Is it worth it to restart up the nonprofit I founded in medical school? How important is research?

[psucowgirl]

[deleted]

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[anonperson]

I am trying to figure out what i want to do with my time in M1, especially with Step 1 going pass fail, and being at an okay but not top school (take a wild guess from my username), I know that ECs will matter along with research to stand out. I have a few leadership positions already and have racked up about 50 volunteer hours in my first few months, and want to continue. I want to do OB/Gyn, which I know is getting more competitive by the year.

I won't go into too many specifics but I founded a nonprofit in undergrad that I loved dedicated to lifting up women in STEM. I know that OB would like to see that kind of involvement - my current involvements in medical school are all service based but are not women-focused. I am wondering if I need to have something women-focused on my CV or if research + lots of service is sufficient to be competitive for OB. I do want to go academic as I want to do a fellowship. I am just so tired - it took so much effort to start it up in undergrad and I feel really crunched with studying, etc. I recently started dating too and I want to actually enjoy my life. I was so stressed in undergrad and have suddenly felt more chill in medical school, surprisingly.

I normally wouldn't be asking this or thinking about it but for us it's basically expected to be done with ECs by the time we start M3, which is in like a year and 3 months. If I want to do ECs, it would be now.

Additionally, I'm breaking my back to get research - there isn't a lot of OB-Gyn research to be found. I already have a publication and am trying to get in with neurology to get some research right now, and will have a third author dermatology publication in the next year or so. I'm really concerned about setting myself up well.

Of course, I am open to any and all specialties as they come - but I have spent a good chunk of time in OB just with my prior clinical work and some shadowing here and have really enjoyed it so I know I am moving towards that direction.

Any advice?

First piece of advice is don't do OBGYN. Not worth the hassle.

Even if you do fellowship, it can be better but you can be significantly geographically restricted.

There are other specialties that part better with less headache: urology, ENT, plastics, derm, GI, heme onc etc.

Step 1 may be pass/ fail but Step 2 still has a numeric score. So there will be emphasis on doing well on that instead

What is important:
Third year grades
Step scores
Letters of rec etc

OBGYN residencies generally don't care about research. It may be an interesting taking point but won't make or break you.

Besides, if you are at Penn State, how are you not getting connected with Legro? He's the chair and well known nationally regarding PCOS etc .

 

[psucowgirl]

First piece of advice is don't do OBGYN. Not worth the hassle.

Even if you do fellowship, it can be better but you can be significantly geographically restricted.

There are other specialties that part better with less headache: urology, ENT, plastics, derm, GI, heme onc etc.

Step 1 may be pass/ fail but Step 2 still has a numeric score. So there will be emphasis on doing well on that instead

What is important:
Third year grades
Step scores
Letters of rec etc

OBGYN residencies generally don't care about research. It may be an interesting taking point but won't make or break you.

Besides, if you are at Penn State, how are you not getting connected with Legro? He's the chair and well known nationally regarding PCOS etc .

[deleted]

 

[anonperson]

So your answer is I should NOT restart my nonprofit?

It seems like research is not a concern?

The issue with those mentioned specialties is that they're all uber competitive, and I am uncertain I have the passion to chase them as hard as I am chasing OB.

I would not start the non profit at the expense of my academics ( step 2 score, third year clerkship scores)

I did poorly academically my first two years and had a low step 1 score ( sub 200). Did better on step 2 ( 242). I had a first author publication. And another publication in review that eventually got accepted. My research rarely came up in interviews other than some superficial remarks.

I got interviews but I was not ranked in at least a few programs. Ob gyn Residency programs are not interested in research.

Program directors want residents who will pass the boards, do their day to day work, and cause the least amount of trouble

Pass step 1. Do will in third year rotations. Do well on Step 2. Get excellent LoRs. If you are at Penn State in Hershey , then you will need a good letter from your chair ( I think it is Legro). He is well known for his PCOS work (even wrote the ACOG practice bulletin) so his word will carry a lot of weight.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

obgyn is one of the most competitive fields right now, as or more than the above fields mentioned by anonperson, though the pay is worse and the stress is higher than in those. Fellowships are Uber competitive and you will have to continue to do research in them.

Obgyn did not care about research, but they did care about step scores, now with P/F, research will most likely fill the void.

I do not know how effective your non-profit is/will be; if you think it will be impactful than you can certainly start it back up or do something else efficient with your time (volunteer activities don’t need to be women focused). Simply stating “I have a nonprofit” will not be sufficient, you’d need something to show for it.

Research is probably going to be the thing that makes the most difference in apps in terms of standing out now. Before P/F, I’d get occasional emails about research, now I get one every week., because people need it for their apps, many start in M3 which I don’t advise, there just won’t be enough time, however, if you start now you can probably get a paper or 2 out of it.

 

[sloh]

obgyn is one of the most competitive fields right now, as or more than the above fields mentioned by anonperson, though the pay is worse and the stress is higher than in those. Fellowships are Uber competitive and you will have to continue to do research in them.

Obgyn did not care about research, but they did care about step scores, now with P/F, research will most likely fill the void.

I do not know how effective your non-profit is/will be; if you think it will be impactful than you can certainly start it back up or do something else efficient with your time (volunteer activities don’t need to be women focused). Simply stating “I have a nonprofit” will not be sufficient, you’d need something to show for it.

Research is probably going to be the thing that makes the most difference in apps in terms of standing out now. Before P/F, I’d get occasional emails about research, now I get one every week., because people need it for their apps, many start in M3 which I don’t advise, there just won’t be enough time, however, if you start now you can probably get a paper or 2 out of it.

What about step 2?

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Step 2 will probably will a void as well, but it’s a pretty easy test to do well, the mean and median scores were always well above those of step 1. Unless things have changed (I have no idea about the timing of the score since I took it more than 10 years ago) it’s taken pretty close to eras submission so many programs can’t use it to winnow down apps. If it is taken now before apps are submitted than I would bet it replaces step 1 as the way to screen applications (which would be the height of irony since that’s why the got rid of step 1 scores) and the importance of research remains what it was prior to step 1 going P/F

 

[psucowgirl]

obgyn is one of the most competitive fields right now, as or more than the above fields mentioned by anonperson, though the pay is worse and the stress is higher than in those. Fellowships are Uber competitive and you will have to continue to do research in them.

Obgyn did not care about research, but they did care about step scores, now with P/F, research will most likely fill the void.

I do not know how effective your non-profit is/will be; if you think it will be impactful than you can certainly start it back up or do something else efficient with your time (volunteer activities don’t need to be women focused). Simply stating “I have a nonprofit” will not be sufficient, you’d need something to show for it.

Research is probably going to be the thing that makes the most difference in apps in terms of standing out now. Before P/F, I’d get occasional emails about research, now I get one every week., because people need it for their apps, many start in M3 which I don’t advise, there just won’t be enough time, however, if you start now you can probably get a paper or 2 out of it.

[deleted]

 

[doctortaylor]

I would prioritize the service project that you are most passionate about--and to me that sounds like your nonprofit. In my opinion programs like to see a deep, sustained, focused interest in something rather than many less intense commitments to ECs. While it's true that you don't want any ECs (including research) to impact your academics, you'd be amazed what you can achieve if you structure your time carefully and are motivated.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

I am involved with about four extracurricular service orgs and have leadership in all of them right now, I'm spending quite a bit of time volunteering. I am just asking if residencies will be unhappy if I don't do stuff that's primarily women focused or if they are just happy to see me doing service. If I did the nonprofit, I'd do it right, which means hundreds of hours of investment. That's why I am hesitating because it took a lot out of me in undergrad.

I think if you’re that involved in current ECs you should be in good shape. And it does not have to be woman focused

 

[TheGingerCroat]

I am applying this cycle for OB/GYN. I had very little volunteering, beside 2 small projects I was fond of but had nothing to do with OBGYN. I had some leadership but not much. I had a lot of teaching/tutoring experience. I also had a ton of research (20+ pubs, 5+ poster presentations, 5+ oral presentations) as I was interested in plastics before my clerkship. My scores were also pretty solid but not insanely high: 24x/25x. I received 20+ interviews 50/50 from some of the top ranked academic programs and lower to mid tier academic programs. I also got a few interviews from “community” programs in bigger cities.

I think some of the commenters are correct in that research is not HUGE. You will be required to take one project from conception to publication/presentation for all programs so at a minimum, do SOMETHING to show you can and that’s a big plus. After that it’s only needed if you’re trying to match at the top academic programs.

I think you need to show you can 1) do well enough on boards so they don’t have to worry about you failing ABOG (scores), 2) complete the 1 research requirement (some research), and 3), work hard and put your nose to the ground because residency is hard (letters). After that, you should have something you’re passionate about and makes you tick. For me, that was teaching/tutoring both nationally and globally. For you it sounds like your non profit is something that makes you tick and it would be a really interesting note on your CV.

You should absolutely do the non profit if it’s something you’d genuinely enjoy. OB/GYN is the best field in my opinion and that’s obviously subjective but if you love it you should do it!

 

[psucowgirl]

I am applying this cycle for OB/GYN. I had very little volunteering, beside 2 small projects I was fond of but had nothing to do with OBGYN. I had some leadership but not much. I had a lot of teaching/tutoring experience. I also had a ton of research (20+ pubs, 5+ poster presentations, 5+ oral presentations) as I was interested in plastics before my clerkship. My scores were also pretty solid but not insanely high: 24x/25x. I received 20+ interviews 50/50 from some of the top ranked academic programs and lower to mid tier academic programs. I also got a few interviews from “community” programs in bigger cities.

I think some of the commenters are correct in that research is not HUGE. You will be required to take one project from conception to publication/presentation for all programs so at a minimum, do SOMETHING to show you can and that’s a big plus. After that it’s only needed if you’re trying to match at the top academic programs.

I think you need to show you can 1) do well enough on boards so they don’t have to worry about you failing ABOG (scores), 2) complete the 1 research requirement (some research), and 3), work hard and put your nose to the ground because residency is hard (letters). After that, you should have something you’re passionate about and makes you tick. For me, that was teaching/tutoring both nationally and globally. For you it sounds like your non profit is something that makes you tick and it would be a really interesting note on your CV.

You should absolutely do the non profit if it’s something you’d genuinely enjoy. OB/GYN is the best field in my opinion and that’s obviously subjective but if you love it you should do it!

[deleted]

 

[anonperson]

Ended up choosing research and a few volunteer clubs I am really passionate about - hopefully that will be okay. I loved the nonprofit but there was a lot of internal drama I had to deal with and did not want to do the politics again.

Will publications in fields outside of OB hurt me? I am looking at probably 4-5 publications for this year and a couple poster presentations, but all are either not OB or adjacent to it.

EDIT: seems like research worked for you! considering all the interviews you have. Are you a man or a woman? That plays a huge factor.

OBGYN isn't an academic specialty in general.

I had directly Ob related research and it came up a total of 3 or 4 times total out of 27 or so residency programs.

Your total number of publication s is impressive. Just give a reasonable story about why you're pivoting to OBGYN now.