how much research do you need?

[3Xhelix]

I was just wondering how much research one needs to be accepted into an MD/PhD program. I did a small amount during undergrad, and right now i'm taking a year off of school and working as a research tech in a molecular biology lab (designing primers, synthesizing probes, making constructs, etc.) Its unlikely i'll have my name on any publications, but my PI is fairly well known in his field, and i'll have about 15 months in the lab before i would (hopefully) enter a program next fall.

I know there are no absolute answers, but should this be enough research experience, or is having publications a must for MD/PhD? Would I be better off just going MD to postdoc? (i really want to treat patients as well as researching, so i don't think a straight PhD is for me.)

Any info at all would be appreciated

Thanks

3Xhelix

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[ChyLn]

I would think that 15 months of solid research time would be more than enough for applying to MSTP. What you need is to make sure that you are taking part in actual projects and understand what is going on. If all you are doing is designing constructs and tech'ing for those 15 months, it may not be as useful.

just my two cents

 

[mjs]

You should be capable of explaining what you did, how you did it and why it matters to faculty members who interview you. Some people get there after only a few months of working as a scientist and some people take a while longer.