neurosurg and research Q....help

[anxietypeaker]

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I am currently a 4th year undergraduate. However, I have been very intrigued with neurosurgery. While not completely committed to it (i.e. i'm like a middle school student talking about my future college major), i was had a
few questions.

1) I've been accepted to a 2 year research postbacc program at the NIH,
after which i will apply to medical school. There are 2 researchers i've
been accepted by: 1 is a molecular genetics of hiv lab, another is an fMRI
on bipolar disorder lab (headed by a psychiatrist). Both have assured me i
will get at least 1 publication during my time there. Does it matter which
research i do if i hope to eventually do neurosurg?

2) How about in medical school? Does what type of research i do really
matter if i plan on applying to neurosurg residency?

3) If answers to both questions are that it wont matter, how common is that
attitude among other academics?

Thanks.

 

[barcalounger]

You will be more interesting to your potential neurosurgery interviewers if you have done research that pertains to neurosurgery. Simple as that. Also, people like it when you show a history of interest in the specialty. This was my experience from my neurosurgery interviews. But my advice is to do the research that seems more interesting to you right now. Like you said, you are a long way from deciding on a specialty, and the way you should decide on it is by doing what you enjoy most.