Bioethics research on residency apps?

[BlackSquirrelMed]

Background: I’m an undergrad accepted to a “reserved seat” program at a Midwestern medical school. I’ll matriculate in August 2019. During my time in undergrad, I’ve had some very negative experiences with science research that make me very hesitant about getting involved with it again during medical school. But also during this time, I’ve developed a strong interest in bioethics and how it relates to other aspects of medicine (healthcare policy, healthcare economics, medical sociology, etc)—so much so that I picked up a minor in this area.

I’d love to get involved in bioethics research before/during medical school—perhaps even get a Master’s. However, I don’t have any idea what specialty I want to go into at this point, and I understand that research is practically a prerequisite for many competitive specialties. So my question is this—how favorably/unfavorably is bioethics research looked upon in residency applications, and how does it compare to classical basic science/medical research?

Thanks in advance

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[Dwan]

Background: I’m an undergrad accepted to a “reserved seat” program at a Midwestern medical school. I’ll matriculate in August 2019. During my time in undergrad, I’ve had some very negative experiences with science research that make me very hesitant about getting involved with it again during medical school. But also during this time, I’ve developed a strong interest in bioethics and how it relates to other aspects of medicine (healthcare policy, healthcare economics, medical sociology, etc)—so much so that I picked up a minor in this area.

I’d love to get involved in bioethics research before/during medical school—perhaps even get a Master’s. However, I don’t have any idea what specialty I want to go into at this point, and I understand that research is practically a prerequisite for many competitive specialties. So my question is this—how favorably/unfavorably is bioethics research looked upon in residency applications, and how does it compare to classical basic science/medical research?

Thanks in advance

Any research is a positive in medical school as long as it leads to presentations and/or publications, although for some competitive fields, it's preferable to do research in a related topic.

 

[Oso]

Totally depends on what field you're interested in.

If you're going into medicine or peds, for example, pretty much any research looks nice.

If you're going into ortho, ENT, optho, etc. you better have a lot of research in that specific field. Bioethics research in addition to the specialty research may be interesting to talk about during interviews, but will not make up for not having specialty specific research

 

[Treebeard]

Do what you are passionate about

 

[Oso]

Do what you are passionate about

sure, but if you want to do ortho, optho, ENT, plastics, neurosurg, derm, integrated vascular, integrated CT, IR and probably a few other fields I've forgotten, then be passionate about your specialty's research

 

[BlackSquirrelMed]

Totally depends on what field you're interested in.

If you're going into medicine or peds, for example, pretty much any research looks nice.

If you're going into ortho, ENT, optho, etc. you better have a lot of research in that specific field. Bioethics research in addition to the specialty research may be interesting to talk about during interviews, but will not make up for not having specialty specific research

Not what I hoped to hear, but it’s what I thought most likely. Lots to think about now. Thanks all for the advice

 

[SeldingerFan78]

You should definitely do whatever research inspires and resonates with you. Not only are you more likely to see it through to presentation/publication, but you will be able to talk about it with passion during residency interviews. I'm an MD/MA in medical humanities who did a lot of humanities research and matched into an integrated IR residency (one of the most competitive residency spots). I was interviewed at 80% of programs I applied to, matched at my top choice, and the vast majority of my interviews focused on my humanities research. It makes you unique and interesting in a positive way.

I agree that for more competitive specialties you really need to show dedication to and interest in the field, but research is not the only way to do this. I certainly know plenty of derm, ortho, rads, etc residents who did little to no research because it just wasn't their thing. Feel free to message me if you ever need support along the way or want to talk offline.