Is research important

[rddev568]

Is Reasearch needed to get into medical school even if you are not going to become a reasearcher? I just want to make sure before I get to far into my nder grad without much. I already plan on working with doctors and shadowing a bunch but the reasearch side of medicine is not all that interesting to me.

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[Mobius1985]

It is possible to get into some med schools without research. A few people have posted on this forum that they've done so. Having the research, however, increases the number of schools that will give your application serious consideration. If you decide not to pursue a research experience, be sure some other component of your application will wow the Adcomm.

 

[eagle34]

Research is good for med school, but if you do research, do it in something you like. It's a lot easier to talk about it during your interviews and interviewers will see that you're excited about it and really understand it if you like what you're doing. However, I think it's possible to get into med school without research experience as long as you have other strong EC's. I'm not sure about this because I did research.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Research is important but not critical. If you like it and have the time, it's a wise thing to participate in.

 

[T12]

I'm starting my junior year in the fall and I'm counting on the hope that my honesty about not being interested in the few research opportunities available to me combined with impressive other application highlights eill be enough to make up for my nonexistent research experience.

How 'bout that?

 

[ChubbyChaser]

No its not, but the Search Function is.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Research is AN aspect of application - but is not at all a requirement.

If you have no interest in it don't do it. But you will need to have something else that you spent your time on.

I am a firm believer that when you apply to medical school you are pitching yourself to the schools and you need a catch. Think of what makes you different than your fellow premeds and use that, and if its not research thats ok.

I had a very successful cycle with 0 research. But I did a ton of community service work and am very interested in working with underserved communities.

 

[Textuality]

It also depends on which schools your aiming for since many of the "top tier" are heavily research oriented (like Hopkins and Stanford) and put more emphasis on that aspect of your application. Just look at the schools your applying to, in the MSAR they let you know if a thesis is required, and maybe schools with a research thesis requirement might place bigger emphasis on research experience? Maybe? Total speculation on my part, heh.

But yeah, some schools have reputations for being more driven to training academic physicians, just something to consider when choosing where to apply.

 

[alwaysaangel]

It also depends on which schools your aiming for since many of the "top tier" are heavily research oriented (like Hopkins and Stanford) and put more emphasis on that aspect of your application. Just look at the schools your applying to, in the MSAR they let you know if a thesis is required, and maybe schools with a research thesis requirement might place bigger emphasis on research experience? Maybe? Total speculation on my part, heh.

But yeah, some schools have reputations for being more driven to training academic physicians, just something to consider when choosing where to apply.

Yeah but if you don't like research now you probably won't later and you probably should avoid these schools.

 

[T12]

I do suppose that you two agree...

 

[Dr.D-man]

I think it is very important to research oriented medical schools. If you have no desire to do any research in med school or beyond, don't worry about doing any now. Having been involved with research myself, I can say that it is kind of like taking a liberal arts class (for me at least)... you don't really know how much you will like or dislike it until you actually do it. My advice, to anybody pursuing medicine, is that it is a worthwhile endeavor, even if only to test the waters.

 

[rockydoc]

MSAR usually shows anywhere from 70-85% of matriculants who have research experience. However, I have always been under the perception that these high percentages are just because almost all premeds do research no matter what (often just to put on the app). I do not think that these high percentages reflect the idea that most medical schools put heavy preference on research. Some obviously do....but I dont think this is the majority. Clinical experience and community service are much more impt. Research is often just a bonus.

 

[Textuality]

I'm not into bench research either, which is why I did clinical research instead, it was a position that gave me a lot of patient interaction and a chance to work with, and shadow, some great doctors while gathering the data