Is it possible to do research third year of medical school on top of rotations?

[sanfran256]

I just took step 1 on Saturday (woo hoo!) and am going to start my third year rotations soon.

I am getting a little worried about the state of my application for residency purposes....

I didn't do many ECs the first two years of med school , I just focused on my hobbies outside of medicine to keep myself happy, but am thinking this might not have been a good strategy for residency apps. I did clinical research over the summer with a scholarship from my school between M1-M2 but did not enjoy it nor did I get anything out of it

How do I salvage my application and can anyone share their experience with doing research in third year?

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[Forever Geebs]

Congrats on taking STEP1!

Regarding research—are you interested in a particular field, or fields?


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[sanfran256]

Thanks!! So glad its over with

I'm interested in Internal Medicine or Emergency medicine at the moment!
I would like to match at an academic program if my Step 1 score/ Step 2 permits haha

 

[Oso]

Most people who do research during third year take 1-3 months of elective time to work on it. Otherwise you work on it on the weekends or on lighter rotations (usually an elective), for example. Really not possible to do it well during core clerkships

 

[honey0102]

From what I heard quite a few m3's at my school do it. One of them even has time to tutor on top of it too

 

[medstud268]

It is definitely possible. A lot of people don't decide what specialty they want to do until MS3 anyway, and people do great research during it. I was part of multiple projects during MS3, and I don't think it affected my shelf performance. If you can manage your time well, you can get a lot done.

 

[Cyphix]

It’s possible. Be strategic about it — make time for it during your less intensive rotations

 

[operaman]

Definitely possible, though obviously we are talking about clinical research and not basic science.

Very hard to do on surgery and IM typically, but much easier on things like psych or family medicine. If your school offers third year electives, these are also good times to get other work done.

 

[alana615]

Definitely possible. I'm an M1 and I am currently working on a project with an M3. However, I am able to put much more time into the project than he is, and we wouldn't have made our deadline if the project was actually cut 50/50. So, keep in mind that you're going to be pretty busy.

 

[sanfran256]

Thanks everyone!

 

[mvenus929]

I imagine it depends a lot on the type of research you do. My project during residency, where I had to actually enroll patients, would not have been possible for a third year without dedicated time. But a case report or chart review? Totally possible.