Can you still do research at a DO school?

[bionerd89]

Hi, I was wondering if students can still do research if they are not a DO/PhD student. If so, are there any schools that have more research opportunities than others.

Thanks

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[NeuroLAX]

Yes of course you can do research as a DO student. I'm doing research now, albeit not at my COM. It partly depends on the departmental infrastructure at the school. If there isn't an official department for a given medical field it might be more difficult and you might have to look outside of your school, but it is not impossible by any means. Off the top of my head, I would expect MSU and UMDNJ to have more research than your average DO school partly because they are bigger and there are MD programs at these schools. If you really want to do research, it's on you to explore the opportunities. For starters, I would check out the CIB and scroll through til you get to the page where it shows which schools have PhD programs. You can also visit the website of any school and browse their research interests. Be careful, though, as some of the schools with branch campuses might not have the same opportunities at every location. For example, LECOM has several research programs, but many of them are not at the Bradenton campus.

 

[babdoc]

I'll put a plug in for KCUMB. There is a fair mix of research there; most is basic science. A lot of anatomy, some pharm, biochem, genetics, and micro. The school is definitely pushing research more

 

[koan]

Agree with above. The best research will always be at larger universities, but there's no reason you need to do research at your COM. Unless your COM is in the sticks which might be an obstacle. To illustrate the rift between a "research heavy" COM and the local upper-tier MD school, the respective NIH funding in 2013 was $1.2 million for my school vs. $339.9 million for them.

 

[DrEnderW]

Yes, I will have multiple publications while in school.

One thing that I would personally recommend, if research is important to you, is to attend a school in a major city, such as the NYC area or Chicago. There are ample research opportunities in other institutions and hospitals if you don't like what is immediately available at your school.

 

[bionerd89]

So I can do research outside of the school I attend? Does that mean I would have a paid job? Could you guys clarify. Thanks.

 

[DrEnderW]

So I can do research outside of the school I attend? Does that mean I would have a paid job? Could you guys clarify. Thanks.

You can if you'd like. For example, if you wanted to do research at a lab/ med school/ hospital for a specialty/ field not at your school you could do so. You may or may not be payed for this and the chances of being payed are likely only in the summer.

 

[NurWollen]

So, a follow up question: I know that research experience can be helpful for getting certain residencies, but since I'm just an MS1, I really have no idea what specialties I'm going to be interested in. If I do, say, biochem research, and then decided I want to do surgery, is that still helpful while applying for the match? Or if I do clinical research in something like surgery, and then decided I want to be an internist, will that still be valuable?

 

[DrEnderW]

Yes, the experience will still be valuable. It shows you understand the scientific process, have learned how to publish/ present results, and can dedicate yourself to a project. These skills are transferrable to other specialties. With that being said, research within your eventual field of specialization will be better.

If you've never done basic research before, expect putting in a lot of time to learn techniques and protocols before producing meaningful data. This type of work will not come quick. A lot of clinical research can be done in your latter two year when you have a stronger idea of what you want to do. Also, remember that in the DO world, research is less important than say in the top-teir integrated plastics ACGME programs where they are producing academic physicians.

 

[BigSib]

Are there any schools that have more research opportunities than others?

I don't know of any specific source that you'd be able to find objective information to answer this question. I looked through the AACOM Data section and was surprised they hadn't reported on this. What you could do is go here and press CTRL+F (or whatever the apple equivalent is) and search for the school you're interested in. However, you may have to search for multiple years and the institution's funding may come from something other than the NIH.

Most schools are affiliated with research laboratories. This is because the first two years of all medical school education (both allopathic and osteopathic) surround the basic sciences. Schools need PhDs of the basic sciences in order to fulfill the teaching needs, and a majority of professors do some form of research on the side.

Does that mean I would have a paid job?

Some schools have a summer program where you get paid $4-5K, some have programs where you can get paid monthly throughout the year, and some opportunities may be unpaid (but hey, you get a publication). I would assume that most opportunities with working physicians would be unpaid and that you would be reviewing charts and such.

 

[BigSib]

... I really have no idea what specialties I'm going to be interested in. ... will that still be valuable?

Most program directors from any residency program look highly upon publications in ANY subject area. It reflects upon your ability to do a literature review, submit IRB/grant applications, analyze statistics, etc. It also shows you did something outside of the classroom and that it accounted for something.

But, obviously, if you're interested in X specialty of surgery, try to get a case report or something related to that specialty. If you can't find that, or don't care, I'd go for the paid gig.

 

[maniacmed]

TCOM student here...we have tons of opportunities for research on campus. Our first year course director was very helpful with setting up summer research and I have a few friends doing neuro research during the school year. We also have an honors research program for the top 10% of the class. All you do is rank your interests ranging from cardio thoracic surgery, sleep medicine, Alzheimer's and about 20 other areas of interest and they match you with a mentor. They hold round table discussions for students to bounce ideas off each other throughout the year. I'm about to start a project on the topic of strokes and balance issues. The opportunities are most definitely there if you want them. It's even better when your administration makes the whole process easier. Shout out to TCOM!