Research Year b/w 3rd and 4th year

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

Hey! I wish to pursue a competitive residency (ortho/ derm/ gen surg) and know that a research year would definitely help my odds. Does anybody know of any institutions that offer a research year type program for DO students? And do these programs at MD schools accept students from DO schools? Thanks for the help!

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[Dr. Death]

I think you should hash out your exact specialty choice because a research year won't be worth it for most residencies you will be competitive for. Gen surg and ortho you definitely don't need a research year for and are you even sure you could be competitive in derm? If you don't have 240+ then it's not even worth answering the question

 

[xerei]

sorry this really isn't a personal attack at all but I just love when people list Ortho and derm together. they have basically nothing in common. it's like someone decides to "do something competitive" before they factor anything in

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

I think you should hash out your exact specialty choice because a research year won't be worth it for most residencies you will be competitive for. Gen surg and ortho you definitely don't need a research year for and are you even sure you could be competitive in derm? If you don't have 240+ then it's not even worth answering the question

I have heard from some faculty advisors that adding a research year can be very helpful in terms of increasing the odds of matching into a residency. I am going to be entering medical school this fall and just want to be able to make a plan and be ready. Obviously I don't plan on having everything figured out haha I am just looking into various things. I am only 20 years old right now and don't mind taking a research year so if it can increase my odds of matching into a program I'd be open to it!

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

sorry this really isn't a personal attack at all but I just love when people list Ortho and derm together. they have basically nothing in common. it's like someone decides to "do something competitive" before they factor anything in

Haha yea I get what you're saying! I honestly don't even know what I want to do yet, it's still fairly early. I just listed 'competitive specialties' because I figured it is best to prepare for the hardest specialties since this would give me the motivation to work as hard as possible. And at the end of the day, if I build my application to be competitive for something like derm, I would not have trouble matching something as Peds if that is what interests me 4 years down the road. I would rather be in this type of situation than something vice versa haha

 

[builderstorch]

I'm an incoming DO this year as well, but I already have a good idea that I want to gun for derm. Not interested in other surgical specialties. I know DO's who have taken a research year so it is possible. My mentor is a resident at a former AOA derm program and he did one.

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

I'm an incoming DO this year as well, but I already have a good idea that I want to gun for derm. Not interested in other surgical specialties. I know DO's who have taken a research year so it is possible. My mentor is a resident at a former AOA derm program and he did one.

Sweet, I hope everything works out! Do you happen to know what program he did it at? I am the only one in my family and friend group pursuing a career in medicine haha so I don't have many people to look at for insight/ advice

 

[builderstorch]

I'll have to find out. I'll be honest I have no idea how to look for or find them either. This would be a great question for your medical school. You can try and look online into research fellowships

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

I'll have to find out. I'll be honest I have no idea how to look for or find them either. This would be a great question for your medical school. You can try and look online into research fellowships

Yea for sure haha I will do that, I'll repost on here if I find any good ones!

 

[AlteredScale]

Hey! I wish to pursue a competitive residency (ortho/ derm/ gen surg) and know that a research year would definitely help my odds. Does anybody know of any institutions that offer a research year type program for DO students? And do these programs at MD schools accept students from DO schools? Thanks for the help!

Intramural research fellowships can be found at a good amount of DO schools, usually funded, def not as prestigious but you can make the best of them. Some are a dedicated year some are integrated into second year. Just depends on the school. Some MD schools also offer it but are usually biased to their students or students in the city.

Research Fellowships

Explore our opportunities for fellowship training in clinical or basic science research within the field of dermatology.

www.feinberg.northwestern.edu

Training Programs (DO students have done this one)

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Extramural fellowships are outside your school, usually funded by a sponsoring PI with external funding either through the NIH or the sponsoring organization hosting the fellowship, are usually much more competitive and can lead to really good experiences for your CV. These usually require strong letters from the school including previous research mentors. Here are a few examples.

You are being redirected... (DO's have entered a variety of these)

Hospital for Special Surgery Medical Student Training | HSS (right now states MD students only, but could change if you ask)

Medical Research Fellows Program | HHMI.org (very competitive even amongst MD students)

Fellowship Information - Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation (there are a few DO students that attended this)

Year Out Opportunities | Research & Fellowship Opportunities for Penn Med Students | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (lists of opps here)

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I did the intramural research fellowship with my school because I enjoyed research a lot.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

You don’t need a Research year for ortho or gen surg. Honestly I’m not sure how much it will help you for either. For derm it would only be helpful if you did it with a derm department., otherwise just get sky high board scores and work on research in school.

 

[deleted831695]

Dude I'm doing one right now between 2nd and 3rd year (and I'm probably going primary care!) to finish up old basic science/pseudo-clinical stuff I worked on at my former lab before medical school.

Is it going to help? Tf if I know (if all goes well I'll have *knock on wood* +3 co-author pubs), but it's an opportunity I'm probably not going to get again, so I took a gamble. For my situation though, I'm living at home so I don't have to pay an extra year's worth of rent and I'm very familiar with my lab as I worked there for years before school.

Do it if it's worth it for your specialty, not cost-prohibitive, or you're certain you're going to have at least one thing to show for it.

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

Intramural research fellowships can be found at a good amount of DO schools, usually funded, def not as prestigious but you can make the best of them. Some are a dedicated year some are integrated into second year. Just depends on the school. Some MD schools also offer it but are usually biased to their students or students in the city.

Research Fellowships

Explore our opportunities for fellowship training in clinical or basic science research within the field of dermatology.

www.feinberg.northwestern.edu

Training Programs (DO students have done this one)

--

Extramural fellowships are outside your school, usually funded by a sponsoring PI with external funding either through the NIH or the sponsoring organization hosting the fellowship, are usually much more competitive and can lead to really good experiences for your CV. These usually require strong letters from the school including previous research mentors. Here are a few examples.

You are being redirected... (DO's have entered a variety of these)

Hospital for Special Surgery Medical Student Training | HSS (right now states MD students only, but could change if you ask)

Medical Research Fellows Program | HHMI.org (very competitive even amongst MD students)

Fellowship Information - Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Foundation (there are a few DO students that attended this)

Year Out Opportunities | Research & Fellowship Opportunities for Penn Med Students | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (lists of opps here)

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I did the intramural research fellowship with my school because I enjoyed research a lot.

Wow, this was a super helpful post, thank you haha I'll look into all of these!

 

[13_Is_My_Favorite_Number]

Dude I'm doing one right now between 2nd and 3rd year (and I'm probably going primary care!) to finish up old basic science/pseudo-clinical stuff I worked on at my former lab before medical school.

Is it going to help? Tf if I know (if all goes well I'll have *knock on wood* +3 co-author pubs), but it's an opportunity I'm probably not going to get again, so I took a gamble. For my situation though, I'm living at home so I don't have to pay an extra year's worth of rent and I'm very familiar with my lab as I worked there for years before school.

Do it if it's worth it for your specialty, not cost-prohibitive, or you're certain you're going to have at least one thing to show for it.

For sure man, thanks for sharing your experience! I'll definitely do some more research and figure everything out, in terms of what speciality I am truly passionate about, and decide from there!

 

[DameJulie]

I just listed 'competitive specialties' because I figured it is best to prepare for the hardest specialties since this would give me the motivation to work as hard as possible.

That's the rIght mindset. Just stay open-minded in case your "competitive specialty" doesn't work out. You can do this!