Do you need research for a surgical residency?

[lady in red]

I don't like lab (basic) research, and don't want to make the PI or myself miserable with it just to 'do it' to put on the resume during med school, but all I keep hearing that there is no way around it if you want to get into surgery (I am thinking general surgery, maybe not that competitive). Can you do, say, clinical research? What (experience) would substitute for bench research?

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[oldman]

based on talking w/ med students, it sounds like applying to residency has similar aspects to med school

they look for: volunteer work, research, grades, standardized test scores, extra curriculars... sigh in 4 years the same hell all over again.

 

[lilycat]

In general, the most important things to be considered for a competitive residency (location or specialty) are grades/ranking/AOA status and board scores. Assuming you have that part complete, research experience will definitely help you stand out, and may be considered more important for some specialties than extracurriculars. Generally, basic science (lab) research seems to be considered "more impressive" if only because that is more relevant to fellowship (post-residency) training. However, clinical research does seem to be looked at favorably, and is probably better than doing no research.

In general though, most med students will tell you not to do research just to pad the resume -- only do it if you are really interested in it.

I'll move this over to Rotations and Residencies where you will probably get better advice.