Delimma about Research during medical school

[history _ice]

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Hey guys,

I have an important family issue to attend to during the summer of my first year of medical school. And I wanted to know how important is research to been accepted to a good residency (neurology or cardiology)...and what if i did research throughout the school year will that compensate for the lack of summer research....any information you provide will help. 😕 😕

 

[mellantro]

its important, but attend to your fam issue definitely, you will regret it if you dont. it will be the last summer you have free for a long time. worst comes to worst, you can take a year off and do research and that is infinitely more impressive than just a summers worth of basic research.

i personally intend to enjoy the first summer to the fullest before the spectre of boards and step 1, then take off a year either b/w 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th for research.

so in sum, if you really want to land that residency, i think you could help your chances through a year off for research (of course your grades/boards have to be good!). one summer of research isnt gonna get too much accomplished if you are really looking to do some self directed, first author type work.

 

[jakstat33]

you can always (*ALWAYS*) find a mentor to do research with through years 1-4 without taking much time away from school. you can dictate the speed at which you accomplish goals that you both set based on your wants/needs... research is so slow that even if you took a year off there is no gurantee that you will be able to complete quality projects and get publications. if you don't get these, the year is a waste in terms of "looking good for residency"... but if you have a genuine interest in the scientific method and want to add to your field, than by all means go for it!

 

[history _ice]

Thanx for the advice....that really helps 🙂

 

[Lochmoor]

This is drifting from the point of your question, but isnt neurology pretty easy to match to a good program? And isnt cardiology done as a fellowship through int. med?

 

[punjabiMD]

honestly, I don't see you having much time during your second year (at UB) to be able to do research alongside of class. It will be close to impossible to put in a serious effort in the lab alongside studying for the exams that take place (on average) every two-three weeks.

You need to decide what's more important. Neurology is not as competitive as you would think, so I doubt research would be ultra-important, unless you want to go to a top program. For cardiology, you have to go through an IM residency first, and again, research is not important unless you want to go to a top program. Research DURING your IM residency is definitely important to get into a good cardiology fellowship.

I'm 100% sure that as a 3rd or 4th year, you can set aside elective time for research (at UB) if you're really serious about it (UB is full of labs who love to teach students at any level; you just need to find them). In general, if there are formalized electives to do research (or if it's a common trend to do such a type of elective), I've heard that you can get in on ongoing projects in some clinical/basic labs and get your name on a paper or at least have something to put down on your CV.

Just make sure you won't regret missing your family event in the summer as it will be your last long break from school!

Addendum:
Have you done any useful research during your undergrad/before med school? If so, then don't worry so much about doing research during school. If you already have a good amount of experience under your belt or even have a paper or two, then you're probably good to go. (Many residency directors understand that there isn't much time to devote to research during medical school; therefore any undergrad work is also looked at)

 

[mikedc813]

And isnt cardiology done as a fellowship through int. med?

Yup.

 

[omarsaleh66]

i did some research during first year, and doing a little now, so there's always time to do it later. go tend to ur family.