Otolaryngology Summer Research "Dilemma"

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TLalo

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Hi guys! So I'm an MS1 and I'm interested in otolaryngology. I know it's early, I might change my mind, it's competitive, etc. Anyways I'd rather reach for a more competitive specialty so when the time comes to apply for residency, I will have everything I need under my belt.
I love research (worked as a clinical research associate for 3 years before med school) and I have the opportunity to work on 2 projects in otolaryngology for the summer between MS1 and MS1. Both are very different and both are really exciting and I am am having a really hard time deciding between the 2.

One is translational research, working in an animal lab:
  • As a medical student I really get to do everything: surgeries, monitoring/testing the animals for the different characteristics that we are interested in, data analysis, etc. Also we get to do a poster presentation the following spring.
  • On the plus side: will be working on 2 research studies at the same time because after the animal surgery we are looking at 2 different things. Kill one bird with 2 stones and maybe my name on 2 publications...
  • Since it is a translational study, there are a not of people involved: 4 attendings in different departments/sub-specialties, and already 7 students+residents so I don't know if this will hurt my chances to be on a publication (so many people how much can you contribute?)
  • Last point and I don't know if this matters: the person who will be personally mentoring me is a phd and not an ENT (but this IS an ENT research). Of the other attendings on this projects, 2 are ENTs but I won't be closely working with them.
  • Paid
The other project is clinical research:
  • It hasn't been IRB approved yet but will most probably be in a couple of month (let's assume it is for the sake of this discussion). My point is the project will start this summer. I will work on it full-time and then try to contrite as much as a can during MS2. Realistically how far can I make the project move forward and can I expect a publication in the future?
  • Responsibilities of the medical student would be enrolling patients, consent, some data analysis. etc.
  • Plus: I will be able to observe ENT surgeries.
  • The ENT who will be my mentor is a big shot surgeon. He is chief of the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery division and does conferences all over the country. And I probably will get to know him well since we will only be 4 people working on this project.
  • Probably unpaid

They both mentioned the importance of research and publications for ENT and I feel like both understand this is what med students are looking for when they conduct research.

Sorry this was a long post. I would like your input on which project could be the most productive for me as an aspiring ENT.

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Clinical research > Basic research, in terms of publication potential. A "big-shot" chief of FPRS probably has a good pedigree of publishing. So, this project will probably also have a good shot of being published if everything goes well.

It sounds like there's a lot of mouths to feed in the basic science project. There's no guarantee anything meaningful will pan out. But, in the chance that the bench project is published and you contributed significantly to it (ie. you have a high name in the author list), it's far more impressive due to the aforementioned crapshoot of publishing and the commitment necessary to see something to fruition in basic science.

A clinical project would be more amenable to your contributions during MS2, in case everything isn't completed by the time summer ends. The animal projects...not so much.

It's up to you and your interests. Do you want to get paid this summer and work your tail off on a project that ultimately may lead to nothing? or do you want to go for the clinical path w/o pay yet has the higher probability of publishing?

Lastly, don't forget to enjoy your summer. It's the last one you'll get.
 
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Definitely do the clinical project. Maybe you can do both projects, but the translational project sounds like a time sink. So, probably avoid the translational project, but come up with other things to do with your time, also. Getting quality exposure with a well known ENT faculty is a big part of it. Try not to look like a slacker. Could be some impressive hobbies or other research/CV building, preferably all of the above.
 
Thank you both for your answers. You both mentioned points that I was thinking about and therefore I also think that my time would be better invested in the clinical research study and that I could contribute more to this project compared to the other. Thanks!
 
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