Lack of Research - Concerned

[Milotic]

I am a current MS2 at a "lower tier" US MD school.

I had quite a rough time adjusting to medical school as a first year, developed medical/mental problems due to the adjustments to school. Finished off smack dab in the middle of the class. Long story short, the learning specialist at my school told me I do have a reading issue and I will definitely need to put in more effort than most of my peers in terms of succeeding on Step 1.

MS2 has been going much better for me. I've been consistently in the top quartile of the class, but only because I have gotten used to studying ~10 hours a day, while squeezing in enough sleep and exercise 1-2 times a week for my mental health sake. It has definitely still been a struggle for me to stay on top of the material and prep for Step 1.

My issue now is, because I've had to put in so much time and effort into doing well in school/prepping for Step 1, I haven't found the time to do research on the side. With Step 1 coming up this spring, I am afraid to commit to research right now and be at risk for a subpar Step 1 score. Will it be too late for me to do research in 3rd year and beyond to be competitive enough for competitive Radiology residencies?

Thanks.

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[Radiologyreviews2015]

Worry about step 1 and your mental health first. Your mental health is WAY more important than research. Only the top programs care significantly about research. You can match to a quality program without research. Also you won't for sure that you want to do radiology until you experience clinical medicine during your third year. The best thing you can do right now is rock step 1 so you won't have to eliminate any possible specialties.

About third year: you'll have way less time to study. It's also more taxing on your mental health in my opinion. I know my mental health has substantially declined during third year. I can't even imagine worrying about research right now.

Bottom line: don't sweat the small things. You'll be fine. People on this forum will get you even more worked up since most of them are superstars. Your mental health deserves better than that