How much research would I need to not require a research year?

[Anakinmemer]

I am in my second year of medical school, meaning I apply in about 15-16 months. I unfortunately had 0 productivity during my preclinical years (which I greatly regret) because I was planning on doing pediatrics and felt I didn't need to strain myself to match. Now as I am doing my rotations I'm almost certainly set on ophthalmology, however, my resume is bare. Is it still possible for me to match ophtho without a research year? I attend a T10 and am in my clinical year right now. I have gotten involved in a project but it is heavy duty and will take awhile before it is actually published, so I feel like I need to get involved elsewhere too. What is a good target number of research items I would need to match well? Do I need other resume buffers like in med school applications such as volunteering etc?

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[PLA2]

Try to get as many honors as possible, try to get a 1-2 publications, preferably first author by the time you apply, which is completely doable since you're just an M2, and work with faculty at your school so you can get letters. You have time. If you're aiming to go to a top residency, maybe get more pubs

 

[MstaKing10]

Even showing something “in press” counts. Try to get a few smaller studies published and present posters or papers at local and National meetings. That’s easy and totally doable in a short amount of time.