How important is doing research in medical school

[Reborn24]

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to help you land a competitive residency. Do we have the time?

 

[SkylineMD]

If you want a competitive residency, then you should definitely do the research. Chances are that many people who are vying for the same spots have done it and not doing it might just be one reason for them to not take you. Just shine in your other classes and its still possible but do it in the summer at least if you want to do something competitive

 

[Reborn24]

If you want a competitive residency, then you should definitely do the research. Chances are that many people who are vying for the same spots have done it and not doing it might just be one reason for them to not take you. Just shine in your other classes and its still possible but do it in the summer at least if you want to do something competitive

is it possible to do it during the school year?

 

[TheFlash]

dude, if you don't have at least two first authorships by second year, you're a total goner. as the soup nazi would say: NO PLASTICS FOR YOU!

😉

 

[werd]

is it possible to do it during the school year?

i'm doing it.

 

[Adcadet]

I did research during my second year. Still am now that I'm in my third year. It is epi stuff so it isn't't like I have to be in a lab at 6 am every day to feed rats or anything. And it is just the PI and me working on this, so there aren't any formal lab meetings that I had to attend. For the most part I'd just do some analysis when I had a few hours free at home and I felt like it or writing/revising. I highly recommend this type of setup if you can swing it. What really made it possible for me is my MPH background and the fact that I got a research grant to begin this project the summer between MS1 and MS2 years, so I could then just continue it afterwards as my time allowed.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

What kind of bogus research are you guys doing again??!

list your research experience people.

it sounds overrated.

 

[VincentAdultman]

What kind of bogus research are you guys doing again??!

list your research experience people.

it sounds overrated.

I'm doing some promising reasearch on how easy it is to pick up 1st year female med students when you're an MSIII. Ortho here I come bitches!

 

[Silverfix]

to help you land a competitive residency. Do we have the time?

More info, secret squirrel. Which damn residency are you talking about?

 

[tigershark]

You can make time if you are genuinely interested in research, and it will make a huge difference in where you end up for residency. You can more or less write your own ticket if you have substantial research experience with first author pubs (hypothesis-driven research, sorry case-reports and cheesy stuff like that dont count.) You would be surprised at how many faculty dont even have a single first author publication.

If on the otherhand you are only doing it so you can have "research experience" then I wouldnt bother trying to do it during other classes. Just do a month or two of elective time so you can claim you did "research" and be done with it, you will have just as much as 90% of other students.

Research can make or break you at the big-name programs, but such a large time commitment is required for meaningful research that feigned interest is pretty transparent.

 

[synapse lapse]

You can make time if you are genuinely interested in research, and it will make a huge difference in where you end up for residency. You can more or less write your own ticket if you have substantial research experience with first author pubs (hypothesis-driven research, sorry case-reports and cheesy stuff like that dont count.) You would be surprised at how many faculty dont even have a single first author publication.

If on the otherhand you are only doing it so you can have "research experience" then I wouldnt bother trying to do it during other classes. Just do a month or two of elective time so you can claim you did "research" and be done with it, you will have just as much as 90% of other students.

Research can make or break you at the big-name programs, but such a large time commitment is required for meaningful research that feigned interest is pretty transparent.

I disagree with you that retrospective studies and case reports aren't meaningful research to do, and that the won't have an impact on your application. You can still do clinical research for the 2.5 summer months and it will look perfectly fine. You are unlikely to get published in basic science research as it involves a huge time commitment, and such case studies and retrospective evals provide you with a great chance for publication. You are really exagerating saying 90% of students do research. I would bet the number is actualy less than 50%, and probably less that 10% have a publication in med school, first author compising even less of this number.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

who cares about research.

we're all gonna get paid well. and we're gonna get the bitches.... unless you're prematurely balding.

 

[Long Dong]

who cares about research.

we're all gonna get paid well. and we're gonna get the bitches.... unless you're prematurely balding.

👍

 

[Silverfix]

who cares about research.

we're all gonna get paid well. and we're gonna get the bitches.... unless you're prematurely balding.

That's the attitude that I take, personally. But I'm glad that not everyone sees it that way. If everyone had my attitude, we'd still be treating everyone with therapeutic bloodletting and leeches.


To all those interested in research and medical science. Thanks.


BTW. I've done lots of research purely for career advancement and would recommend it. Don't do benchwork unless you have a year or so to devote to it. If you want to use "spare time" to get a paper under your belt then, chart studies are the way to go. 😉

 

[oompaloompa]

I agree with previous posters that research can sometimes be an incredible chore, but it doesn't have to be. Not all research means taking care of lab animals and enduring the personality vacuum that occurs at research conferences. I did clinical research in the Pedi ER and that was actually what got me interested in emergency medicine! It was exciting work, ER docs are fun people, and I got paid 5Gs by the NIH to do it. Not bad for a summer project, huh?
A lot of schools have research spots paid for by the NIH, just find an area you're interested in and get a faculty to sponsor you. Present your case to the NIH board and see what happens. Pick something reasonable though, and it generally pays to have an influential faculty on board -- after all, these things are fairly competitive. Good luck!

 

[tigershark]

You are really exagerating saying 90% of students do research. I would bet the number is actualy less than 50%, and probably less that 10% have a publication in med school, first author compising even less of this number.

Sorry for not being clear, what I meant was that 90% of the "research" that medical students do is just token research for CV padding and that 1-2 months of elective time would put you on par with about 90% of student "researchers"

Case-reports and chart-reviews may be meaningful on some level, but for the purposes of landing a competitive residency they are meaningless.

 

[Silverfix]

Sorry for not being clear, what I meant was that 90% of the "research" that medical students do is just token research for CV padding and that 1-2 months of elective time would put you on par with about 90% of student "researchers"

Your motivation does not affect the quality of the work. 😉

Case-reports and chart-reviews may be meaningful on some level, but for the purposes of landing a competitive residency they are meaningless.

Not true. Everything helps. If you're working for a well known PI and you get published in a prominent journal you can bet your last dollar it'll help. A lot.

 

[chiteej]

to help you land a competitive residency. Do we have the time?

in my opinion,
i think doing research in Medical school is one of the most brilliant step one can take! Though medical students have difficulty managing time for their studies, it's not impossible for them to manage time for short training courses on research & publication! This is the best time.
Yeah, it will indeed help us to stand out in competitive residency.
Beside this, here are some advantages of "why to do research and get it publish?" 🙂
1. To make the work permanent and make the findings publicly accessible
2. Contribution to science or improve health services
3. To convince the funding body to sink even more money for research
4. Obligations: the supervisor forces you!
5. CV enhancement
6. To get our name printed
7. EGO: work is your epitaph
8. For academic achievement/promotion

 

[Dr Optimistic]

lol at the fake posts above. Can't wait to see what spam these users post after they get a few fake posts under their belts...