Leave of Absence-Research

[Enjoy Life]

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Hi All,
I don't know where exactly to post this but figured this would be a good place to start. The PI I worked with the summer of my first year offered to fund my research project for a year. I am really considering taking this opportunity and taking a LOA for a year to do research. I am currently an MSII and would like to pursue a career in academics. My question is would it be a worth taking a research LOA to improve my chances of matching at a competitive academic residency or am I better off staying in school? I currently have a significant amount of research and I am interested in Anesthesiology and Neurology.
Any thoughts??

 

[michaelrack]

Hi All,
I don't know where exactly to post this but figured this would be a good place to start. The PI I worked with the summer of my first year offered to fund my research project for a year. I am really considering taking this opportunity and taking a LOA for a year to do research. I am currently an MSII and would like to pursue a career in academics. My question is would it be a worth taking a research LOA to improve my chances of matching at a competitive academic residency or am I better off staying in school? I currently have a significant amount of research and I am interested in Anesthesiology and Neurology.
Any thoughts??

I would change your question to: "My question is would it be a worth taking a research LOA to improve my chances of developing an academic/research career or am I better off staying in school? "

The answer to that question is that it would be reasonable to take a research LOA. Except for very competitive residencies (such as derm), I don't think it is necessary to take a research LOA for matching purposes, especially for someone who already has significant research.

 

[Law2Doc]

I would change your question to: "My question is would it be a worth taking a research LOA to improve my chances of developing an academic/research career or am I better off staying in school? "

The answer to that question is that it would be reasonable to take a research LOA. Except for very competitive residencies (such as derm), I don't think it is necessary to take a research LOA for matching purposes, especially for someone who already has significant research.

I've known people in a number of competitive fields other than derm who claim they improved their chances via a research year. The fields the OP listed aren't really as fiercely competitive as those, although getting into certain programs within them might. The real questions are (1) do you already have a lot of research such that this would be more of the same, or will this be regarded differently/more positively? (2) how likely is this research to lead to publications/presentations in a timely enough fashion that it could help with residency applications? (3) do you really need this to bolster your credentials for the fields you are contemplating?

In other words if you already have a fair amount of neurology/anesthesia research and competitive scores, another year probably won't add much to get something decent in that field. If you don't have targeted research, or this would somehow be far more prestigious than what you already have, or you are trying to make up for lackluster stats, then sure.

 

[Raryn]

Even in the most non-competitive fields, doing research might help you for specific programs. For example, I know of a few classmates who went to specific FM programs because of their public health focus who stated that prior experience in public health helped them. On the other hand, there's certain residencies where there's no way you'd ever match without research experience. Rad Onc is pretty notorious for that one.

That said, the OP should be careful. The research year itself probably won't add all that much to his application if he's "trying to make up for lackluster stats" if they're actually truly lackluster. That, and the research experience itself doesn't really matter in any case as much as whether you're able to convert it to publications.

 

[Enjoy Life]

Thank you everyone for your input. My PI has talked about 3 first author publications. I have not taken the boards yet but so far I am doing fairly well in class (top 30). I have significant amount of research experience but do not have a publication. My reasons for wanting to do this are to improve my chances of matching in a top 10 program and publications. I am interested in academics and pursuing fellowships in the future. I hope this information helps.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I would consider the research year, assuming it is something you want to do. You should assume that you will invest a reasonable number of evenings/weekends to get things done. The key is to be productive. It would definitely help your application if it otherwise is strong already. You could also consider applying for some sort of financial grant to pay for it -- an HHMI or DD grant, or something internal to your school. One more thing to add to your CV.

If you don't really want to do it, then forget it.

 

[michaelrack]

I have significant amount of research experience but do not have a publication.

You don't have significant research experience if you don't have a publication.

 

[Enjoy Life]

You don't have significant research experience if you don't have a publication.

Is this how PDs see a lack of publications? I have several abstracts and poster presentations at national meetings. Basically the reason why I am not on the actual publications was due to lab politics not a lack of contribution to the project.

 

[BoardingDoc]

Is this how PDs see a lack of publications? I have several abstracts and poster presentations at national meetings. Basically the reason why I am not on the actual publications was due to lab politics not a lack of contribution to the project.

If you made a substantial contribution to a project you should have been listed on it. If that didn't happen for whatever "politics" you're talking about, I'd consider working with a different group of people. That said, if you played a minor role in things, that's different.

 

[michaelrack]

Is this how PDs see a lack of publications? I have several abstracts and poster presentations at national meetings. Basically the reason why I am not on the actual publications was due to lab politics not a lack of contribution to the project.

You have some research background, which is good. Abstracts and posters are fine; publications are much better.