Is this a waste of time?

[BuildingMyOwnLuck]

So in wake of step 1 going P/F, and as a DO (international as well) student hoping to match, looks like I’ve gotta do some research.

Now I have an appointment with this PI who does research on language and cognition, however I’ll just be a lab monkey giving cognition tests for people since she said there’s not much data right now to get a publication. She did say eventually they’ll go back to publishing so I will be able to contribute then.

There’s pretty much no other Psyc related research in my school.

Now should I pursue this research or go for some basic science research which will likely get me a pub? I ask because in the PD survey, commitment to field is important, and I’m not sure how else I can prove commitment apart from doing research in a field similar to psyc. Or will not having any published articles be worse? What else could I even do (as volunteering is apparently useless for residency apps)?.

Psyc is getting more competitive so I just want to make sure I don’t screw up my chances and regret it forever. I appreciate any advice.

TLDR: Psyc related but likely no pub research or unrelated but maybe pub research?

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[Stagg737]

Volunteering is not completely useless to residency apps despite what people say, but it needs to be meaningful volunteering that you really become a part of. No one cares about 10 hours of volunteering at a random place. Regularly participating in your local NAMI branch, helping plan events, or other meaningful experiences like being a big brother/big sister carries weight. To give you an idea, my grades and board scores were only brought up in 2/8 interviews I went to. My previous athletic experience was brought up at half of them and previous research and volunteering experiences were brought up at a couple each. Emphasize your strengths and just show some kind of commitment. Most people in psych aren't rockstars with a ton of psych research and psych related leadership roles. It's pretty expected that in most fields a large number of applicants will only have chosen that field during second or third year, so don't beat yourself up too much.

Ways to actually show commitment: do some psych research, do an extra elective or two in psych (especially sub-i's), have strong LORs which state your commitment to the field, etc. One easier way to get published is to talk to your attending or other residents and ask if they can help you write and submit a case report. If your psych rotation is decent you may certainly see something worth submitting. For other ideas, here's a thread by Splik on how to improve your application for psych:

how med students can beef up their psychiatry applications

Here are some (not necessary but encouraged) ways to enrich your medical school experience and make yourself more competitive for psychiatry residency. Moreover, these experiences can help position you to more successfully carve out your chosen career path. Ultimately however, board scores...

forums.studentdoctor.net

To directly answer your tldr, do whichever research you would find more interesting and meaningful. It's not hard to tell when someone actually cared about their research versus someone who was just ticking off boxes.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

To directly answer your tldr, do whichever research you would find more interesting and meaningful. It's not hard to tell when someone actually cared about their research versus someone who was just ticking off boxes.

The only way research "shows commitment to the field" is if you're committed to your research. Otherwise it's just a check box for you, and you'll drop it as soon as you've gotten the residency you want.