How good is my research?

[Seldon]

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How competitive does 3 first author (clincial) papers, 3 middle author (2 clinical, 1 lab), 2 or 3 presentations at national conferences ( likely posters), 2 poster presentations (summer programs), make me at research powerhouses (assuming volunteering and ECs are par and I have a top GPA and MCAT)?

Edit: I could very well get more 1st author papers, depending on how many more projects my PI wants to give me (they're mostly retrospective chart reviews with bio-statistical analysis. However, one may be a clinical trial that I proposed)

 

[Lawpy]

Using @WedgeDawg Applicant Rating System,

Research Experience

Score Cap: 5
Multiplier: 3

Level 5: Significant, sustained research activity. Generally, applicants in this category will have a first author publication, publication in a high-impact journal, and/or solo presentation of their own, original work at a major conference. These are the research superstars who are performing work well beyond the level of an undergraduate. PhDs will generally fall into this category, too.

Level 4: Significant, sustained research activity, generally for at least 2 years. Applicants in this category may have a poster presentation, a middle author publication in a medium- or low-impact journal, an abstract, or a thesis. These applicants have a strong research focus and perform research above the level of the average undergraduate.

Level 3: Moderate research activity, generally for a year or more. These applicants generally don't have publications or presentations, but may have completed a project.

Level 2: Slight research activity, generally for less than a year.

Level 1: No research activity.

You are basically Level 5 in research experience quality.

 

[JustAPhD]

Most applicants don't have one publication. You have 6 and 2/3 national meeting presentations. Relax, you're golden. Just be able to talk about your research intelligently and you're set (in terms of the research aspect).

 

[Frogger27]

Yeah you have more research than most med students applying for competitive residencies lol...

 

[CAFFEINE!]

I don't know dude, I don't think you're even competitive enough for a Caribbean med school. Try publishing ~5-10 more papers and then get back to us.

 

[efle]

Are these things you have already ??? Many retrospective chart reviews don't make it to paper stage is my understanding, but yeah if you actually get all those authorships you'll be way on the strong side

 

[aalamruad]

Are these things you have already ??? Many retrospective chart reviews don't make it to paper stage is my understanding, but yeah if you actually get all those authorships you'll be way on the strong side

Why is that?

 

[efle]

Why is that?

Findings don't warrant more than poster/presentation/abstract

 

[Seldon]

Are these things you have already ??? Many retrospective chart reviews don't make it to paper stage is my understanding, but yeah if you actually get all those authorships you'll be way on the strong side

I'm currently writing one of the first author papers. It should be submitted in the next few weeks. The other two are in the IRB stage, but they're multi-institutional studies with fairly high potential significance, so I'm not too worried about them. The second author papers are being submitted in the next month, with the exception of the lab paper. I don't know when that's going to be submitted.

 

[efle]

Yeah you'll have well above average research even at the top

 

[Podstar]

I'm currently writing one of the first author papers. It should be submitted in the next few weeks. The other two are in the IRB stage, but they're multi-institutional studies with fairly high potential significance, so I'm not too worried about them. The second author papers are being submitted in the next month, with the exception of the lab paper. I don't know when that's going to be submitted.

Even if one or numerous for whatever reason do not end up publishing, you are still more than fine in the research department for top schools.

 

[Seldon]

Yeah you'll have well above average research even at the top

Do you know how significant research is to top schools? I've gotten mixed messages. Some say that research isn't all that important, while others say that, at least for top schools, it is paramount.

 

[JustAPhD]

I'm currently writing one of the first author papers. It should be submitted in the next few weeks. The other two are in the IRB stage, but they're multi-institutional studies with fairly high potential significance, so I'm not too worried about them. The second author papers are being submitted in the next month, with the exception of the lab paper. I don't know when that's going to be submitted.

Just to be clear, that's a no then. The amount of research is impressive (even one paper is impressive for an undergrad), but I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch.

 

[Seldon]

Just to be clear, that's a no then. The amount of research is impressive (even one paper is impressive for an undergrad), but I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch.

You're not wrong, but I think this is a productive post regardless. I'm actually being fairly conservative in my paper estimate (I'm in charge of 6 projects as first author and I've contributed to 3 others). I'm really just trying to understand the potential significance of my research, when it's all said and done.

 

[efle]

Do you know how significant research is to top schools? I've gotten mixed messages. Some say that research isn't all that important, while others say that, at least for top schools, it is paramount.

It's the norm to have some, though not the norm to be published let alone published multiple first authorships. You can still get in with something else spectacular about you while lacking any research, but for most people the recipe is stats+ECs+promising future in academic med or some other career with large/wide impact. Public health, global stuff, etc.

 

[efle]

How can you even be in charge of this much at once, lol. Even the advanced fellows at my tertiary clinic are head of a couple projects each at most, attendings oversee a bunch of stuff but only a few projects reach completion per each per year. You must be full time gap year in clinical research doing much faster paced projects than the stuff I get

 

[Seldon]

How can you even be in charge of this much at once, lol. Even the advanced fellows at my tertiary clinic are head of a couple projects each at most, attendings oversee a bunch of stuff but only a few projects reach completion per each per year. You must be full time gap year in clinical research doing much faster paced projects than the stuff I get

It's just a confluence of a lot of lucky things. I can graduate early, so I took this semester "off" to go work at the hospital. I managed to find a PI with a lot of projects and not a lot of students (the medical school is far away from main campus and he's not well known by the med students). The projects he gave me are also quite large with many questions, which spawned more paper-sized projects off of one initial idea.

 

[fdgjfg]

Your research will be solid no matter what because something will probably make it through, but it's easy to over count your projects. You kind of have to wait until you've actually submitted the completed manuscript to the journal before you can safely put it in your output. And even then, for most disciplines, the fastest you can get from submission to acceptance is 3-4 months. It can easily take 8-10 months or so if the reviewers take their sweet time, ask for major revisions, or reject after revising.

 

[Verity]

You remind me of my friend who had three research projects he was leading at once... was determined he'd have three publications by the time he graduated because each PI "was shooting for publication soon", and for years talked as if they were in the bag. Guess how many publications he had when he graduated? 0. Guess how many he still has now? 0. Definitely not saying that's going to be the case with you, because that would be baseless speculation. Merely a thought to ponder - is it in your best interest to juggle those nine projects, or to really hammer down on a few and get them done and get them done right? Or perhaps use some of that extra time to volunteer and/or get clinical experience?

 

[Seldon]

You remind me of my friend who had three research projects he was leading at once... was determined he'd have three publications by the time he graduated because each PI "was shooting for publication soon", and for years talked as if they were in the bag. Guess how many publications he had when he graduated? 0. Guess how many he still has now? 0. Definitely not saying that's going to be the case with you, because that would be baseless speculation. Merely a thought to ponder - is it in your best interest to juggle those nine projects, or to really hammer down on a few and get them done and get them done right? Or perhaps use some of that extra time to volunteer and/or get clinical experience?

You're right, it could happen. I appreciate what you're saying. I'll try to temper my expectations. Thank you for your help. I am also volunteering, getting clinical experience, and studying for the MCAT, so even if the worst case scenario happens, this semester will have been productive.

Edit: terrible grammar (late night)

 

[Seldon]

Your research will be solid no matter what because something will probably make it through, but it's easy to over count your projects. You kind of have to wait until you've actually submitted the completed manuscript to the journal before you can safely put it in your output. And even then, for most disciplines, the fastest you can get from submission to acceptance is 3-4 months. It can easily take 8-10 months or so if the reviewers take their sweet time, ask for major revisions, or reject after revising.

That's true, but it won't be much of an issue for me because I'm taking a gap year.