M1 Summer-Research at home institution or elsewhere?

[lexington251]

I'm a current M1 looking at summer research options, and am deciding whether to stick with the ones available at my home institution or at a different one.

My home institution is in the south and isn't very high ranked, and I'd like to end up doing my residency at a higher-ranked institution on the East coast (not necessarily HMS/NYU, just higher than where I'm at). I want to go to the East coast because I have family and friends on the East coast, and whenever I visit them I see myself being happier and more comfortable there than where I am currently. Would it be better to try and make connections at an institution I'd like to be in the future, or should I just pursue research options where I'm at for long-term relationships?

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[wanderingorion]

Go somewhere else. It's only 6 weeks or so. You'll have 3 years at your home institution. Also, the away programs are usually better structured for your short term visit. Enjoy spending time with your friends/family, it's your last summer =)

 

[ndafife]

Go where you can get pubs. If you can establish a relationship at your home institution with someone that will last 4 years that is much to your benefit

 

[DubbiDoctor]

The advantage of doing it at your home institution is you can continue with it during your M2 year, making it more likely to get pubs.

 

[NotaCop]

Agreed with above, I’d personally say only go away if you already (or plan to) have a separate research PI at the home institution that you will stay involved in longitudinally. The benefits of that just can’t be overstated.

Going away comes with some flashy perks especially if at a larger program than your home institution, but it’s hard to get much done in a summer and my friends who have done this often say it’s a nightmare staying involved in projects/labs long distance once the summer is over.

 

[sovereign0]

Do it at home. You can start developing relationships with faculty and those relationships will last the rest of med school. Make a good impression. A good mentor is probably the one of most important things in matching competitively after a high Step 1 score.

You'll have a chance to make an impression at the specific places you want to go either through electives (if you're doing a specialty that requires them) or through your CV when the time comes to apply. Nobody is gonna remember the MS1 who was with them for 6 weeks 3 years ago.

 

[NotaCop]

Nobody is gonna remember the MS1 who was with them for 6 weeks 3 years ago.

^RT

 

[afib123]

Home , keep working for rest of med school. excellent letter of rec + mentor who will pull strings for you. This is especially true if you are aiming for a competitive speciaity where your program director can do a lot.
For other non-competitive specialities, if you do research with the more prestigious institution then I'd agree your chances will go up there more and your home program director probably doesn't have as much as a role in your match.

 

[puahate]

I feel like this depends on your home institution. If you are already in a pretty prestigious place you probably dont gain much doing research away.

 

[Disciple of Sattar]

I feel like this depends on your home institution. If you are already in a pretty prestigious place you probably dont gain much doing research away.

"Prestige" of an institution doesn't matter for summer research unless you can't get publications at the less prestigious institution. Nobody will care where you spent your summer.

 

[puahate]

"Prestige" of an institution doesn't matter for summer research unless you can't get publications at the less prestigious institution. Nobody will care where you spent your summer.

I was mainly using prestige as a very loose equivalency to the amount and quality of research opportunities available. Top schools I feel like will almost always have research you are interested in. I think if you are at top 30 you can easily find research you enjoy and can get publications from it.

If someone can do research and get published in a lower tier school then that is obviously the better choice.