Match without research

[idq1i]

3rd year student here, looking to apply to radiology (with thoughts of an IR fellowship in the future).
What are my chances of matching with a good New York metro area program without ANY research as a medical student ?

I have done about 3 years of research as an undergrad/grad student/lab tech, without publications (1 poster presentation at a large national microbio meeting)
MS1 and 2 almost all H's
M3 mostly H's, including the big clerkships
Step 1 256
Good letters

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[Blue_guitar9]

Your chances are alright, from what youve said you seem to be average to alittle above average depending on where you apply. But who wants to take a chance of not matching, youre only 3rd year you can do more research, really try and get something published. Also i would advise you to take Step II early and try and score similarly or if possible better.Also networking is crucial, try emailing some department chairs of places you want to apply with a quick question or something, at least it will get your name out there.

 

[peehdee]

come on now, be serious. if someone with stats like that doesn't make it then what is rad looking for? reseach is important but most med students don't have it.

and how in the world do you have time to post over 3000 things on here?

3rd year student here, looking to apply to radiology (with thoughts of an IR fellowship in the future).
What are my chances of matching with a good New York metro area program without ANY research as a medical student ?

I have done about 3 years of research as an undergrad/grad student/lab tech, without publications (1 poster presentation at a large national microbio meeting)
MS1 and 2 almost all H's
M3 mostly H's, including the big clerkships
Step 1 256
Good letters

 

[Roger Dorn]

Dude, you'll be just fine. I didn't apply NY metro, but I applied pretty much everywhere else, and with 240+ boards, non AOA and minimal research, I've gotten 20+ interviews at some great places for rads. I know people with lower grades/ step I than yours who got the big interviews in Manhattan, so you really have nothing to sweat... if you go rads, you will be worried about which interviews to cancel rather than "will I match?".

 

[p53]

come on now, be serious. if someone with stats like that doesn't make it then what is rad looking for? reseach is important but most med students don't have it.

and how in the world do you have time to post over 3000 things on here?

Fortunately for you, verbal reasoning is not needed once you become accepted into medical school.

LET'S ME MAKE IT CLEAR FOR YOU.

The OP wants to know if he has a chance to match in a good metro New York area which is a very competitive locale for radiology.

 

[Blue_guitar9]

Agreed, Radiology is intense right now. Also you have to overcome a HUGE regionality preferance. Unless the OP is from manhattan, good luck getting a spot with out a pub in Radiology or the RSNA journal etc.

I'd say the OP better also be applying in his/her area or in less desirable locations. the 250+ Usmle will help but as we know its no guarantee

 

[bosky]

Yeah, so... I think you're crazy to be stressing about matching. Really you should only need to do some research if you really want to do research in the near-future (aka Holman pathway or some variant). Just say you're interested in the research experience, they know most people don't have time to do anything meaningful.

Albeit, I do think NYU was the hardest place in the country to get an interview this year. I was waitlisted. I didn't get interviews at Columbia or Cornell either, but didn't really care. I think it was mostly geographic bias...(for context: I did interview at 3/5 "Top 5" programs)

 

[idq1i]

come on now, be serious. if someone with stats like that doesn't make it then what is rad looking for? reseach is important but most med students don't have it.

and how in the world do you have time to post over 3000 things on here?

What p53 said.

Medical research (EBM, data mining, etc) bores me to tears. That's why I don't want to/haven't done any research as a med student. I don't even understand this unwritten requirement. One does not need to be a "researcher" with publications to know how to use Medline, Cochrane and medical journals. However, I am giving in to the "system" and I have already approached some radiology folks at my school to discuss the feasibility of getting involved in a research project.

Staying in or around Manhattan is important to me, hence my question. I do realize that my application, as is, would be competitive in No-whereville, north dakota.

3000+ posts? That was from back in the days, when the "Everyone" forum was still good.

 

[Resident Alien]

seems research is one of the unspoken musts nowadays ... everyone insists that you should only do it if you want to and not if you feel you have to ... but in reality we all know the programs look for this. It doesnt have to be radiology related, in fact my non-rads work was a topic of frequent discussion in my interviews.

And NYU only interviews 50 people, its always going to be hard getting an interview there!

 

[peehdee]

My two cents here. I think one of the reasons they require research (at any level) is because as med students we learn what is already known. We didn't have to spend time solving something or trying to figure something out even if that 'something' seems simple. At some point someone had to figure out the dosage for drugs and how it works. Now that fact is written in books and we simply memorize and get paid (granted those facts are ginormous) I don't think that asking you to do research is to punish you or to get something useful out of it. I would think of it as a chance to see that it takes a lot of time and effort to put a single sentence in a medical book. And we should appreciate those folks that take that time to put it together. Most med docs are 'users' and not so much 'makers' in the sense. Just think of how many docs just want to 'practice' and read up on the new stuff from others. Anyway, I think its important to ackowledge that research should be at some level important because without it we wouldn't move forward. So while I don't believe that a med student spending a summer is going to change the way we practice medicine, I do think that they can appreciate/see the 'academic' types who spend time out of making money to advance medicine. So I would try to get something out of a research project beyond 'just to look good on applications'.

seems research is one of the unspoken musts nowadays ... everyone insists that you should only do it if you want to and not if you feel you have to ... but in reality we all know the programs look for this. It doesnt have to be radiology related, in fact my non-rads work was a topic of frequent discussion in my interviews.

And NYU only interviews 50 people, its always going to be hard getting an interview there!