Importance of Research in getting good residency

[AK_MD2BE]

To those who are in the know...
How important is doing research to getting into a good Anesthesiology program? Obviously w/ultra competitive fields such as derm/ortho/etc., it is required, but in Anesthesia is it just something that will give you a little extra edge? How would you order the following criteria in terms of getting into a good residency?
Step 1 score
Year 3 grades
Research
LOR
Any valid, informed information would be greatly appreciated.

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[VolatileAgent]

To those who are in the know...
How important is doing research to getting into a good Anesthesiology program? Obviously w/ultra competitive fields such as derm/ortho/etc., it is required, but in Anesthesia is it just something that will give you a little extra edge? How would you order the following criteria in terms of getting into a good residency?
Step 1 score
Year 3 grades
Research
LOR
Any valid, informed information would be greatly appreciated.

grades are important. your letters are very important (who they are from as much as what they say). your step scores are important in that they are just a screening tool, nothing more. these things just get you to the interview. how you do during the interview is probably the most important. research is a nice bonus on your application, but certainly not critical - unless, that is, it is something published in an anesthesia journal and/or is something truly novel that illustrates your uniqueness or imagination.

given all those things above, if you are a stellar candidate, you'll pretty much get your choice of spots. this probably holds true if you are even "just" slightly above average. if you are average, then you'll likely get a spot but probably not be able to be very picky.

if, however, you have mediocre letters, mediocre grades, and below average board scores, you're going to have to take what you can get. but, you'll probably still be able to get a spot somewhere. apply far and wide.

lastly, read the FAQs at the top of this main forum page. a lot of this stuff has already been covered, and still holds true despite being a little dated.