Does not doing hard science-relevant affect how adcoms view your research?

[radioactive15]

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I've done research for 2 years in an Anthropology lab (declined an offer from a neuroscience lab a couple years ago), and wanted to hear if this would not be viewed in the same light as someone else who did research in a wet lab or clinical lab.

I have no publications, but I'm able to speak about what I've done in the lab. I feel a disadvantage because I know most of the people who apply to medical school do research that is on the hard science front and work in wet labs or clinical research labs.

My research isn't related to medicine at all, so would this diminish how my research is viewed? Would you recommend I apply to no more than 2-3 research heavy medical schools because of this?

 

[Doudline]

It's about the skills you develop, not the research topic. As long as your project followed the scientific process, and you can speak of it and of what you've learned cogently, you'll be fine.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Disagree with Doudline. You may get credit for having done some type of research, but AdComs are going to look right past it, esp at heavy research institutions.

Were you an Anthro major? Was this a paid position you needed for income? If the answer is NO to both, I don't see how you justify why you continued to pursue it if you knew you wanted to go into medicine.

 

[radioactive15]

Disagree with Doudline. You may get credit for having done some type of research, but AdComs are going to look right past it, esp at heavy research institutions.

Were you an Anthro major? Was this a paid position you needed for income? If the answer is NO to both, I don't see how you justify why you continued to pursue it if you knew you wanted to go into medicine.

Yes, I am an Anthropology major. It's not a paid position. Fully unpaid, just did it because it seemed like interesting.

I don't want to apply to a majority of research heavy schools, maybe only 2-5 max. Does this affect my chances?

 

[Lawpy]

Disagree with Doudline. You may get credit for having done some type of research, but AdComs are going to look right past it, esp at heavy research institutions.

Were you an Anthro major? Was this a paid position you needed for income? If the answer is NO to both, I don't see how you justify why you continued to pursue it if you knew you wanted to go into medicine.

Wait what? Why? You think adcoms like only biomedical research and not in the "soft sciences" or in other types of non-medically related sciences?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

I have seen the bias towards bench/wet/biomedical research be shift dramatically over the past 30+ years, with a very broad acceptance and appreciation of clinical, social, policy and other research. In the past few years I have sent nontrads without "hard science" research to Priztker and University of Pittsburgh, both considered research heavy schools

What were their MCAT and GPAs?

Also, as it relates to @radioactive15 I didn't know you were an Anthro major. So having two years of research in your major is fine. However, if you are a bio, chem, neuro, etc science major and choose to pursue research in a "soft" science, you need to have strong justification for it. It'll stand out on an application and I can't tell if you if that's good or bad. Is the applicant a 4.0, 34+ MCAT (sorry only took the old one). Or are they a 3.6, 32?

The number of applicants jumped by 6% in 2015-2016 compared to the previous year and that 6% doubled the growth of previous increase. Applicant growth is growing quicker than seats. Why create an obviously question mark in your application?

 

[Lawpy]

What were their MCAT and GPAs?

Also, as it relates to @radioactive15 I didn't know you were an Anthro major. So having two years of research in your major is fine. However, if you are a bio, chem, neuro, etc science major and choose to pursue research in a "soft" science, you need to have strong justification for it. It'll stand out on an application and I can't tell if you if that's good or bad. Is the applicant a 4.0, 34+ MCAT (sorry only took the old one). Or are they a 3.6, 32?

The number of applicants jumped by 6% in 2015-2016 compared to the previous year and that 6% doubled the growth of previous increase. Applicant growth is growing quicker than seats. Why create an obviously question mark in your application?

Sorry but how are stats relevant in discussing research experiences? You are strongly suggesting that science majors should do science research and adcoms have a strong favoritism for biomedical research when that is not the case. Did the schools you have interviewed expressed a particular interest in biomedical research as opposed to other research types?

 

[Crayola227]

there's plenty of "soft" science research that goes on in medicine, I can tell you from first hand experience

to be fair some hard core hard science wet bench research in chemistry in something clinically relevant I think "impresses" people more because many people say "I wasn't smart/interested enough in that" and the sort of research seems more accessible, however, many places research is research they look at the whole picture of the whole applicant

certainly, people with potential to advance the field, get pubs, get grant money, know the scientific method, all pluses

that doesn't mean this is "bad" thing on your app ffs

I personally know an anthro major that did research in their field that matriculated into my class

if you did anthro research as a non-soft science major it might raise my eyebrow but this seems totally sensical to me

 

[Crayola227]

on my app, I did things that are very much typical pre-med prep things, and a few that weren't

and I told interviewers that I felt like it was good for me to sow those not-med-related mental oats before med school
basically, my whole thing was that I was all about human health, and I could say how "not med related" interests could help me be a better doctor, but that I also had these other interests

it's OK to be intellectually curious and have broad interests, anthro majors are great because they can understand the socioeconomic/cultural determinants of health in ways that can really make a concrete difference in a patient encounter, maybe in a way lost to a less sensitive physics major type

a lot of this stuff is going to be how you package it and present it in AMCAS and in person