a health care team and have thought about where you fit. The interviewer wants to see that you considered other paths seriously. They're also listening for respect. Physicians work alongside nurses, pharmacists, therapists and many others, and an applicant who looks down on those roles will struggle on a team. Some interviewers ask about nursing in particular, and others ask about physician assistants, pharmacists or public health careers. The same approach works for all of them.

How to structure your answer

1. Start by acknowledging the value of the other profession, and mention what you've observed of it if you can.
2. Name what draws you to the physician's role in particular. Common reasons include responsibility for working out a diagnosis, leading the overall plan of care, the depth and length of the training, and the range of careers it opens, such as research or teaching alongside practice.
3. Connect those reasons to a specific experience, such as watching how a team you volunteered or worked with made decisions.
4. Close by noting that you'll depend on the other professions throughout your career.

Roles overlap more than many applicants realize, and scopes of practice differ between provinces, states and countries. Keep your description general rather than claiming that only physicians do a particular task. A careful answer to "why medicine and not nursing" shows that you understand the overlap and still have a clear reason for your choice.

Common mistakes

• Saying nurses do less, know less or matter less is inaccurate, and it will cost you with any interviewer.
• Pointing to salary, status or authority as your reason suggests the wrong motivation.
• Saying you want more time with patients often backfires, because in many settings nurses spend more time with each patient than physicians do.
• Saying you never considered other professions suggests you haven't explored the field.
• Describing in detail which decisions each profession makes can lead you into errors you can't support.

Follow-up questions to prepare for

• Which other health professions did you consider, and what ruled each one out?
• What have you seen a nurse do for a patient that no one else on the team did?
• If you weren't accepted to medicine, would you consider nursing or physician assistant training?
• How would you respond as a junior resident if a nurse with twenty years of experience disagreed with your plan?
• What do you think nurses find most frustrating about working with physicians?