I am finishing first year of med school and trying to decide what's best for me to do in the summer. I have 2 options. One is working one-on-one with a physician in the field of medicine I am extremely interested in (shadowing, clinical work). The other is continuing to work on a research project in a lab that I used to be involved in before med school for 2 years (basic science research). Any input? Thank you.
Need opinions
- Thread starter DrKitty
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Probably depends on how competitive the field you are interested in is. Many of the uber-competitive specialties highly value research if you can get some publications or presentations out of it. Others could care less, it seems.
Tell me though, which do you think sounds more interesting?
Tell me though, which do you think sounds more interesting?
This field is apparently very competitive. I feel that working with the physician would eventually result in connections and LOR. But of course, a publication would be nice too.
To me, the clinical options appeals more, since I have been doing research for several years. I just don't know!!!
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don't be shy, share the field!
if you're willing to work, do clinical research with the guy you're shadowing
pubs, LORs, and the experience you're looking for. ask him about it
if you're willing to work, do clinical research with the guy you're shadowing
pubs, LORs, and the experience you're looking for. ask him about it
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I like this idea a lot. It allows you to diversify your application while getting some exposure to the field and the possibility for those elusive publications. The best part is that clinical research can be as simple as writing up a case of interest and can definitely be done over the course of a summer by a med student.
C
Critical Mass
Ditto. Don't worry about us being gunnerish and giving you bad advice. We're all friends here.
Otherwise we'll just assume that it is dermatology and call you a sell-out.
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This is how I feel. I'm interested in neurosurg but am not 100% to the point that I want to devote my whole summer to research in that field. Also I spent so much time at the bench in undergrad doing neuroscience research so I'm not that into benchwork again. Instead I'm going to spend part of my summer shadowing a neurosurgeon and then part of the summer shadowing in some other specialties that have sparked my interest all the while making some connections for possible future clinical research. A retrospective clinical study could be done while in school later on once I have a better idea of what I really want to do.
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that's exactly what i did
btw...you're into neurosurgery too!?
alas, perhaps in another lifetime
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that's exactly what i did
btw...you're into neurosurgery too!?
alas, perhaps in another lifetime
I'm madly in love with the brain, fell in love at first sight in a highschool psych class, majored in neuro in UG and did some amazing research . . . I'm 99% sure that I want a surgical specialty (1% of me is attached to EM but I'm not sure if I can leg go of my patients with all the turfing, I always want to go with them whenever they leave the ED) but I want to find the one that clicks most with my personality. I've been told more times than I can count that I'm far too nice to go into surgery but the idea of fixing people with my hands is sooooo appealing to me and I'm super dextrous, so I figured I would hang out with some surgeons for the summer and see if I love it as much as I think I will and make sure that I don't have such a personality clash with my future collegues that it would make it impossible. I've recently started digging on trauma surgery and hand surgery too. Thought I would like CV but I hated that physio block.
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i don't think personality clashes are that big a deal. yes, neurosurgeons are a very unique group of people. it's very much a boys club with old school hard-ass mentality at most places i've looked at.
but honestly, i turn into a different person when i'm around them, and become myself again when i leave. some people look down upon that, but theyve never tried staying on call all night with this group of people.
you learn to adapt, that's all.
to get a neurosurgeon to listen to me, and if i know him, i'll get in his face and stop him to make him listen. if i did that on peds, different story.
ditto on the trauma surgery. funny story, i tagged along one night with trauma surgeons, got a suicide attempt who needed an emergency hemicraniotomy for a massive subdural bleed. i ended up on neurosurgery call yet again because i wanted to see if he'd make it. (btw, he did)
neurosurgery has its own sweet sort of trauma surgery, and i can't deny it's one of the most enticing factors that drew me out of ortho and more towards neuro
but honestly, i turn into a different person when i'm around them, and become myself again when i leave. some people look down upon that, but theyve never tried staying on call all night with this group of people.
you learn to adapt, that's all.
to get a neurosurgeon to listen to me, and if i know him, i'll get in his face and stop him to make him listen. if i did that on peds, different story.
ditto on the trauma surgery. funny story, i tagged along one night with trauma surgeons, got a suicide attempt who needed an emergency hemicraniotomy for a massive subdural bleed. i ended up on neurosurgery call yet again because i wanted to see if he'd make it. (btw, he did)
neurosurgery has its own sweet sort of trauma surgery, and i can't deny it's one of the most enticing factors that drew me out of ortho and more towards neuro
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