Basic Sci vs Translational/Clinical Research?

[mariambaby3]

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I find myself interested a lot more in translational/clinical research in various IM subspecialties than basic science research. However, I have been having difficulties finding translational/clinical research opportunities as an MS1.

For residency applications, do PDs have a preference for either basic science vs translational/clinical research? Does either category of research have a stronger positive impact on an individual's application?

 

[cs24]

As far as your question, I have heard that a basic science pub is often weighted more "heavily" by PDs because by nature it will take more time and effort to publish a basic science paper than a clinical paper. However, if you choose to go the basic science route, you could get burned and not publish anything by fourth year, while your colleagues that went into clinical research have something to show for their efforts, even if it isn't as big and bad as that first author Cell publication.

Generally I would recommend clinical research for medical school, unless you are truly infatuated with basic science lab work. It fits much more nicely around a medical school schedule and is a much more reliable route to publication IMO, and publications are going to be the ultimate marker by which residencies measure your research involvement.

That said, if you are having trouble finding clinical research, keep looking. You might need to email everyone in the department, but I would guess that most institutions have at least one faculty member doing clinical/translation work in their department. It took me quite a while to find a good project when I first started M1, but finding the right opportunity has paid off big time now.