Med School Game Plan

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Street Philosopher

freebird
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For premed, I had a good idea of what kinds of things to get involved in, what my priorities were, etc. (e.g. research, volunteering, mcat, gpa)

I have no idea what is expected of a residency applicant. I have a thesis requirement. Is that done 4th year or doing summers? Since research is important for competitive residencies anyway, I don't think it's a big deal. But, if research is done 4th year, it won't really help me for residency, right? OR... are there opportunities for clinical research as MS3 through one or more of the clinical rotations?

And what of the status of extra curricular activities? My impression is that there is not much time for things outside of studying and hobbies to relieve stress. When do people find time to get involved in public health issues and other such activities?

Thanks.
 
You might try picking up the new edition of Iserson's Getting into residency now available at your local med school book store. Either that book, or First AId for the match would be good. Regarding your thesis program, you should search your school's website for more information on that.
 
i have a similar question. i have traditionally been a very good student but a poor standardized ytest taker. i did average on SAT and MCAT but did very well on SAT II's and AP's. this is not due to time problems or anxiety - i am not sure what it is. anyway, here;s the problem. i want to wait until after i take the boars to think of specialties because i don't want to get all excited about a particular specialty and them do badly on boards and be told that i have no chance. on the otherhand, i have read that for thr most competitive specialties you need to do research. so i am not sure that i would have any time for research 3rd year and it will be toolate 4th year,
any thoughts?
also, if someone has overcome a bad standardized tests streak, i would love to hear how u did it!
susan
 
SP,

I think they are expecting us to get a lot of the real work for our thesis done during our first summer. I think after that they are only expecting us to write the actual thesis. That is the impression I got at the interview at least, but who knows with us being the guinea pig class. I had similar concerns regarding ending up doing research in an area unrelated to what field I may end up in, but from these boards and talking with others, it seems that doing research is more important than the area (i.e. you are capable of it and have explored it). I think we will find out in August though. Fourth year seems to be a very flexible year though in terms of exploration.......

Just my $.02.
 
Yah, I have no idea ether of a game plan of when to get involved in research. I have to do some type of research too at my program, so could someone give some suggestions.
 
Hey Deuce, we have to do research?

I didn't know that?! What do we have to do?
 
Originally posted by UCSBPre-Med1
Hey Deuce, we have to do research?

I didn't know that?! What do we have to do?
During interviews I was speaking to a third year and she was talking about her research project, maybe I just assumed we had to do one, I'm not sure though. I was just wondering when do you have time for research. Is it in the summer between first and second year? This seems kind of too early to have an idea of what field you might be interested in. It seems that this is the only free summer cuz between 2-3 year you're studying for step 1 and between 3-4 you're probably studying for step 2 or doing away rotations. It just feels like there is no more free summers. So when is the best time to do research and have it available to put on your residency application?
 
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