Choosing research field first year

[FindersFee5]

---

Members do not see this ad.

As has been said a lot of times, research is important for landing competitive residencies. However, without knowing your step scores, and without REALLY experiencing those specialties, how can you know what you want to do research in?

For instance, I'm most interested in neurology, plastic surgery, and urology, from my (admittedly brief) shadowing experiences. I don't think I'd be able to put significant amounts of work into more than one of these three, and while people have said that any research looks alright, there's clearly an advantage to research in the field you're applying too (both because it looks good and because of connections you can make.)

So basically, how do you decide what to do research in? See what the options are for all three and decide from there? Or should I swing for the fences, say plastic surgery is my #1 choice, and go all in on research in that, gambling on getting the 250+ step 1 score I'll need? That just seems like a bad gamble.

 

[Fission Chips]

You should do what you find interesting, period. I have no idea what I want to match into, but I'm on a 4 year research project in ophthalmology because it sounded cool. I get to work with rabbits and lasers, and it's sweet. I was considering doing a project in ortho (due to the same concerns as you have) but the project consisted of reviewing old cases and data compilation. Just didn't seem that interesting to me (personal preference). I'd still choose my project if it was listed under FM because 1) lasers and 2) rabbits. It's awesome.

I did a urology rotation this year and found it to be amazing. I thought they were just penis doctors my whole life but they have some of the coolest surgeries in the OR. Might end up shooting for that. Is a bunch of ophthalmology pubs going to prevent me from matching Urology? No. Most of the Uro residents I talked to thought the project is just as cool as I think it is (because it is really cool). If you decide 3rd year you want to do plastics, and you have the step score to boot, then approach the department and ask what sort of research you can get involved in for your 4th year. You'll end up applying with plastics research plus whatever research you did earlier that you actually enjoyed.

It's going to be obvious in your residency interview if you aren't passionate about what you researched... and why spend the time doing something you don't enjoy? But if the gunner in you prevails, i'd say go for the plastics research. If you're truly interested in it, even case reviews (or enter mundane activity here) will be fascinating to you (no offense to those of you who love that, just not my thing).

 

[FindersFee5]

You should do what you find interesting, period. I have no idea what I want to match into, but I'm on a 4 year research project in ophthalmology because it sounded cool. I get to work with rabbits and lasers, and it's sweet. I was considering doing a project in ortho (due to the same concerns as you have) but the project consisted of reviewing old cases and data compilation. Just didn't seem that interesting to me (personal preference). I'd still choose my project if it was listed under FM because 1) lasers and 2) rabbits. It's awesome.

I did a urology rotation this year and found it to be amazing. I thought they were just penis doctors my whole life but they have some of the coolest surgeries in the OR. Might end up shooting for that. Is a bunch of ophthalmology pubs going to prevent me from matching Urology? No. Most of the Uro residents I talked to thought the project is just as cool as I think it is (because it is really cool). If you decide 3rd year you want to do plastics, and you have the step score to boot, then approach the department and ask what sort of research you can get involved in for your 4th year. You'll end up applying with plastics research plus whatever research you did earlier that you actually enjoyed.

It's going to be obvious in your residency interview if you aren't passionate about what you researched... and why spend the time doing something you don't enjoy? But if the gunner in you prevails, i'd say go for the plastics research. If you're truly interested in it, even case reviews (or enter mundane activity here) will be fascinating to you (no offense to those of you who love that, just not my thing).

Thanks! That seems like really good advice. Also, I'm sure the work you're doing is better because you're actually interested about what you're doing, so that's an additional benefit.

Love the artemis fowl username, btw 🙂

 

[Lost In Transcription]

Do what interests you most and offers you resources to publish. Learning how to do research is learning how to do research- a skill that will be transferable to other fields.

If you find what you like, you're more likely to be productive. 🙂

 

[aalamruad]

Allo might be a better spot for this thread than pre-allo