research ... in medical humanities / bioethics / medical anthropology?

[mxns]

I know that clinical, translational, quality-improvement, and basic science research publications and abstracts during medical school are looked upon positively by residency program directors.

I do medical humanities / medical anthropology research in my free time and had something accepted to an international (but small) medical humanities conference. Yay! However, I am kinda reluctant to go, due to the cost of attending the conference-- my funding won't cover everything and I would have to partly pay out of pocket.

So: is this something that would even "matter" / "count" positively towards a residency application? Would it be worth the cost (several hundred dollars) I would need to pay? Is medical humanities research worth "less"? I am considering psychiatry as a specialty and my topic is somewhat related to psychiatry. The topic I wrote about is also related to some of my extracurricular activities.

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[altitudinarian]

Before giving an answer, I want to ask, "Why are you doing medical anthropology/medical humanities research in your free time?" I say this because 1.) it sounds as if you're not one who is in a combined program, which would leads to 2.) do you have any significant/serious interests in these areas that would warrant one to ask why didn't you consider a PhD program 3.) if it's not serious, it goes back to my first question.

I understand research can be fun and people thoroughly enjoy doing it in their free time. However, I don't know if you're also doing other research that is more "science" based, or at least the research you're doing in the medical anthropology/humanities sector also has clinical/translational qualities to it (or the research is leaning towards a public health scope). This will give a better picture on how to answer you.

 

[mxns]

It's just fun. I like reading about this kind of stuff in my free time. I didn't get a PhD because... I just didn't. I still enjoy medicine.

I also do work in neurology, so it's not as if I don't have other research pursuits.

 

[altitudinarian]

OK. With that, I wouldn't say the trip would be a "waste", but if it's not something you seriously see yourself pursuing further in the future (and you want to save money), don't go to the conference, unless you honestly don't mind paying for yourself and you believe the experience will be worthwhile.

Because if your answer was that you'd consider doing medical anthropology/medical humanities in a serious manner later (just don't have the time for it now), then I would say, "Heck yeah, go there, make connections with other people in those fields, get to know how to immerse yourself." Because academia jobs for humanities, including anthropology, are few and are not increasing anytime soon. Having that research under your belt would not be "worthless" if you're pursuing that track of doing medical humanities/medical anthropology and would definitely give you an edge if you wanted to pursue those things. There are other avenues outside of academia that, with your background in medicine, you can do, such as public health, working for drug companies to find out how certain populations use their drugs for treatment, and private companies who like the hybrid humanities/science person that can work on various projects of theirs (such as IDEO).

However, since it's for fun, don't stress out too much about it. It wouldn't hurt residency for you, but it wouldn't be a huge bolster either, unless again, you could make the case of how this would fit into what you would like to do with your career. The research in medical humanities isn't "worthless", despite opinions at times; it's just a matter of does it really fit into what you want to do later down the road, and that you're serious about pursuing it awhile doing your psychiatric research. For an example, see Dr. Arthur Kleinman, who is also a psychiatrist and a medical/sociocultural anthropologist. Though he is in academia, he's a good example of a person who combines his medical degree with his anthropological research, particularly in the area you want to go into.