Research after medical school

[tirteen13]

I am a MS4 deciding what I should do after graduation. I am seriously considering taking the year off and doing some research at a facility so that I can boost my skeleton-like CV in order to apply to more competitive programs. I am just unsure of the image that this will portray to DME's when I apply the following year. Do most university programs frown upon this behavior and prefer residents who are fresh out of medical school who haven't had such a hiatus? Or should I just suck it up apply to some program and take a year off during residency to do research? Any help would be appreciated.

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[vwhan]

I am a MS4 deciding what I should do after graduation. I am seriously considering taking the year off and doing some research at a facility so that I can boost my skeleton-like CV in order to apply to more competitive programs. I am just unsure of the image that this will portray to DME's when I apply the following year. Do most university programs frown upon this behavior and prefer residents who are fresh out of medical school who haven't had such a hiatus? Or should I just suck it up apply to some program and take a year off during residency to do research? Any help would be appreciated.

I would suggest talking to the department chair of the field you are interested in. For instance, I am applying to ophthalmology programs and talked to the Chair about backup plans. He said in his experience it is better to do a pre-residency fellowship than doing a prelim medicine year and reapplying. You may want to apply for residency programs first and if you don't match then consider doing research or have a backup plan.