Do you have to do research in med school?

[canmed96]

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To be honest, i'm not the biggest fan of being stuck in a lab doing research. iam now to boost my med school application but i was wondering if you have to do it in med school? Is it beneficial for residency app? If so, how does it work? is it similar to undergrad where you contact your prof etc?

Thanks

 

[gapyearguppy]

Our school requires us to do it the summer inbetween our first and second year (so, right now for me). I'm not sure if this is common at other institutions. It sucks if you're not research-minded but I understand it's going to make you a little more competitive for residency applications. And yeah, you either apply to a research summer program of which there are tons or contact a PI directly.

 

[Goro]

For some schools, like Yale, the answer is yes.

To be honest, i'm not the biggest fan of being stuck in a lab doing research. iam now to boost my med school application but i was wondering if you have to do it in med school? Is it beneficial for residency app? If so, how does it work? is it similar to undergrad where you contact your prof etc?

Thanks

 

[ed*26]

If you want to match into a competitive specialty or program, you will likely need to do research. Research is always a bonus. I'm sorry that your experience hasn't been great with your lab, but remember that there's a huge variety of research out there; mine involves playing with infants. As a medical student you may be able to do something more clinical and to your tastes. But depending on your school and career aspirations, you could go your entire career without doing any research.

 

[redferrari]

My school requires research. You're more and more hard-pressed to find one that doesn't require it these days.

 

[Swish16]

You don't have to do bench work like you would for a typical basic science lab. Clinical research would be a good change of pace for you and it wouldn't leave a gap in your residency applications.


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[QuizzicalApe]

Some schools require it as mentioned. If you want to do something hypercompetitive as a residency, you're going to want to do research to fluff up your CV.

That being said, my school didn't require research so I didn't do any until residency, where I did a little bit of research which was enough to get a heme/onc fellowship.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

My school requires research (and lots of it)

 

[ChrisMack390]

Research != Wet lab/bench work

Clinical, public health, quality improvement, global health, etc are all research.