In which lab would you work in?

[Ophthalmologist]

Say I want to apply for Internal Medicine residency.

If both labs agree to take me,

Option 1: A lab in a specialty that is related to Internal Medicine but with incompatible people

Option 2: A lab in a specialty that is NOT related to internal medicine and with compatible people

Which lab would you choose? How important is to work with compatible lab mentors/techs?

Thanks for all comments in advance.

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[Isoprop]

The topic or subject of research is not as important as the likelihood of publishing/presenting and obtaining a strong LOR. So I would probably go with the lab where I feel more 'compatible' with the people, particularly the PI.

 

[Ophthalmologist]

The topic or subject of research is not as important as the likelihood of publishing/presenting and obtaining a strong LOR. So I would probably go with the lab where I feel more 'compatible' with the people, particularly the PI.

I assume that's the case for internal med.

But what if I'm applying to a specialized residency such as Ophthalmology. Doing hypertinsion research won't help at all right?

 

[Isoprop]

Well, with diseases that affect multiple systems like hypertension or diabetes, you can spin it to apply to many specialties. You could definitely spin a research project on HTN to apply to opthal.

Even if you were studying a specific disease outside the field you are interested in, that experience can still be pretty valuable, especially if you can get a LOR out of it.

 

[phltz]

I would work in the lab in which they knew how to tell in how many times to use the word "in" in.

 

[Ophthalmologist]

Thanks guys!