I'm a first year medical student currently applying for summer research programs and am trying to figure out what might help my residency application in the long run. Let me point out that I'm not doing research solely for the application, because I really do enjoy research and want to make it a part of my future career as a physician, so I would honestly be happy with either of the following options in the end. However, I would like to apply for some more prestigious residency locations (specifically in Internal Medicine) in the future (not necessarily Johns Hopkins or anything, but like top 50 or something), so I'm trying to determine what might be best to set my application apart. So, it boils down to the following options.
Option 1:
My state medical school has a summer research program for medical students. This is a pretty much guaranteed acceptance with the possibility of working on something I'm interested in. I think the pros of this would be that I could probably continue working on the research throughout my four years of school, which might lead to a publication or two.
Option 2:
I was considering applying for a research position at the NIH. This isn't as much of a guaranteed acceptance, and I would most likely be working on something I'm interested in. However, pros of this is obviously the NIH is a prestigious organization and it would be cool to have the opportunity to work there. Plus, more prestigious residency locations might look at this more heavily. However, I would only be doing the research for the summer and not sure I'd be able to get my name on a publication (could happen, but not necessarily).
Both options provide the same stipend, which isn't really a big factor anyway. However, I already have housing where my med school is and would have to figure that out if I went to the NIH. Again, a small factor, but one to note.
So any thoughts/suggestions?
Option 1:
My state medical school has a summer research program for medical students. This is a pretty much guaranteed acceptance with the possibility of working on something I'm interested in. I think the pros of this would be that I could probably continue working on the research throughout my four years of school, which might lead to a publication or two.
Option 2:
I was considering applying for a research position at the NIH. This isn't as much of a guaranteed acceptance, and I would most likely be working on something I'm interested in. However, pros of this is obviously the NIH is a prestigious organization and it would be cool to have the opportunity to work there. Plus, more prestigious residency locations might look at this more heavily. However, I would only be doing the research for the summer and not sure I'd be able to get my name on a publication (could happen, but not necessarily).
Both options provide the same stipend, which isn't really a big factor anyway. However, I already have housing where my med school is and would have to figure that out if I went to the NIH. Again, a small factor, but one to note.
So any thoughts/suggestions?
