if unsure of speciality, what is the best area of research to do in m1?

[3AA]

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Not sure which specialty i want, have basic research experience, but am curious as to which area/types of research i should look at doing, thanks for any suggestions/advice!

 

[Goro]

Hmmm, I'm of two minds of this.

One is to do what you like doing. Any research is better than no research at all for some specialties.

OR, you could challenge yourself and dive into [any] clinical research as a foothold for future endeavors. Chat up your clinical faculty on this one.

 

[shortcoatdream15]

Oncology - applicable to almost any field

 

[3AA]

Oncology - applicable to almost any field

Thanks! Does clinical vs basic matter? I’d love to try my hand at clinical research, any tips on how to find such research?

 

[deleted600623]

Obviously for the top specialties like Ortho or Derm, specialty specific research would be optimal right?

 

[DrWhozits]

Not sure which specialty i want, have basic research experience, but am curious as to which area/types of research i should look at doing, thanks for any suggestions/advice!

If you think there is anyway you’d be interested in research heavy specialities like NS, ortho, derm, IR (?), etc, see if you can find any projects in these type specialities.

 

[mrbreakfast]

but am curious as to which area/types of research i should look at doing

Probably nothing until you've survived at least some of anatomy (like, abd/pelvis), which is where otherwise-enthusiastic students get blindsided.

Thanks! Does clinical vs basic matter? I’d love to try my hand at clinical research, any tips on how to find such research?

Clinical is better for 3 reasons: easier to perform, easier to publish, easier for PDs to interpret.
Bench is worth doing if it's something you are legitimately interested in and/or you are planning on becoming a clinician/scientist.

Obviously for the top specialties like Ortho or Derm, specialty specific research would be optimal right?

It's practically required, but your time is better spent focusing on classwork or actually exploring those specialties rather than walking in on day 1 and saying "I'm gunna be a bone doc." Student body interest in these fields is extremely high in pre-clinicals, but plummets after Step 1 and further in M3 for surgical fields. For example, I think only two or three members of my school's pre-clinical ortho interest group actually applied to ortho. So, shadow now and save time later.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I was told going into M1 to start doing research in the most competitive specialty I might potentially be interested in; if the research and rotations support your interest, you're well set up, and if not, you've already got a bunch of experience and papers to bolster whatever you do decide.

I also like the oncology take above. It's very true.

Obviously, this is all assuming you could handle it with your class load. Let yourself get adjusted to med school first and then add a project, if that's going well you can add another etc.

 

[deleted600623]

@mrbreakfast Oh for sure. I didn’t plan on doing anything fall if M1 but my school has a research requirement during summer between M1 and M2 so I’ll do some shadowing and go from there.

 

[raiderette]

Second the oncology answer. I did some in undergrad for that very reason. If you do this, look for a lab that publishes often.

 

[bornhuman]

Basic science research will help you broaden your knowledge, expand the breadth and depth of understanding intricacies you may have of forgotten. Suggestion: biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology. As time passes you'll gain perspective in drug actions and interactions, and the interrelationships of organ systems. Why? Because even if the research is tedious, and unrelated to your choice of specialty you mayl be inclined to study mechanisms and pathways you may have forgotten. Oncology is a fascinating area, as is neurology, nephrology, endocrinology, etc. The more intense the project, the more compelled to know (once engaged in a project) as much as you can, and understand the practicality of what have been minutiae -

MD class of `81
GS

 

[Dave1980]

Definitely clinical...you have a much better chance of publishing and can largely do this on your own time. You do NOT have time for basic science research on the side in med school.

I would try to do research in the most competitive specialty you are interested in. NSG, derm, ophtho won't care about your research in liver cancer.

 

[NotaCop]

You do NOT have time for basic science research on the side in med school.

Only a Sith deals in absolutes...

OP I managed just fine juggling an intense basic science project in an animal model alongside the first three years of medical school. It’s certainly harder to do, and requires things like a supportive lab group who is willing to work on the project with you, but it’s not impossible. My best advice if you were interested in basic science is to plan well in advance, have things like IRBs and protocols and such taken care of prior to this summer so you can hit the ground running, put in really long hard working weeks over the summer to get as much as possible done prior to returning to second year, and then make a weekly commitment to spending at least a few hours in the lab through all of second year. Ideally your data will be done by the end of second year so you can ignore things while studying for step, and then spend the better part of third year making sure your stuff gets published.

So that sounds like hell, why would you want to do it? In my opinion, basic science gives you a more rigorous understanding of research method and foundations, even just things like getting good at reading papers and picking apart if they are strong or not, and also sets you up for a much more successful future career in research if that something you’re interested in. Basic science papers are generally respected on a medical student CV, because everybody understands what it takes to get one finished and published. Especially first author papers. Lastly, once you get to the clinical research that **** will be a piece of cake compared to this, which will make it really easy for you to push out papers once you know your specialty of choice.

tl;dr: basic science is hard but not impossible, don’t immediately write it off if you are interested!

 

[sargon2123]

Only a Sith deals in absolutes...

OP I managed just fine juggling an intense basic science project in an animal model alongside the first three years of medical school. It’s certainly harder to do, and requires things like a supportive lab group who is willing to work on the project with you, but it’s not impossible. My best advice if you were interested in basic science is to plan well in advance, have things like IRBs and protocols and such taken care of prior to this summer so you can hit the ground running, put in really long hard working weeks over the summer to get as much as possible done prior to returning to second year, and then make a weekly commitment to spending at least a few hours in the lab through all of second year. Ideally your data will be done by the end of second year so you can ignore things while studying for step, and then spend the better part of third year making sure your stuff gets published.

So that sounds like hell, why would you want to do it? In my opinion, basic science gives you a more rigorous understanding of research method and foundations, even just things like getting good at reading papers and picking apart if they are strong or not, and also sets you up for a much more successful future career in research if that something you’re interested in. Basic science papers are generally respected on a medical student CV, because everybody understands what it takes to get one finished and published. Especially first author papers. Lastly, once you get to the clinical research that **** will be a piece of cake compared to this, which will make it really easy for you to push out papers once you know your specialty of choice.

tl;dr: basic science is hard but not impossible, don’t immediately write it off if you are interested!

Good points, but a few things:

1. Basic science is much harder to publish. When reviewers might be down to accept your paper and call for edits, those edits can take many more months.
2. They may be respected, but making your CV longer with lower quality clinical research/case reports will probably be more respected by most PDs.
3. OP could also write reviews with PI guidance if he wants a deeper perspective on the preclinical/basic side of medicine.
4. It’s hard to ascertain a lab group that would support a med student who can only put in so many hours a week running experiments.

Now something I’m curious about: can you say for sure that mid/high tier academic and competitive-specialty PD’s will all make a special note of basic science pubs? What I’ve gathered so far tells me they will not. But with 15-18 ERAS research products being the average for certain specialties, maybe basic science work will help students stand out.

 

[Master Thinker]

Piggybacking off this; does anyone know how much research has to related to your future specialty? Like if you do kidney research and later decide to go in cards or something, would that research not help?

 

[NeuResurgens]

Piggybacking off this; does anyone know how much research has to related to your future specialty? Like if you do kidney research and later decide to go in cards or something, would that research not help?

The general thought is that specialty research > any other research > no research. Stuff outside the specialty is common (few people know what they want going into med school and stick to that), and it shows you can work through a project and get something published, which is good for translating that into the new specialty. Sometimes this happens if students find they like something competitive during 3rd year that they had no previous interest in. However, if you're applying derm and have a bunch of ortho and oncology stuff and the story is anything besides "I found out late that I like derm" it'll look weird.

 

[Master Thinker]

The general thought is that specialty research > any other research > no research. Stuff outside the specialty is common (few people know what they want going into med school and stick to that), and it shows you can work through a project and get something published, which is good for translating that into the new specialty. Sometimes this happens if students find they like something competitive during 3rd year that they had no previous interest in. However, if you're applying derm and have a bunch of ortho and oncology stuff and the story is anything besides "I found out late that I like derm" it'll look weird.

Thanks, that's good to know for someone as undecided as I am probably going to do something in IM so hopefully that won't be a big issue

 

[sargon2123]

I'd say anything in some IM subfield is good if you're undecided entirely. Faculty ought to encourage initial projects in IM subfields instead of ortho, derm, plastics, etc if someone is interested in a competitive specialty and wants to start research relatively early. There's no telling what'll happen from now through 3-4 years later