Research timing?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

DNM

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
193
Reaction score
15
I am a medical student very interested in GI. My question is regarding research required for GI, and in particular when you are supposed to do research. I tried searching for any previous threads about this, and I apologize if this has already been covered. Anyways, it seems like the average accepted match into GI has quite a bit of productive research (2-4+ experiences). It sounds like it would be hard to publish this much while also handling your residency responsibilities. When are you supposed to be doing research if you are a GI hopeful? Is it necessary to be productive during medical school, or do many people wait until residency to start their research?

Members don't see this ad.
 
hey good afternoon. take this with a grain of salt because i am just a gi candidate this year (itching to get to match day in december) and so i may have done what i'm suggesting and not match...i really hope that's not the case. anyway...
if you look at the nrmp data, the avg # of pubs accepted applicants have is...0-1. seriously. it's not at all a matter of output. it's a matter of what you undertake and how you use your time. example: doing a retrospective chart review? then it's expected you will have an end product. finishing the project will be determined by how fast YOU go through the charts...which you should do if you want to show interest. doing a prospective study? well then, you are dependent on irb and enrolling patients...tricky situation, dependent on elective time as well. how INTERESTING was your idea? how NOVEL was it? it's ok if you don't have enough data yet to publish. did you get some prelim data? did you present this? did you write a review article on the subject and try to submit that as a precursor to the project? there's a lot of ways to attack this.
as for the matter of when, typically, start plugging into projects the end of intern year. knock out step 3 as an INTERN...not as a 2nd year im resident. start pitching ideas and lit reviews at the tail end of intern year so you can hit the ground running 2nd year by the time ACG and DDW roll around. make yourself available: hey gi attendings, and review articles i can help you pump out? Write up as many case reports as you can...easy, no irb, and you can present them at local ACP meetings as well as your school's research poster days.

for now, focus on getting into the best IM program you can (extra points if it has an internal gi program, that helps). tough it out for 3 years, work hard every day to show that you are capable of being a stellar internist, and the good will you accumulate as well as letters of rec that reflect your hard work will go a long way. be kind to your fellow residents...they can help you as well in more ways than you realize right now.
best of luck with this, i hope i can update this post with happy news soon!
 
Thanks a lot for the advice--good luck on the match!
 
Top