Advice on pursuing a publication before medical school

[BlueScar]

Hello!

I am going to start medical school in a few months, and have been given the opportunity to join a graduate student on a new research project. I may be "acknowledged" or given authorship (30 percent chance) once published in April.

I already had a few posters and presentations, so this will be my first paper, if I decide to pursue it.

My question: Will doing this paper prior to medical school help me when I apply for residency? Or will residencies rather be interested ONLY in research done while in medical school?


Thank you!

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[Keep2r]

You should list this project as part of medical school. It will matter significantly if you publish in a major journal. Unless they are close to writing the manuscript, it probably won’t be published by the time you start school. You will be ahead of the curve as an applicant.

As an aside, before you join this project make sure to clarify with the principle investigator specifically what your acknowledgement will be on the paper. If you are dedicating your time to gathering data for this project, you should be included as an author and acknowledged for your work. Don’t go into this project without that information hashed out or you might be wasting your time and hard work for nothing.

 

[BlueScar]

You should list this project as part of medical school. It will matter significantly if you publish in a major journal. Unless they are close to writing the manuscript, it probably won’t be published by the time you start school. You will be ahead of the curve as an applicant.

As an aside, before you join this project make sure to clarify with the principle investigator specifically what your acknowledgement will be on the paper. If you are dedicating your time to gathering data for this project, you should be included as an author and acknowledged for your work. Don’t go into this project without that information hashed out or you might be wasting your time and hard work for nothing.

Thanks so much. I will atleast get the acknowledgement for sure. I've already been accepted to medical school so this new project will only serve to help my chances on landing a residency position 4 years from now, in theory. Will it help at all?

 

[Keep2r]

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Yes it will help for residency. When you are applying through ERAS for residency you should list this as a publication. The date of the publication will likely be after you started med school and be included as a med school publication. It will have a great impact on your residency application if it is published in a major journal and you are a second or third author. It sounds like the group working on this project is productive in churning out publications. After this project is over, you should see if you can get on another project with them and take on a larger role or even spearhead your own project for the next one.

 

[Moko]

Publications are like herpes: they stay with you for the rest of your life. So yes, it will help for residency, and for any future academic positions. Before you commit a large portion of your time to this project, you should be sure that your efforts will result in a co-authorship, and not just an acknowledgement. Acknowledgements are meaningless. Just my thoughts