Is academic heme-onc realistic with a poor research background?

[jackinabox1]

Hi everyone,

Looking to get some advice in terms of future career pursuits:

First some background: I've always been relatively average in terms of intelligence amongst my peers. It's taken a crap ton of work solely focusing on academics to take me this far. As a result, I've never been able to really do a lot of active research and I am ashamed to say I have very little in terms of published work. Yet, this past cycle I was fortunate enough to match a good (not top tier) IM residency program affiliated w/ a NCI cancer center.

Now that I'm in residency, I really want to up my game with research. My dream is to one day drive my own research instead of being the peon following orders. This leads me to my question.... Is it realistic for me to pursue productive research during residency even with my limited background? As a follow-up, how much of an uphill battle am I looking at in terms of preparing an application for top tier heme onc fellowships?

All advice welcome. Thank you

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[gutonc]

Hi everyone,

Looking to get some advice in terms of future career pursuits:

First some background: I've always been relatively average in terms of intelligence amongst my peers. It's taken a crap ton of work solely focusing on academics to take me this far. As a result, I've never been able to really do a lot of active research and I am ashamed to say I have very little in terms of published work. Yet, this past cycle I was fortunate enough to match a good (not top tier) IM residency program affiliated w/ a NCI cancer center.

Now that I'm in residency, I really want to up my game with research. My dream is to one day drive my own research instead of being the peon following orders. This leads me to my question.... Is it realistic for me to pursue productive research during residency even with my limited background? As a follow-up, how much of an uphill battle am I looking at in terms of preparing an application for top tier heme onc fellowships?

All advice welcome. Thank you

If you've never actually done research, how do you know that's what you want to do with your life? Serious question. Research is amazing, and terrible. I absolutely loved it as a grad student, resident, fellow and post-doc. And now that I'm free of it, there's not enough money in the NCI budget to pay me to go back and do it full time. YMMV of course.

The other question really depends. There are a lot of great fellowship programs that can prepare you for a solid career in clinical hem/onc and clinical research. Some of them are grandma programs, others are not. You'll never know if you could score one of those places unless you try, but you will definitely need to step up your research game during residency to do so.

 

[jackinabox1]

If you've never actually done research, how do you know that's what you want to do with your life? Serious question. Research is amazing, and terrible. I absolutely loved it as a grad student, resident, fellow and post-doc. And now that I'm free of it, there's not enough money in the NCI budget to pay me to go back and do it full time. YMMV of course.

The other question really depends. There are a lot of great fellowship programs that can prepare you for a solid career in clinical hem/onc and clinical research. Some of them are grandma programs, others are not. You'll never know if you could score one of those places unless you try, but you will definitely need to step up your research game during residency to do so.

Tbh, I may have been a little melodramatic (typed this post up after a run). I have clinical abstracts and non-first authorship work in basic science but none of those were really self driven or proposed by me. Perhaps a more targeted question would be how productive should I be during residency to make a jump from a mid-high tier residency to a high tier heme onc fellowship? Where on the spectrum from several case reports to multiple bench publications are we talking?

 

[gutonc]

Tbh, I may have been a little melodramatic (typed this post up after a run). I have clinical abstracts and non-first authorship work in basic science but none of those were really self driven or proposed by me. Perhaps a more targeted question would be how productive should I be during residency to make a jump from a mid-high tier residency to a high tier heme onc fellowship? Where on the spectrum from several case reports to multiple bench publications are we talking?

You won’t have time for “multiple bench publications” in residency. If you want to show fellowship programs that you have a basic science goal, and the chops to back it up, you should use as much elective time as possible to work in a lab that has a history of working with residents and can quickly plug you into a project that’s close to publication.

You should also find a hem/Onc clinical research mentor to get you some clinical abstracts.

 

[Adjet]

Hi everyone,

Looking to get some advice in terms of future career pursuits:

First some background: I've always been relatively average in terms of intelligence amongst my peers. It's taken a crap ton of work solely focusing on academics to take me this far. As a result, I've never been able to really do a lot of active research and I am ashamed to say I have very little in terms of published work. Yet, this past cycle I was fortunate enough to match a good (not top tier) IM residency program affiliated w/ a NCI cancer center.

Now that I'm in residency, I really want to up my game with research. My dream is to one day drive my own research instead of being the peon following orders. This leads me to my question.... Is it realistic for me to pursue productive research during residency even with my limited background? As a follow-up, how much of an uphill battle am I looking at in terms of preparing an application for top tier heme onc fellowships?

All advice welcome. Thank you

If you go to a decent IM residency that helps. It's tough to be super productive in residency unless you strike gold with a great research mentor. Not only due to the time constraints with the residency schedule, but also because applications are generally submitted in July at the very start of PGY-3 which doesn't provide a ton of time pump out publications (you could apply in a following cycle though if desired). That said, it's certainly possible to match into a great academic heme/onc program without significant research experience prior to residency.

The most important thing you can do is to find a great mentor who has a track record of productivity and, ideally, has successfully worked with residents in the past; reach out to senior residents as they can be a great resource. Start looking early and look for clinical projects that have a relatively quick turnaround time (i.e retrospective studies) or projects nearing completition. Cast a wide net and ensure you meet with several mentors.

There's no guidebook on exactly how many publications and abstracts you need to be compeitive for top academic heme/onc fellowships, but I think something like 2-3 conference abstracts (ASCO, ASH, AACR) and a publication would be fairly strong. I'm literally making that up though and there are other variables like quality of the research, authorship which can influence how your research portfolio is percieved. For that reason, I wouldn't focus on a set number of abstracts/publications - just focus on taking advantage of opportunities, putting in effort on your end and see what happens (some things you control, some things you can't).