How Important is Research Experience??

[PequalsMDman]

Is it necessary to have research experience to get into med school??

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[Dr Chooch]

Definitely no, but it does help....for some schools more than others. Someone else please add more cause I'm at work and I gotta go.

 

[~EnnI~]

i don't have any research experience either...hope it doesn't hold me back...

anybody know more about this?

 

[sacrament]

Having some real research experience (not just some half-assed little project you had to do for class) is a nice feather in your cap. It serves to help distinguish you from the crowd. It is certainly not a requirement for admission, but you do need to distinguish youself in some manner. The fact that I did a masters degree and had some innovative research under my belt probably helped account for my acceptances, but it doesn't have to be research, it can be the fact that you spent a year in Kenya, or that you started a volunteer organization, or that you were the lead singer in a popular local band... something, anything, to set you apart from the pack. (If your MCAT cumulative score was like 40 and you have a 4.0 in theoretical physics, then you don't need to worry as much about such things. )

 

[klinzou]

Being an EE major, there's not alot of opportunity for research in medicine(at least I don't think). Would you say maybe working for 15 months as an EE doing fun EE stuff would be almost equivalent?

Is the research experience actually seen to be useful to the student as research, or as some type of real world job exposure?

If it's the latter, then I should be just fine

 

[cocoabutter]

It all depends on the school that you are applying to. If you are applying to top research schools, then of course you are going to need research experience. Similarly, if you are applying MD/PhD, then you will need research experience. Like others have said, it is a nice way to distinguish yourself, but not absolutely necessary. I have no research experience, but the rest of my app was okay, and I have been accepted to two schools so far. So don't let not having any research experience stop you from applying.

 

[Sonya]

Originally posted by klinzou
Being an EE major, there's not alot of opportunity for research in medicine(at least I don't think). Would you say maybe working for 15 months as an EE doing fun EE stuff would be almost equivalent?

Is the research experience actually seen to be useful to the student as research, or as some type of real world job exposure?

If it's the latter, then I should be just fine

There is a LOT of opportunities for EE research in medicine...
PM (actually, e-mailing me [email protected] would be better) if you're curious.

Sonya

 

[Allygator89]

Originally posted by cocoabutter
It all depends on the school that you are applying to. If you are applying to top research schools, then of course you are going to need research experience. Similarly, if you are applying MD/PhD, then you will need research experience. Like others have said, it is a nice way to distinguish yourself, but not absolutely necessary. I have no research experience, but the rest of my app was okay, and I have been accepted to two schools so far. So don't let not having any research experience stop you from applying.

Completely agree. I had no research experience, however, I was accepted to med school... I did notice that a lot of the schools that are really research oriented didn't even read my secondary... they just cashed the check.

 

[~EnnI~]

do you guys know which schools are generally research oriented? it might help to avoid unecessary rejections...

 

[Biodude]

Well I know that Stanford is research oriented

I THINK that Yale is too...um, anybody have any others?

 

[FMLizard]

I think doing ANYTHING that stands out from the norm is good for an application. Research, unless you make some Earth-shattering discovery, has become a norm and won't really turn too many heads.

I haven't researched a minute in my life, and when I ran my preliminary application for a couple of years from now across the adcoms at my school's med and dental schools, both really said my non-academic experiences stood out to them and would strongly enhance my application. Virtually all had nothing to do with healthcare in any way, but still showed other valuable skills and interests that are transferrable.

 

[shikantaza]

quote:
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Originally posted by cocoabutter
It all depends on the school that you are applying to. If you are applying to top research schools, then of course you are going to need research experience.
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hmmm... maybe this is true generally, but i got into two top five schools with only one summer of meaningless research experience, which i conveyed to my interviewers using the exact same words... i also told them i didn't like research... and my gpa and mcat score were good but not at the high end for students who get accepted to top five or ten schools... i think if you put together an interesting enough application lack of research experience won't really matter too much, but i don't really know... just sharing my experience...

 

[HessExpress]

Do whatever you want as far as e.c.'s as long as it does' t conflict w/ your GPA...join a band and put out a cd, win a video game comp, run the Boston marathon...anything that makes you stand out will work.

 

[*fatmike*]

i did 3yrs of research and published 3 times, and to tell you the truth, i think 3 years of heath-care oriented/patient care would have helped me out about 1000-fold. doing research for the sake of an application is useless. for me, i didnt really like the research, i just thought it would be a good thing to get into early. at every one of my interviews, i was asked what significant VOLUNTEER work i had done, which was very minimal (plus, i was working full time to pay for college). anyway, volunteer work in particular seemed to be something adcoms look favorably on as well. oh yeah, and i got a 26 on the MCAT! (9 9 8)

Mike

 

[Biodude]

Hmm, in that case I guess I'm already doin' quite well...

I'm sure doin' a lot of volunteer work but I won't be able to actually have the opportunity to do any research whatsoever 'til I get to my junior year. Oh well.

Maybe joining my school's Wu Shu Team should make me stand out (I used to practice Wu Shu...now I'm trying to bring it all back and get back in shape)

 

[washkeep]

At the US News World Rankings they rank med schools as research institutes and primary care institutions. This should give you a good idea about more research-focused schools. A couple of big research schools are Wash U and Hopkins.

Research will help if you really get into it. IF you can really talk about your research, that's great or if you get published. I've been told what makes the difference is clinical experience. It's pretty fun anyways. As long as you have an appreciation for research, because PhD's will probably sit on your interview committee. BUT do not keep doing research if you don't like it!!!!

Hope that helps.

 

[~EnnI~]

Originally posted by washkeep
At the US News World Rankings they rank med schools as research institutes and primary care institutions. This should give you a good idea about more research-focused schools. A couple of big research schools are Wash U and Hopkins.

Research will help if you really get into it. IF you can really talk about your research, that's great or if you get published. I've been told what makes the difference is clinical experience. It's pretty fun anyways. As long as you have an appreciation for research, because PhD's will probably sit on your interview committee. BUT do not keep doing research if you don't like it!!!!

Hope that helps.

no, i don't really enjoy research too much, but i was gonna try and get some experience in within the next year before i apply. however, i really didn't want to go FULL out....meaning, i don't care to be published. so does this mean that doing research is a waste of time (if i don't do anything significant)? if so, i'd prefer to avoid it and proceed to gain more clinical experience...

 

[washkeep]

I'd just do clinical stuff then. You know, you could always do clinical research... ? That might be right up your alley.