Should I consider research assistant positions?

[Italiandoc13]

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I am an European recent MD. Since I have not taken any USMLE step so far, I will not be able to apply for an Internal Medicine spot till September 2016. In the meanwhile, my plan is to find a research position to strengthen my application with some research papers while studying for the steps.
As MD, I should look for positions as post doc. I have a pretty strong background in clinical research, but no experience at all in lab. Even post doc positions which do not require a PhD obviously mandate at least one year of experience in molecular biology or other basic research stuff, so it seems pretty hard for me.

My main question is: should I consider opened positions as research assistant? Most of them do not require any specific experience in lab. I would probably be overqualified, but that is not the point. As research assistant, would I be able to author scientific papers? Do you think it is possible to be hired as post-doc after some months of experience as research assistant? And eventually, is it worth to go through a period as research assistant if my final goal is residency?

 

[gutonc]

You should probably spend your time and energy on the Steps. You're not qualified to be a post-doc and a lot of labs won't even talk to you for a tech job unless you're willing to give them at least 2 years.

1 year in a lab, with no prior experience, is unlikely to get you anything useful for a future residency application.