Can publications in other fields help you w/ IM?

Publications in other fields besides IM would definitely help you. The academic programs in particular are looking for people interested in the pursuit of academic medicine, so research in any medical field will help you. IM intern selection committees understand that most med students don't know what field they will choose until late in medical school. Publications from undergrad also help a lot - you should definitely include them in your application. They also still look at your publications when you are applying for fellowships -- the same things apply for fellowship applications as for residency apps.

I matched into very competitive residency and fellowship positions, and have never done research in an IM field. All of my research has been in surgical specialties. None of the residency or fellowship programs I applied to and interviewed at cared that it was surgical rather than medical research -- and they spent a great deal of time discussing my research projects with me during my interviews.

I don't think that research really "covers up" bad grades. Selection committees usually look at the whole package. But if you have a lot of good publications and mediocre grades, the academic programs will likely view you as a stronger candidate than someone who has good grades and no research experience.

AJM said:

I don't think that research really "covers up" bad grades. Selection committees usually look at the whole package. But if you have a lot of good publications and mediocre grades, the academic programs will likely view you as a stronger candidate than someone who has good grades and no research experience.

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Is this also applicable for applying for fellowships, or is this only true for IM residency?

In general, yes. If its research done during residency, it probably helps a little more if it aligns with your fellowship/career interests but it can only help you and it will never hurt you.

Junkie_Smith said:

Is this also applicable for applying for fellowships, or is this only true for IM residency?

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irvinedawg said:

thanks everyone. Summer after 1st year is really the only time, one has to do anything significant. After this, we got boards and then clinicals. I also heard that it just gets busier during residency, so how do people get time to do research during residency.

Did anyone of you did research while in school full-time? Also, I how does your STEP 1 score play in getting a fellowship. Or is it just limited to your residency?

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There is also time in-between some of your 3rd-4th year rotations. During residency, some programs have research blocks or elective blocks where you'll have time to work on a project.

irvinedawg said:

thanks everyone. Summer after 1st year is really the only time, one has to do anything significant. After this, we got boards and then clinicals. I also heard that it just gets busier during residency, so how do people get time to do research during residency.

Did anyone of you did research while in school full-time? Also, I how does your STEP 1 score play in getting a fellowship. Or is it just limited to your residency?

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If you want to do research, you will be able to find time for it. Especially during 4th year of med school -- you should have plenty of free time then, and some schools even offer research blocks that you can do for a month at a time during your clinical years so you can concentrate on research without having clinical responsibilities. Many residency programs also will give you research time -- they vary in how much time you can take. Programs may allow anywhere from 1-6 months of research time during residency, with 2-3 months being the most common among the academic programs.

USMLE scores don't play nearly as big a role in fellowship applications as they do for residency. It's probably because there are far fewer people applying for each specialty than there are for IM, so programs don't need an easy screen to "weed out" applications. What becomes much more important are your LORs, research, clinical evaluations, PD letter, and interview, as well as how you "fit" with the particular program (both from a personality and clinical/research interest perpective).

AJM said:

USMLE scores don't play nearly as big a role in fellowship applications as they do for residency. It's probably because there are far fewer people applying for each specialty than there are for IM, so programs don't need an easy screen to "weed out" applications. What becomes much more important are your LORs, research, clinical evaluations, PD letter, and interview, as well as how you "fit" with the particular program (both from a personality and clinical/research interest perpective).

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This is very well put, you hit the nail on the head here AJM. I have had my eyes on a fellowship for a very long time now and have not seen this question answered so succinctly.
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everyone said research, what type? molecular level? patient and population level? or doesn't matter as long as it's clinical ?