Is research really necessary to getting into med school?

[Jorski]

Hello all,

Be prepared, my college life story is about to unfold .

So my spring semester of sophmore year I decide to become a doctor. Biology, and especially A&P have really interested me and I love to learn it, but I never thought I could do it. Finally changed my attitude and decided I could, and left juco for a four year university.

I got all of my pre reqs out of the way at the juco, which has left me with a hefty science load. Handling it is time consuming but Im relatively safe, and should make it out with a 3.6 over all GPA and a 3.8 BCPM GPA (if all goes as I plan it). I also intend to do well on the MCAT. Im currently with a service fraternity and volunteer outside of that as well.

The problem is I have no time to do research, and oppurtunities around the college are few (although Im sure they are there). As it is, Im already forcing a 20 credit hour load this coming fall with an 18 hour load this semester to get courses out of the way for the MCAT. Busy Busy .

I know you're not the admissions comittee, but do you think Im automatically going to be written off because I have no research? Anything else I could do to make up for it?

Thanks all

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[63768]

no. just show that you have experience in medicine, i.e. shadowing, working for a doctor, some sort of medical project, or EMT work.

 

[nrut88]

Excellent question... I've always been curious about that myself...

 

[snobored18]

To be honest neither research or clinical experience is "required" there are applicants who have successfully demonstrated their suitabily for medicine through alternative activities...that said i think in this day in age research is fastly becoming a "must have" item on your application...the field of medicine is on the verge of being revolutionized by molecular genetics both from the diagnostic and the therapuetic perspective...so an inside understanding of what all those crazy scientists are doing is something as a physician in the molecular age you are going to need to know...of course someone on here will disagree but I can tell you that my at least for me research has been a huge boost to my application...lab work isn't for everyone but I still think everyone who has the opportunity should give it a try...and a suggestion if you can avoid technical duties in the lab you will enjoy the experience a lot more and it will be an experience worth talking about in interviews...washing dishes and running a grad students PCRs hardly count as research anymore.

 

[Labslave]

I think the most important lesson anyone can learn while preparing to apply to medical school and choosing your extra-curricular activities is that you need to pursue something that you're going to be passionate about. Having said that...

Research is certainly an element of the majority of medical school applications, but I would venture to say that it's only because 1) everyone feels as if it's almost required to gain acceptances at the top schools and 2) knowing that many pre-meds participate in research leads many to believe that they'll enjoy doing it. Very rarely do I encounter pre-med students that make me say, "Wow, research is definitely for them." This is because many of the people I know who are truly passionate about research decide to pursue other avenues, namely going to grad school and getting a PhD.

In spite of all this, I would certainly encourage you to explore whether or not you will personally enjoy research (after all, at the very least it would boost your application), and there are a good number of pre-meds who enjoy research. The problem is that many aren't very passionate about it, and it kinda' shows when you talk to them about their research (think about medical school interviews, people!).

I guess the moral of the story is that research will only REALLY help your application and make you a super-strong applicant if you show dedication and passion for it (publications, posters, etc.). Those are my $.02

 

[badlydrawnvik]

i think my application could have been stronger with research, however i don't think it's really that important. i did one semester, and it was enough to tell interviewers that the research i did in college didn't interest me so i stopped pursuing it.

 

[snobored18]

I guess the moral of the story is that research will only REALLY help your application and make you a super-strong applicant if you show dedication and passion for it (publications, posters, etc.). Those are my $.02

I completely agree...I want to stress for anyone looking into doing research do INDEPENDENT research...don't wash dishes for a lab for free in your spare time...thats complete BS they can pay someone minimum wage to dothat...really try to dedicate some time and get into the work...this is why I would personally suggest one of the many summer research fellowships out there...honestly almost every school has some sort of summer program...and for 10 weeks of work the money isn't all that shabby...but as labslave said really show some dedication to research and you will recieve the dividends come application season...publications, presentations at national conferences etc. etc. are huge boosts to the hard side of your application...but don't forget your roots either do stuff outside of the lab...as I think being WELL ROUNDED is the best advice I can give anyone...

 

[Ypo.]

Hello all,

Be prepared, my college life story is about to unfold .

So my spring semester of sophmore year I decide to become a doctor. Biology, and especially A&P have really interested me and I love to learn it, but I never thought I could do it. Finally changed my attitude and decided I could, and left juco for a four year university.

I got all of my pre reqs out of the way at the juco, which has left me with a hefty science load. Handling it is time consuming but Im relatively safe, and should make it out with a 3.6 over all GPA and a 3.8 BCPM GPA (if all goes as I plan it). I also intend to do well on the MCAT. Im currently with a service fraternity and volunteer outside of that as well.

The problem is I have no time to do research, and oppurtunities around the college are few (although Im sure they are there). As it is, Im already forcing a 20 credit hour load this coming fall with an 18 hour load this semester to get courses out of the way for the MCAT. Busy Busy .

I know you're not the admissions comittee, but do you think Im automatically going to be written off because I have no research? Anything else I could do to make up for it?

Thanks all

I got accepted into med school without doing any research.

I'm not planning on doing research in between first and second year, either.

I have fully escaped the research requirement. yes...

 

[dr.z]

no. just show that you have experience in medicine, i.e. shadowing, working for a doctor, some sort of medical project, or EMT work.

I don't think research has that much impact on admissions unless one has some great publication and/or discovery. You are not going to medical school to do research, but more about patient care.

 

[BigRedZippo]

I think research is becoming (and has been) quite important in medical school admissions. Frankly, admissions officers know the average college student isn't getting into a lab, writing an NIH grant and creating his own experimental protocols. And that's fine. What is expected is that you have some knowledge of the scientific process, have read some scientific/technical papers, and can stick with a difficult task. Research is a very large part of medicine, and in larger *academic* medical centers, you won't hear things like "You are not going to medical school to do research, but more about patient care", since a large part of their focus is on furthering medicine through research. If you can, I'd try to get some experience. Many applicants have only a few hours a week of uncredited/unpaid research, which is OK. As long as you have some idea about this side of the field, that's the important thing.

 

[DoctorPardi]

Do you think it matters if you do human vs any other type of research? For example, I will basically have 14 or more credit hours of plant pathology research and the first paper is in the process of being written (whether it will be published or not I don't know).

I would have liked to do genetics or brain research or something like that, but it wasn't available to students who didn't already have really upper level science classes like molecular cell biology and I hadn't taken that yet. So I believe I will graduate with about 15 hours of plant research and maybe a published paper, but no human/animal research.

Also I work in a (human) pathology lab as a paying job though, so that might be able to help me out lol.

 

[Law2Doc]

To be honest neither research or clinical experience is "required"

I've met quite a few med students at good schools who never did any research, but I've never come across someone who didn't have any clinical exposure. The reason for this latter is pretty clear -- medicine is not for everyone and it is a very long haul. And most med schools like to keep their drop out attrition as low as possible - usually under a percent or two. Thus they expect you to have a decent idea of what medicine is all about before you apply. They don't want you to start med school on a whim, only to decide it's not for you two years down the road. Other professions (like law) are fine with this as they aren't serving as the gatekeeper of the profession (i.e. the state bar serves this role, denying admission to 30% or more of hopeful law school grads each year, and attrition from law school classes is much higher). By contrast, most of the people denied entry to the medical profession get denied at the med school application level, not at the licensing stage. So I would suggest that clinical experience/exposure of some sort IS a prerequisite to medical school. Research is a nice EC if you have it, but not a prereq. and other good ECs can serve to replace it.

 

[trishaaa]

You can get in with or without research, as previously stated. But I thought I'd mention my experience...

I did a lot of rat research in college (independent project, wrote a paper, posters, etc.), then worked in a lab for 3 years as a clinical research assistant. This job is all my interviewers wanted to talk about, even at schools with little to no research funding. Some didn't even ask about my clinical experience, which I found a little odd.

Bottom line: If you're worried that you won't get in without research experience, take a year off and get a full-time research job. I had a blast at mine, I learned a ton, and my interviewers were VERY interested in it. If you're not that worried, as has been suggested by others here, just go ahead and apply!

 

[LizzyM]

If you want to attend one of the ranked research-oriented medical schools then research is almost always an expectation of the adcom (there will always be the exception to the rule but that person often has some very time-intensive & unusual ECs, e.g. professional athlete).

Schools that are unranked may put less of an emphasis on research experience. Given your late entry into pre-med, taking a year off and getting f/t research experience, or doing research in Summer '06 may be your best options.

 

[Comrade]

Technically, research is NOT required. It is not listed on any med-school's entrance pre-requisites, to my knowledge.

The question is, will the adcom's get a complete picture of YOU and what YOU want to do with a medical degree? if your story is you are interested in going into academic medicine, to discover new methods, publish findings, and go into teaching, then your experiences need to demonstrate you are taking steps towards that goal, so reseach would help show that.

If want to be a practising physician who sees patients 100% of the time, doing research might show you can handle large amounts of information with thoroughness, successfully articulate your own ideas to other people, and patiently deal with experiments (or therapies) that never work. So, in this case research might help illustrate that part of yourself.

Finally, if you do research just to have something to show the adcom's and not out of sincere interest, it can actually HARM your application. Anybody can read a resume and pick out the things that were done half-ass'ly. So, if you want to demonstrate that you're someone who does the things he/she says that they do, WELL, then it's best to stick with the things you like to do/have time to do.

It's about putting together a simple story for the adcoms to show them why YOU want to go into medicine, what aspects of yourself make you capable of it, and what you've done to get you there.

So, really what I'm saying is, you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not research is necessary, no-one else can tell you for sure.

 

[Brainsucker]

Tons of my classmates (top ten school) didn't do any research and are never planning to. Judging by my classmates, the key to getting into med school, at least this one, is to do whatever you do to the fullest. And yeah, I don't know of anyone that hasn't done some clinical stuff. It's practically a requirement. I think (just think) that it might be explicitly required some places.

 

[remo]

There also secondary benefits to working in a lab beyond learning how research works. I have been told by several professors that the best LOR's they write are for people that have worked for them. Doing research is one of the only ways to work with people like professors, post-docs, etc... on a regular daily basis and really get to know them. Also, I have found that when you are in office hours with another professor and that you drop that you work for so and so they tend to be a little more interested in you. I have taken classes with about half the professors in the building where I work and I see them in the halls all the time. I know their TA's because they are fellow lab workers, I know the secretaries and administrators, etc... Beyond doing research (which I think is worthwhile on its own) there have been lots of other intangibles that have come in handy.

 

[HSteacher]

I have absolutely no research experience, and the admissions process has been going relatively well for me so far. I've been offered interviews from about half of the schools that I've applied to.

However, I do wonder if my lack of research is preventing me from breaking into the top-tier schools, given that my numbers are extremely competitive. Here's my profile: http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=4663

 

[Brainsucker]

I have absolutely no research experience, and the admissions process has been going relatively well for me so far. I've been offered interviews from about half of the schools that I've applied to.

However, I do wonder if my lack of research is preventing me from breaking into the top-tier schools, given that my numbers are extremely competitive. Here's my profile: http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=4663

Honestly, I have no idea what could be holding you back from any school. The only thing I can think of is an unconvincing essay. My theory about essays is that you need to integrate your strongest experiences into your writing about why you want to be a doc. For you, that would definitely be your teaching. Maybe you did that, I dunno. Also, I think if you talk a whole lot about the science of medicine, new treatments, etc. (a lot of my essay) you need to be able to back it up with research.

 

[Law2Doc]

Honestly, I have no idea what could be holding you back from any school. The only thing I can think of is an unconvincing essay. My theory about essays is that you need to integrate your strongest experiences into your writing about why you want to be a doc. For you, that would definitely be your teaching. Maybe you did that, I dunno. Also, I think if you talk a whole lot about the science of medicine, new treatments, etc. (a lot of my essay) you need to be able to back it up with research.

That's a possibility, as is the possibility that an LOR or two might be lukewarm. To some extent, at least in my mind (others disagree), nontrads tend to have to outshine other nontrads to get the handful of spots that add the age diversity to an otherwise young class. Did you (he) do any sort of postbac, or are we talking about 5 year old schooling? Some schools like to see recent coursework too. At any rate, he got into a solid place, from which a lot of folks go far, so congrats.

 

[drmota]

i haven't read any of this thread but wanted to contribute this:
if you only have time to do one thing, get some clinical exposure. its way more important than research. i had a fellow interviewer at penn state get told that he didn't have enough experience working with doctors (even though his dad is a doc) and that he would most definitely not make it (at least into Penn State) that year but hopefully next year. they actually SAID this at the interview. ouch. it may have been a stress interview technique, but i doubt it.
-mota

 

[Mateodaspy]

I never did a lick of research and ended up doing pretty well last cycle.... the bottom line is that you need to do what you love -- don't ascribe to some formulaic, cookie-cutter methodology for getting into medical school. Admissions committees (the ones who know how to do their jobs correctly at least) should be able to see right through that...

 

[Risa]

I was a little nervous going into this process that my lack of research would be a problem, but it hasn't been at all. If it's not what you want to do, then I say skip it. Like others have said, clinical work is key, so be sure you have some of that.

Good luck!

 

[HSteacher]

That's a possibility, as is the possibility that an LOR or two might be lukewarm. To some extent, at least in my mind (others disagree), nontrads tend to have to outshine other nontrads to get the handful of spots that add the age diversity to an otherwise young class. Did you (he) do any sort of postbac, or are we talking about 5 year old schooling? Some schools like to see recent coursework too. At any rate, he got into a solid place, from which a lot of folks go far, so congrats.

I think that you guys might be right--there are probably some huge weaknesses in my application. My recommendations came from TAs, a lecturer, 1 assistant professor, and my current boss. I didn't get any recs from tenured professors. Also, Yale refused to write a commitee letter for me since I graduated more than 5 years ago. In addition, most of my schooling is very old. I took general chem back in 96-97... However, I did take biochem and another bio course this past summer.

I'm definitely happy with how the admissions process has gone so far, but I can't help but wonder how it would have gone if my application were stronger in certain areas.