How much to do? Research/Volunteer Experience During Medical School

[bluerose786]

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Hello All🙂

As medical school is approaching for Class of 2010...I've a couple of questions regarding extracurriculars during med school. Any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

1) If I wanted to get involved with some research or if someone offers me a good research opportunity during or right before medical school, is it wise to undertake it? From what I've heard, medical school seems to be a lot of just STUDYING, and it seems different from undergrad (in which do get INVOLVED in activities). If do get involved in research, will it help me when I apply for residency? Or do residencies simply care less?

2) Also, how about volunteer experiences?? I would still like to get involved in community service...like health care to underserved communities, homeless shelters, etc. Would you guys recommend just doing a minimum of this because will we even HAVE time?? I also really want to do international service (medical relief work) during some summer off...or are med students supposed to use this time to STUDY?

I guess I'm trying to figure out the difference between how we should approach extracurriculars in med school vs. undergrad....

Please advise.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

I don't think you'll have time for research but A LOT of students in my class and second year are parts of organizations at clinics around here. I know you're going to COMP so you'll get many, many emails about these clubs that allow you to shadow doctors at clinics in the area and do history and physicals on patients. There are organizations for the homeless, the uninsured and more. I haven't tried any of these out yet but there is time to get involved in these clinics for 3 hours here and there.

 

[Vince]

Depending on what specialty you decide to go into, research can look really good on a residency application. There is little time to do research in medical school and if it is true that you are going to COMP as the above poster mentioned, then there are limited opportunities for research. There are some, don't get me wrong, but DO schools usually have less opportunities. I heard that COMP is trying to get more active in research. A few of my classmates did research summer between 1st and 2nd year. That is an ideal time to do it because between 2nd and 3rd year you are studying for the boards. If you are wanting to go into a competitive specialty, the research can really help, but I don't know if I would do it just to pad your residency application....it should really be research you are interested in so that you can get published by the time you apply for residency. Don't think you HAVE to do it to get into a competitive specialty. It just really helps. Boards are #1.

As far as medical relief/volunteer work, that's the route I went while at COMP. Instead of doing research between 1st and 2nd year I participated in the Spain Exchange Program that summer and spent a month in Spain. Only a handful get to go each year and you have to speak some spanish to go but its a great opporunity and was a lot of fun. There are other programs out there not affiliated with the school that you can do...my roommate went to Costa Rica for a six week "immersion" program where she stayed with a family, took medical spanish classes, and traveled.

Its hard to find time to do stuff during the actual school year because you are so busy studying, etc. but there are options. You can do the Montclair clinics or PCHAT (Pomona Community Health Action Team) that are affiliated with WesternU/COMP and its clubs.....I didn't do those but many did. I chose to join Liga International: Flying Doctors of Mercy in which medical relief is given once a month to rural Mexico. Planes leave Friday morning and come back on Sunday so you only miss a day of class. I tried to go once a semester....it probably looked good on my residency app. but I enjoyed it nevertheless and that's why I went. www.ligainternational.org if you are interested.

Volunteering is important and extracurriculars can help you stand out if you are involved in something unique but it is all secondary to your studying and if you can't squeeze it in, then don't try. Grades/Boards/Class rank (if applicable) are all in front. You also need to find time to do fun stuff outside of school to keep your sanity.

Good Luck.

 

[wook]

Hello All🙂

As medical school is approaching for Class of 2010...I've a couple of questions regarding extracurriculars during med school. Any help/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

1) If I wanted to get involved with some research or if someone offers me a good research opportunity during or right before medical school, is it wise to undertake it? From what I've heard, medical school seems to be a lot of just STUDYING, and it seems different from undergrad (in which do get INVOLVED in activities). If do get involved in research, will it help me when I apply for residency? Or do residencies simply care less?

2) Also, how about volunteer experiences?? I would still like to get involved in community service...like health care to underserved communities, homeless shelters, etc. Would you guys recommend just doing a minimum of this because will we even HAVE time?? I also really want to do international service (medical relief work) during some summer off...or are med students supposed to use this time to STUDY?

I guess I'm trying to figure out the difference between how we should approach extracurriculars in med school vs. undergrad....

Please advise.

Regarding research...it mey be helpful for residency as previous poster stated. It may be really helpful if you have an interest in academic medicine. Even if the school does not offer research, you may check with a nearby hospital that has a residency program of interest and find out who the research director is do an elective research rotation there. It may help you to figure out if research is something that you may want to incorporate into you practice as an atteding.


Wook

 

[Old_Mil]

I have to admit, I've never understood the pull that research has on medical students. If someone wants to do research, why have they chosen to put themselves through this particular hell instead of taking the GRE, applying to graduate school and spending 6 years studying on weekdays and golfing on weekends?

 

[lilzelda]

I have to admit, I've never understood the pull that research has on medical students. If someone wants to do research, why have they chosen to put themselves through this particular hell instead of taking the GRE, applying to graduate school and spending 6 years studying on weekdays and golfing on weekends?

I want to be a researcher and a practitioner, its important for medicine to always move forward and I feel in the field i one day hope to be a part of psychiatry that a lot more still needs to be done in the research area...I beleive medicine is built on research and would only get better through research, maybe I could of just gone and gotten my Ph.D in psych but there is so much I wouldn't have learned as oppose to going to medical school....

 

[Khenon]

What if you have a research background from BEFORE med school? Does that count for anything, or do you have to show something more clinically related and/or recent? I ask because I DON'T want to do anymore research, but am thinking of Heme/Onc as a specialty. As I understand it, you need some research to get into fellowships . . . I'm hoping old research might count for that. 😀

 

[novacek88]

I have to admit, I've never understood the pull that research has on medical students. If someone wants to do research, why have they chosen to put themselves through this particular hell instead of taking the GRE, applying to graduate school and spending 6 years studying on weekdays and golfing on weekends?

It's because residency and fellowship programs value research. For example, anyone can say they have a deep desire to go into cardiology. But if someone has been doing research in the field and has some publications to back that up, their desire looks sincere. It also tells the fellowship, that you will be productive in the residency in regards to the research part of it. A lot of fellowships include a year of research as a part of its curriculum. And I think research is an important part of medicine. It helps you gain a deeper understanding of a field which will only enable you to benefit patients in the future.

In regards to the OP, the type of research and publications will determine if your research was valuable enough to aid you in the application cycle. Just doing some research without a real publication to show for it will not do much for. You need to be published or have some real research experience. A simple poster is often meaningless in terms of a program director's eyes.

A lot of medical students are under the wrong impression. They think they can work a summer and get published. It doesn't work that way unless you are extremely lucky and work for someone whose work is 90% done and you just have to crunch some data. And even in this case, you won't be a first author. Most people with good research start before medical school and it often takes at least a year to get a first author research paper published. If you do summer research, you will be lucky to get a poster presentation out of it.

 

[newbie04]

What if you have a research background from BEFORE med school? Does that count for anything, or do you have to show something more clinically related and/or recent? I ask because I DON'T want to do anymore research, but am thinking of Heme/Onc as a specialty. As I understand it, you need some research to get into fellowships . . . I'm hoping old research might count for that.

Your "old" research is great. I have done clinical research for the last couple years with multiple publications and I have been told that this can be listed on my applications for residency and display my committment to research/medicine.

Most med students only do research for a summer or a couple months during a year out, so research prior to matriculating (especially if you have been doing it for > 1 year is a very good thing) is very valuable in the long run.

In my humble opinion, I think you are fine and actually ahead of the game.