SDN'ers,

I am currently a senior in college who is planning on attending med. school in the fall. My question is as follows: how important is having volunteer work in attaining a competitive residency (such as opthalmology or orthopedic surgery)? I have two options this summer, one being to research, the other being to volunteer in a developing nation. Both sound pretty enjoyable to me, so I'd just like to know which activity would benefit me more in the long run. Any help would be appreciated! :)

Thanks,

Ice

Research is far more important then volunteer work for most competetive residencies. It's a very different process then med school app's, it's no longer about proving that you are a caring person because your med school evals through patient interaction should reflect that. The academic powerhouses in residency programs (the most competetive ones) are looking to train people who are going into academics, and research is more a part of academics then working in a homeless shelter.

I did a bunch of volunteer stuff in med school, mostly b/c they were projects that interested me and i had fun doing and my med school just always seemed to be involved in a lot of things. Guess what? None of the surgery programs I interviewed at seemed the least bit interestedor impressed really. Like I said, I did it b/c I wanted to, not to help with getting into residency, but it would have been nice to have them at least notice something I put a lot of time into.

It is important, however, to do somethign besides just schoolwork. I'm sure if I didn't do any extracurriculars they would have taken notice.

Bottom line, go with research if you are interested in a competetive field. It doesn't matter what the research is in really, as long as you show an interest in an academic project of some kind. Try to get your name on a publication or two if you can though - no sense being a lab rat and not having something to show for it.

Do volunteer work because you want to make the world a better place, not because "it will benefit you more in the long run".

Ugh.

Just do the research.