Do I have to do research?!

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Miss_Premed

Miss_Premed

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
87
Reaction score
25
Members don't see this ad.
So the title basically says it all. I am not particularly interested in doing undergraduate research. I don't want to attend a research oriented medical school. My goal is to go into family medicine and work with the underserved population. Will not having research severely handicap my application?
 
How do you know you won't like research if you haven't tried it? It's not just working in a lab. There's research to be had in FM and primary care that might interest you.

But to specifically answer your question, it won't hurt not to have it unless you're interviewing at top schools/research focused schools. But it would definitely help to have it.
 
At nearly every medical school on MSAR, the majority of matriculants have done research (random look, LSU-NO 73%; Mercer 59%; Creighton, 76%; Rosy Franklin, 89%; Albany, 85%). These are not research powerhouses and I know of DO schools that have more $ in research grants than these five.

So I suspect that you're putting yourself behind the eight ball, unless you can balance the lack of demonstrating that you understand the scientific process with some really killer ECs, or you live in a state with a school that heavily favors in-state applicants.

DO schools will not care about the lack of research.


Miss_Premed said:
So the title basically says it all. I am not particularly interested in doing undergraduate research. I don't want to attend a research oriented medical school. My goal is to go into family medicine and work with the underserved population. Will not having research severely handicap my application?
Click to expand...
 
There are so many different research projects you could get yourself involved with at all sorts of capacities. There ought to be something you will like.
 
I should have put I am applying MD and DO. It's not that I don't think I will like research and more that it doesn't align much with my goals. I am a biochemistry major and have been exposed to various research methods and projects in my courses and labs, many of which I found interesting. I just feel like it's another box to check and I would have liked to spend my time differently. It sounds like that might be unwise so I will have to see if I can find something. Thank you all for your input!
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
Agreed. I had no interest in research until I tried it out. Now I want to go into academic medicine!

There's also a lot of different research options other than bench work!
Click to expand...

This exactly. I did research "because I had to" and fell in love with it to the point of considering applying MD/PhD. I decided against the dual degree program, but am still wholly committed to pursuing academic medicine and making research an integral part of my career.

But, if you feel that you will not enjoy research and don't want to spend your time doing it, you could fill your time with other activities and apply to schools with a primary-care focus. @Ace Khalifa didn't do research in undergrad for the reasons you are describing -- perhaps he can chip in about his decision and experiences 🙂
 
It's not required, per se.

But it would look very nice on your app.
 
I've talked to advisors about this and they very plainly said do research if you want to, don't do research if you don't, but make sure you're doing something else awesome with your time. Research is obviously a great way to gain experience and show interest in science and medicine, but there's no one road to med school!
 
sunflower18 said:
This exactly. I did research "because I had to" and fell in love with it to the point of considering applying MD/PhD. I decided against the dual degree program, but am still wholly committed to pursuing academic medicine and making research an integral part of my career.

But, if you feel that you will not enjoy research and don't want to spend your time doing it, you could fill your time with other activities and apply to schools with a primary-care focus. @Ace Khalifa didn't do research in undergrad for the reasons you are describing -- perhaps he can chip in about his decision and experiences 🙂
Click to expand...
Yeah I went to Wash U, a research powerhouse but chose to spend my time doing other things, namely community service. I am not interested in primary care, however. So far, no interviewer has asked me why I never did research as an undergrad at a research powerhouse. Research is definitely not a requirement for medical school. I just want to be a specialist (most likely surgical) and a damn good clinician. I have no interest in academic medicine. I will, however, do research in medical school if it will help me become competitive for competitive specialties. OP, take everyone's advice with a grain of salt. I think you can get in without research if you tailor your PS and EC's to match your desire to do FM in an underserved setting.
 
I recommend trying it out. Before I volunteered at a lab, I had "being a researcher" as one of my potential career paths.

After I left I never wanted to step into a lab again. **** western blots.
 
Like others have said, try it, but if you don't love it, find another valuable EC that you enjoy doing and work hard at it. Is it necessary? No, but it can hold you back at some places. Really depends on what you spent your time doing instead of research.
 
Also, there's dry lab research if you don't like wet lab.
 
I'm not sure yet what I'm going to end up doing...I don't want to put myself at a severe disadvantage, but it seems quite a few had no issues without it. For those that didn't have any research were your ECs particularly outstanding?

To those asking what I spent my time doing instead of research, so far I have around 200 hours clinical volunteering over two years, some shadowing, around a year volunteering in a soup kitchen / food pantry, I'm on my school's academic honor board, and I have around 6,000 hours of paid work as a manager at a restaurant. I have a few other ECs but they are relatively minor. Luckily I have made contacts with many researchers in my program so if I must I can probably get in at least a summer of research.
 
Spinach Dip said:
Animal research >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Molecular research
Click to expand...

Me: "Hey, how did my blot turn out? It takes FOREVER to get through just one of these things. 3 days of work, haha! How do the scans look?"

Lab supervisor: "You had the blotting paper flipped the wrong way on the final step. All the antibodies fell off when you washed them with TBST. Also, may I remind you that each roll of this Immun-blot paper costs $400. I cannot use these results."

*She pauses, then stares into my eyes and pierces my soul with a look of abysmal disappointment*

Lab supervisor: "You are taking up my time. This is serious, I know you're a student, but I don't think you're serious about this. These results are no good."

*She picks up the membrane papers and dumps them in the trash*

Me (mentally): "Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor. Nightmares can't last forever. One day I'll be a doctor."
 
You don't "have" to. But understand that if you're aiming for the "top" schools, you'll almost certainly need it. Nearly all of them have a strong research focus and will expect most of their students to engage in some kind of scholarly activity as a medical student. Having experience with the research process is the best way to demonstrate that interest. Even then, though, it's by no means a requirement. It's just helpful.

And I agree that not all research is simply bench or lab-based work. Try getting involved with clinical research if you can. Or maybe you might be interested in educational work, given your interests. I'm working on a project now that looks at changes in empathy in M3s as they go through clerkships and is just as much of a research project as protein purification. Research isn't limited to the lab.
 
NickNaylor said:
You don't "have" to. But understand that if you're aiming for the "top" schools, you'll almost certainly need it. Nearly all of them have a strong research focus and will expect most of their students to engage in some kind of scholarly activity as a medical student. Having experience with the research process is the best way to demonstrate that interest. Even then, though, it's by no means a requirement. It's just helpful.

And I agree that not all research is simply bench or lab-based work. Try getting involved with clinical research if you can. Or maybe you might be interested in educational work, given your interests. I'm working on a project now that looks at changes in empathy in M3s as they go through clerkships and is just as much of a research project as protein purification. Research isn't limited to the lab.
Click to expand...
Great topic!!! One of my favorites.
 
Goro said:
At nearly every medical school on MSAR, the majority of matriculants have done research (random look, LSU-NO 73%; Mercer 59%; Creighton, 76%; Rosy Franklin, 89%; Albany, 85%). These are not research powerhouses and I know of DO schools that have more $ in research grants than these five.
Click to expand...
Such hypocrites these schools are.
 
Extracurricular activities can be to differentiate applicants who have similar stats and give you an edge over them.


Miss_Premed said:
So the title basically says it all. I am not particularly interested in doing undergraduate research. I don't want to attend a research oriented medical school. My goal is to go into family medicine and work with the underserved population. Will not having research severely handicap my application?
Click to expand...

Your goals might change by the time you submit your residency applications.
 
Never even touched it and I got into the best medical schools in Texas. If you don't plan to do research, you better be prepared to defend that with other things you devoted your time toward.
 
Lake Wobegon said:
I recommend trying it out. Before I volunteered at a lab, I had "being a researcher" as one of my potential career paths.

After I left I never wanted to step into a lab again. **** western blots.
Click to expand...
Western blot

Boring and lame, but not that bad to make you run from a lab altogether.
 
texasguy2282 said:
Never even touched it and I got into the best medical schools in Texas. If you don't plan to do research, you better be prepared to defend that with other things you devoted your time toward.
Click to expand...

Your response might be a little more useful if you can share what you said when interviewers asked why you didn't do research.
 
Spirit of the Student Doc said:
Western blot

Boring and lame, but not that bad to make you run from a lab altogether.
Click to expand...

You're right, I don't want to completely put OP off from researching. In retrospect, a lot of the problems I had were on my end.

- I volunteered at the lab after my freshman year, and I had switched out of Computer Engineering after the first semester, so I had only a rudimentary biology course under my belt. I was lost when my supervisor tried to explain most things, and I had never even used a pipette before. Now with more biology courses under my belt, if I went back to the lab this year, I'm sure I would understand more. At least I had some basic idea what I was conducting the research for. My lab partner, another freshman, thought cancer was an infectious disease.

- Hand tremors. I always knew I had them, but they were never a problem until I tried using a micro-pipette. I remember my first day at the lab, and the post-doc there was teaching us how to create the gel for electrophoresis. I had a go injecting the sample into one of the wells. It was all well until I actually injected, then my hand jerked violently and I punched the pipette's tip right through the gel. I eventually found a technique that lessened the tremors, but it involved adopting a crouching sniper stance and holding onto the pipette like it was a fully loaded firearm. Needless to say I was not the fastest pipetter. I hope these tremors don't indicate some thyroid problem lol. I probably made them worse over time by lifting and playing video games.

So yeah, research is not as bad as I made it sound, OP. I recommend you try it. Personally though, I do not want to go back.
 
Lake Wobegon said:
You're right, I don't want to completely put OP off from researching. In retrospect, a lot of the problems I had were on my end.

- I volunteered at the lab after my freshman year, and I had switched out of Computer Engineering after the first semester, so I had only a rudimentary biology course under my belt. I was lost when my supervisor tried to explain most things, and I had never even used a pipette before. Now with more biology courses under my belt, if I went back to the lab this year, I'm sure I would understand more. At least I had some basic idea what I was conducting the research for. My lab partner, another freshman, thought cancer was an infectious disease.

- Hand tremors. I always knew I had them, but they were never a problem until I tried using a micro-pipette. I remember my first day at the lab, and the post-doc there was teaching us how to create the gel for electrophoresis. I had a go injecting the sample into one of the wells. It was all well until I actually injected, then my hand jerked violently and I punched the pipette's tip right through the gel. I eventually found a technique that lessened the tremors, but it involved adopting a crouching sniper stance and holding onto the pipette like it was a fully loaded firearm. Needless to say I was not the fastest pipetter. I hope these tremors don't indicate some thyroid problem lol. I probably made them worse over time by lifting and playing video games.

So yeah, research is not as bad as I made it sound, OP. I recommend you try it. Personally though, I do not want to go back.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. Sounds like you gave it a fair go, though.
A lot of people I know hated using pipettes as well. (I've mastered them on the other hand! and enjoy running circles around my co-workers😉)
 
Lysinee said:
Your response might be a little more useful if you can share what you said when interviewers asked why you didn't do research.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I didn't think about mentioning that. I was asked in two interviews why I had not participated in research; but in a few, the interviewer clearly hadn't read my app and asked me to talk about the research I did. To answer their questions, I made it known that I thought it would be more beneficial for me to work as opposed to doing research for free. I mentioned I am open to the idea of doing research while in medical school, but it was not a viable option while an undergraduate. Then afterward, I would emphasize some of my ECs that I was very proud of.

One of the interviewers began with, "How many publications do you have?" With an innocent laugh, I shrugged off the question and proceeded to telling him why I do not have research on my resume.
 
I've enjoyed my research experience personally and I think students who don't take advantage of research internship opportunities their undergraduate institution may offer with an associated medical school may be missing out. It's a chance to gain research exposure, but for many students it may also be their first opportunity to be around students studying at the graduate level. Where I do my internship everyone is either a grad student, medical student, pharmacy student, post-doc, etc. It's a new environment compared with undergrad and I think it's good exposure.
 
Last edited:
Lysinee said:
Lol.

The typical PS story of how you're going into medicine to address the primary care shortage and work in an underserved area to make a big difference in the community. 🙄
Click to expand...
Or you do, and then realize what true ****hole it is in terms of your impact and how it isn't as great as you thought it was. And you're just one speck in the entire system.
 
DermViser said:
Or you do, and then realize what true ****hole it is in terms of your impact and how it isn't as great as you thought it was. And you're just one speck in the entire system.
Click to expand...

Experienced interviewers should have no problem identifying bull that some people say.
 
Lysinee said:
Experienced interviewers should have no problem identifying bull that some people say.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you don't realize that till you experience med school. That's when people change - hence the Gomerblog post.
 
As other's have said, try it out. Of course it'll benefit you greatly for research-heavy schools, but I think overall it's a good experience to have.

But please, do find research that interests you or seems fun. I personally wasn't interested in research, until I found one that let's me play with fluffy things.
DSC00157.jpg

This little guy is holding onto my finger with both paws. : D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Does the type of research I do matter?
Replies
3
Views
194
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
2026PreMed
What do people mean when they tell you to do "research" ?
Replies
12
Views
982
2026PreMed
2026PreMed
C
Is it disingenuous to talk about research opportunities for the "Why Us" section if I don't have any research experience?
Replies
10
Views
868
catalyst1000
C
MasterOogway
What do I do?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
M
Do I need to write an OIE?
Replies
4
Views
400
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top