Case reports vs Research experience

[HopeImakeit]

I was wondering what residency programs favor more. Peer - reviewed case reports available online (pubmed) or research experience?

I am asking this because I have have 2 options for the upcoming year (MS3). To either get more involved with research gaining more experience but not having the certainty of getting something published, or continue spending time in clinics thus producing more case-report/case-study papers? (already published 3)

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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[GoSpursGo]

It just depends on the specialty, and you need to look at Charting Outcomes. If you're looking for a competitive residency where the median applicant has double digit pubs/posters/whatever, then you've got to churn out things that have a quick turnaround. If instead your specialty doesn't have such an emphasis on publication number and you're doing research because you want to try it out and have something interesting to talk about on interviews, then the research experience may be more meaningful.

 

[HopeImakeit]

It just depends on the specialty, and you need to look at Charting Outcomes. If you're looking for a competitive residency where the median applicant has double digit pubs/posters/whatever, then you've got to churn out things that have a quick turnaround. If instead your specialty doesn't have such an emphasis on publication number and you're doing research because you want to try it out and have something interesting to talk about on interviews, then the research experience may be more meaningful.

Thank you, I'll take that into consideration

 

[subdermallight]

It just depends on the specialty, and you need to look at Charting Outcomes. If you're looking for a competitive residency where the median applicant has double digit pubs/posters/whatever, then you've got to churn out things that have a quick turnaround. If instead your specialty doesn't have such an emphasis on publication number and you're doing research because you want to try it out and have something interesting to talk about on interviews, then the research experience may be more meaningful.

Do you think doing a research year is helpful for someone with less pubs? Or is it more of a red flag?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Do you think doing a research year is helpful for someone with less pubs? Or is it more of a red flag?

It absolutely can help, gives you time to be productive without distracting you from class/rotations and potentially hurting your grades. Also demonstrates your commitment to a specialty, allows you to form closer connections with mentors in the field, maybe even meet people from other programs if you go present at conferences.

Definitely not a red flag. The downside of extending med school and the potential financial cost of doing so is obvious, but there's only so much you can do in 4 years.

 

[subdermallight]

It absolutely can help, gives you time to be productive without distracting you from class/rotations and potentially hurting your grades. Also demonstrates your commitment to a specialty, allows you to form closer connections with mentors in the field, maybe even meet people from other programs if you go present at conferences.

Definitely not a red flag. The downside of extending med school and the potential financial cost of doing so is obvious, but there's only so much you can do in 4 years.

Awesome, thank you. So my goal is to do IM at a top tier and then GI. Do you think focusing on GI research would be seen as premature for IM RDs? I’m not really sure what pure IM clinical research would look like but I’m open to something along those lines as well

 

[GoSpursGo]

Awesome, thank you. So my goal is to do IM at a top tier and then GI. Do you think focusing on GI research would be seen as premature for IM RDs? I’m not really sure what pure IM clinical research would look like but I’m open to something along those lines as well

Don't worry about it. Research is research--I have a few pubs from one peds subspecialty from med school, and wound up in a different subspecialty after residency. The point is that you're showing that you have the motivation to actually see a project through to publication, regardless of what field that winds up being in.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Case reports aren’t necessarily easy. They are easy to write but hard to publish, not sure about how easy it is in IM. You’re research can definitely be GI related, it’s still IM and there are lots of databases that can be used to look at hospitalization rates, economic impact of disease, treatment outcome etc. I suggest you seek someone out in biostatistics or public health or population health department to help you work on research with the databases and have a clinical mentor that is well published and can help you navigate the IRB and process of publishing in a journal. You’d probably be able to churn out 1 or 2 papers and get a few abstracts.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

I believe opposite of the posters here.

Case reports don't carry the same weight they used to (before the EMR was invented). Don't just take my word for it, look at submission criteria for major journals in your field of interest. Many of them no longer accept case reports.

Unless you are describing a new, undiscovered disease process, academic centers actually look down on case reports. Later in your career if you are trying to advance in professorship, case reports get taken out of consideration.

If given the choice of case reports vs. a research experience (which could generate something more substantial), I would choose the latter.

HOWEVER, if you take a case report and add just 1 more patient, it becomes a case series, which many journals still accept and carries a bit more weight.

 

[FindersFee5]

I believe opposite of the posters here.

Case reports don't carry the same weight they used to (before the EMR was invented). Don't just take my word for it, look at submission criteria for major journals in your field of interest. Many of them no longer accept case reports.

Unless you are describing a new, undiscovered disease process, academic centers actually look down on case reports. Later in your career if you are trying to advance in professorship, case reports get taken out of consideration.

If given the choice of case reports vs. a research experience (which could generate something more substantial), I would choose the latter.

HOWEVER, if you take a case report and add just 1 more patient, it becomes a case series, which many journals still accept and carries a bit more weight.

How are review articles viewed? I have a couple first author review articles (one I'm actually proud of, one that was a classic med student trash article). My basic science research has been expectedly slow so I've presented it a few places but am still at least a year away from publication, so it won't help me this cycle.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

How are review articles viewed? I have a couple first author review articles (one I'm actually proud of, one that was a classic med student trash article). My basic science research has been expectedly slow so I've presented it a few places but am still at least a year away from publication, so it won't help me this cycle.

Reviews articles are viewed favorably, especially if extensive and adhering to PRISMA criteria.

 

[NickNaylor]

I think it's important to remember that almost any and all publications are valuable when it comes to applying to residency. We're not talking about getting a faculty appointment or promotion here, where the quality of the publication is incredibly important. Obviously there is a "hierarchy" to types of publications and manuscripts - and if you can get a "higher ranked" publication type under your belt, great - but at the medical student level, any publication of value is a good publication. I wouldn't turn down opportunities to publish just because you think a publication isn't valuable. I would rather see a student that has published multiple case reports than someone who has published nothing but has been spinning his/her wheels in a lab for the last 2 years.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Case reports don't carry the same weight they used to (before the EMR was invented). Don't just take my word for it, look at submission criteria for major journals in your field of interest. Many of them no longer accept case reports.

Unless you are describing a new, undiscovered disease process, academic centers actually look down on case reports. Later in your career if you are trying to advance in professorship, case reports get taken out of consideration.

While this is true, I agree with @NickNaylor here. We all know that case reports become a worthless waste of time later in your career, but as a med student getting anything published is a positive. You're not going to publish in a "major journal," you're going to publish in a much lower impact journal, and that's fine. At least you showed me that you can take a research question (even a simple one like, "how does this patient add to the literature of how this disease process can present"), put it together to tell a coherent story, and answer reviewer feedback.

NOW to be clear, you need to be careful when considering a case report that it actually DOES add to the literature. It can't just be a really rare disease that you happened to see, you need to have a hook that makes it clear how your patient either presented in an unusual way, or responded unexpectedly to treatment, or something else that HASN'T previously been reported. For this reason, you need to have a decent mentor to direct your efforts so you don't waste a bunch of time putting together a report that isn't publishable.

And yes, if you can make it a case series, that helps quite a bit. Again, having a mentor who can think of multiple patients to group together is helpful.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

While this is true, I agree with @NickNaylor here. We all know that case reports become a worthless waste of time later in your career, but as a med student getting anything published is a positive. You're not going to publish in a "major journal," you're going to publish in a much lower impact journal, and that's fine. At least you showed me that you can take a research question (even a simple one like, "how does this patient add to the literature of how this disease process can present"), put it together to tell a coherent story, and answer reviewer feedback.

NOW to be clear, you need to be careful when considering a case report that it actually DOES add to the literature. It can't just be a really rare disease that you happened to see, you need to have a hook that makes it clear how your patient either presented in an unusual way, or responded unexpectedly to treatment, or something else that HASN'T previously been reported. For this reason, you need to have a decent mentor to direct your efforts so you don't waste a bunch of time putting together a report that isn't publishable.

And yes, if you can make it a case series, that helps quite a bit. Again, having a mentor who can think of multiple patients to group together is helpful.

After some thought, here are some tips for medical students who have exhausted anyway of composing a good, solid project or turning a case report into a case series.

If you're a medical student who, after exhausting all avenues, is stuck only able to write case reports, follow these steps:

1. Submit your case report to research events. If you get a poster presentation, put it on your CV. If it was good enough to warrant a poster, someone out there will likely publish it. Proceed to Step 2.
2. Make sure you don't need IRB approval before publication! Case reports usually don't need it, but best to make sure now.
3. Scope out a suitable journal.

>Avoid so-called "predatory journals," of which here is a list: Predatory Journals to Avoid.​

>Keep in mind that many journals that accept case reports are not indexed in PubMed (meaning if you search PubMed it won't show up).​

>Many journals accepting case reports also do not have an impact factor, which is a metric used to gauge how popular a journal is in a given field.​

>If you're considering an open access journal, keep in mind that these journals charge you $200-$3500 before they accept and print your manuscript (this is how they fund printing of materials, etc.). I've never heard of medical schools covering this cost, meaning you would have to pay for it. Don't expect your PI to cover the costs either.​

4. If you haven't already found one, get a mentor who can be senior author.
5. Write it up! If you're including photographs, make sure you have obtained written consent from the patient(s) included. Many journals have these forms available.
6. Review draft with co-authors
7. Submit

 

[Dr G Oogle]

After some thought, here are some tips for medical students who have exhausted anyway of composing a good, solid project or turning a case report into a case series.

If you're a medical student who, after exhausting all avenues, is stuck only able to write case reports, follow these steps:

1. Submit your case report to research events. If you get a poster presentation, put it on your CV. If it was good enough to warrant a poster, someone out there will likely publish it. Proceed to Step 2.
2. Make sure you don't need IRB approval before publication! Case reports usually don't need it, but best to make sure now.
3. Scope out a suitable journal.

>Avoid so-called "predatory journals," of which here is a list: Predatory Journals to Avoid.​

>Keep in mind that many journals that accept case reports are not indexed in PubMed (meaning if you search PubMed it won't show up).​

>Many journals accepting case reports also do not have an impact factor, which is a metric used to gauge how popular a journal is in a given field.​

>If you're considering an open access journal, keep in mind that these journals charge you $200-$3500 before they accept and print your manuscript (this is how they fund printing of materials, etc.). I've never heard of medical schools covering this cost, meaning you would have to pay for it. Don't expect your PI to cover the costs either.​

4. If you haven't already found one, get a mentor who can be senior author.
5. Write it up! If you're including photographs, make sure you have obtained written consent from the patient(s) included. Many journals have these forms available.
6. Review draft with co-authors
7. Submit

be careful of open access journals and non-indexed journal, depending on who’s reviewing the papers. For me these types of journals are no better than research experience without any publication because they are “pay to play” unless you publish in an open access version of existing journals like BMJ and FPMRS. as a personal anecdote we had an applicant who had around 8-9 papers until I looked up the journals they were published in and they were all open access. It would have been better to have 1-2 papers in non-open access journals. This may be a bit harsh and I doubt most clinical faculty will look into this, but the people who do care about this stuff are probably high on the totem pole or otherwise have enough clout in the department to have an impact on rank.

if a case report brings value, zebra presentation for common problem, new technique or method of treatment it or extremely rare occurrence with only a handful of other incidents published it will get accepted into a journal without having to pay a fee. If the case report does Not meet above criteria it is not worth publishing.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

be careful of open access journals and non-indexed journal, depending on who’s reviewing the papers. For me these types of journals are no better than research experience without any publication because they are “pay to play” unless you publish in an open access version of existing journals like BMJ and FPMRS. as a personal anecdote we had an applicant who had around 8-9 papers until I looked up the journals they were published in and they were all open access. It would have been better to have 1-2 papers in non-open access journals. This may be a bit harsh and I doubt most clinical faculty will look into this, but the people who do care about this stuff are probably high on the totem pole or otherwise have enough clout in the department to have an impact on rank.

if a case report brings value, zebra presentation for common problem, new technique or method of treatment it or extremely rare occurrence with only a handful of other incidents published it will get accepted into a journal without having to pay a fee. If the case report does Not meet above criteria it is not worth publishing.

This

 

[GoSpursGo]

if a case report brings value, zebra presentation for common problem, new technique or method of treatment it or extremely rare occurrence with only a handful of other incidents published it will get accepted into a journal without having to pay a fee. If the case report does Not meet above criteria it is not worth publishing.

I tried saying this in my post above, but this bears emphasizing, and highlights the importance of having a good mentor. There actually are plenty of good cases out there to report that add something to the literature, but you're not going to know the difference between those cases and something that is just "rare" or "cool" at your level.

 

[HopeImakeit]

be careful of open access journals and non-indexed journal, depending on who’s reviewing the papers. For me these types of journals are no better than research experience without any publication because they are “pay to play” unless you publish in an open access version of existing journals like BMJ and FPMRS. as a personal anecdote we had an applicant who had around 8-9 papers until I looked up the journals they were published in and they were all open access. It would have been better to have 1-2 papers in non-open access journals. This may be a bit harsh and I doubt most clinical faculty will look into this, but the people who do care about this stuff are probably high on the totem pole or otherwise have enough clout in the department to have an impact on rank.

if a case report brings value, zebra presentation for common problem, new technique or method of treatment it or extremely rare occurrence with only a handful of other incidents published it will get accepted into a journal without having to pay a fee. If the case report does Not meet above criteria it is not worth publishing.

One of the case reports I co - authored was published in the "case report section" of a journal with an impact factor of over 24. However we paid for it to be open access so everyone can view it and I think it was worth since it has been cited 5 times up to now.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

One of the case reports I co - authored was published in the "case report section" of a journal with an impact factor of over 24. However we paid for it to be open access so everyone can view it and I think it was worth since it has been cited 5 times up to now.

that is totally fine and appropriate and worthy of congratulations. Open access is a great resource for people in low resource countries, hospitals etc who’s institutions/hospitals may not be able to pay for renting or purchasing an article or buying a subscription to a journal. and for high impact journals you go through the same rigorous peer review and it’s only after acceptance are you offered an opportunity to publish as open access, the decision to go OA does not influence the decisions to accept. it’s those journals with very low impact factors that are indexed on pubmed or worse, not indexed At all and are only open access that are problematic. Basically publishing in these implies you cannot get in published in a more respectable journal

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Like said above, it’s completely fine to consider open access publication. I’ve submitted to open access journals.

Just be aware that in the open access realm, predatory and non-indexed journals outnumber those many would consider legitimate.