Advice on summer research?

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Just wanted to know if there are any matched students who did research over the summer during their first year. I know everyone has different views on how to best spend their only summer off, but it'd be nice to see how you guys got to where you are. I was recently invited to do some research at an outside medical school in their dept. of anesthesiology. The actual project deals more with neurobiology than anesthesia per se, but I figure it would be a good way to introduce myself to the academic medical community. I'm not sure how relevant research experience is in the application process for anesthesiology, any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

[jocwyo]

I spent my first summer doing basic scientific research and have not regretted it. Research is one of the best ways to stretch your critical thinking and problem solving skills. It is a good way to rub shoulders with the academic community. Publications help to polish your CV and show that you are a well-rounded applicant.

Our research was published in time to make it onto my CV before residency applications. I also gave an oral presentation at a regional scientific annual meeting highlighting our most recent investigations, defended a poster at two research symposiums, and participated in a research conference at my medical school. If you have the chance - I would definitely do it.

That said, I really didn't have anyone from my interviews comment on my research participation. I can't say that it had an overwhelming effect on the admissions committees, however, if you have an interest in academic anesthesiology - I would definitely spend the time to participate in research.

If you'd rather have a summer off to play (which is tempting), you could schedule a rotation with a preceptor who likes to publish. It should be relatively easy to spend a couple of weeks on a small clinical project and get it published. I did this, also, during an away anesthesiology rotation. Writing the paper took me about a week and a half and was accepted for publication about two months later. Good luck!