What kind of research should I do this summer?

[jargon124]

Hello everyone. I will be entering medical school this fall at the University of Arizona. Because I want to set myself up to compete for sought-after residency positions (and also because I like science...also because I need the money ), I am planning on participating in my schools "Medical Student Research Program". Basically we select a mentor and spend 8 weeks this summer working with them on a specific research project.

I am particularly interested in the following as possible residency choices: orthopedics, plastics, otolaryngology, radiology, and neurosurgery. I know that's a broad spectrum of fields, but I am quite certain that I will end up wanting to go into one of the above.

My question is this: does it matter which field I choose to do research in? If I do research in, say, radiology, will it still be useful to me if I end up applying for plastics later on?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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[Trek]

Yo jargon- so U of A it is for you then? Take care bro! --Trek

 

[trout]

Hey jargon, some advice from someone who has done alot of research. I think first you need to decide on clinical research versus basic science. Secondly it would be better if you could narrow down what you are thinking about, for example orthopedics it would be much better to do something with regards to bone regeneration or a clinical study of an implant versus some random neuron growth experiments...so also one other thing to consider is look at which program is strongest at U of arizona and connections mean alot!!!! Particularly when applying for residencies...lastly you are ahead of the curve so maybe this summer take sometime and do something fun! Congrats again!