Don't mention research during interviews?

[BRCA1]

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Had a conversation with my home program chair this afternoon... I told him that (as an MD/PhD) I'm interested in research and that research time would be one of my considerations for residency programs. He told me this was the "wrong answer" for interviews and that I shouldn't mention wanting to do research during residency.

Thoughts?

 

[lazers]

Had a conversation with my home program chair this afternoon... I told him that (as an MD/PhD) I'm interested in research and that research time would be one of my considerations for residency programs. He told me this was the "wrong answer" for interviews and that I shouldn't mention wanting to do research during residency.

Thoughts?

You shouldnt say you want dedicated research time as a consideration to enter a program as most programs consider research time as time away from clinic and your work in clinic. You should express your interest in research but you shouldn't be asking for dedicated research time as these are set by programs and non-negotiable. Remember you're not negotiating for a job, youre interviewing for a residency spot.

 

[Neuronix]

Had a conversation with my home program chair this afternoon... I told him that (as an MD/PhD) I'm interested in research and that research time would be one of my considerations for residency programs. He told me this was the "wrong answer" for interviews and that I shouldn't mention wanting to do research during residency.

Thoughts?

The programs that will support you to be a physician-scientist will feel otherwise. The question becomes: are you looking for the most prestigious program? Because these programs, research reputation or not, are not necessarily going to be the programs that will support you. Are you looking for a program in a certain area? You will need to be flexible about your research ambitions during residency. That said, as you have probably figured out by now, this is no different as an attending. You have to be very flexible on location and other specifics about your job if you want a faculty position where you can continue doing a serious level of research.

If neither of these things apply (needing to go to "top" program OR location constraints), I think it's reasonable to say that you want to do a high amount of research and pick your rank list based on that. From your other posts, you look like a very strong applicant on paper. You just want to say that clinical comes first and whatever research time they give is fine for you. As lazers points out, you cannot "negotiate", however your rank list is your rank list and amount of research time/Holman support certainly factored heavily into my rank list. Feel out if a program supports Holman, and express interest in it if you are interested in Holman. Holman pathway truly is the way to go if you're serious about research. Otherwise, you'll find that your "12 months" of protected research time may neither be protected nor really 12 months.

This is one of the 100 advantages to not going to a 100% resident coverage program. Here we are not viewed as "out of clinic" because the residents simply do not run the clinics and attendings are used to not having residents some or much of the time. At many programs the residents basically run the show, which means your flexibility as a resident for all sorts of things can be very limited.

 

[Carotenoid]

Had a conversation with my home program chair this afternoon... I told him that (as an MD/PhD) I'm interested in research and that research time would be one of my considerations for residency programs. He told me this was the "wrong answer" for interviews and that I shouldn't mention wanting to do research during residency.

Thoughts?

It highly depends on the program. Most competitive/highly academically regarded programs will absolutely encourage you to do lab research and publish. However, your chair may be right in that IN CASE you don't know how the program at which you are interviewing is structured, you shouldn't volunteer that you are looking to have a dedicated year off in a lab. That being said, most programs have get-togethers with current residents the night before the interview, and that's the ideal place to find out what the PD's position on lab research is.

 

[OTN]

Absolutely mention that you are interested in research. It's important to you, so there's no reason to hide it. However, I wouldn't go out on a limb and say "and research time will be one of the things factoring into my decision when it comes to residency." As far as these programs are concerned, they're very much interviewing you, not the other way around. They won't ask what factors you will use to rate their program, and there's no reason/need to volunteer that information.

 

[hot sauce]

Agree with most of the above. If you are interviewing at a program that has protected research year then mention it and that you are interested in their program because of that fact. If you are unsure of the research time or the program doesn't have it I would put less emphasis on it. I do recall at least one interviewer asking me what I was looking for in a program and others asked what appealed to me at their program so it is asked.