No research...done for competitive residencies?

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nm825

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I have very minimal research. My research consisted of enrolling patients in clinical studies at my university's ER for a semester. I have absolutely no bench research.

Somehow despite this I managed to pull off my only MD acceptance at my top choice school last week. Now that thinks are starting to get real, I've been trying to figure out how I'd ever get research in medical school, especially during the summer after MS1. What PI would ever take on a med student with no research experience. What if I decide I want to try and do one of the competitive specialties? Am I pretty much screwed out of these specialties before I even step foot in med school?

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Chances are that if you call/e-mail enough PIs (or even have your academic admins help you set this up), you will find a research position. Keep in mind that you do not have to perform research at your institution, but it is certainly easier due to connections/convenience of being there.

If you're talking about a stipend program, then that may be more difficult, but still possible. Plenty of students that had no research background in UG were able to attain positions in medical school. You are not doomed. You just need to keep searching.
 
When you applied for med school, you remember how no one asks you to talk about high school anymore? Same with residency, no one will care what happened in college, unless your med school experience was so devoid of experiences that you have to resort to college... so kill it in med school.
 
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When you applied for med school, you remember how no one asks you to talk about high school anymore? Same with residency, no one will care what happened in college, unless your med school experience was so devoid of experiences that you have to resort to college... so kill it in med school.
Right, I understand that. The thing that concerns me is how am I going to get those research experiences in med school without having prior experience.
 
Right, I understand that. The thing that concerns me is how am I going to get those research experiences in med school without having prior experience.

By asking PI's if they'll let you work for them?
 
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From what my interviewers told me, a lot of PI's are very willing to let medical school students perform research with them. Regardless of if you've done research at your UG institution, there will always be some sort of "training" before actually working on a project so don't sweat it.

By the way, congrats on your top choice acceptance!
 
USC has incredible research opportunities..I've been doing research there for 3 years, and even as an undergrad there, getting a position was a piece of cake without having any prior experience. Now that we're in med school, I imagine that getting a research position will be even easier.

Talking to my friends at Keck, they all perform research in various departments (oncology, IM, derm, Ortho) and are insistent on how courteous and open the research faculty are. The point is, at a big name research school like Keck USC, getting a research position will never be a problem.

Not to mention that the school actually requires us to do a scholarly research project, produce a publication and speak at a conference..they really hold your hand along the way and make sure you have all the research you need to be competitive for research-seeking residency positions.

Pm me if you have any more questions!
 
You will still have opportunities to engage in research despite a minimal level of experience if that's something you want to do. Most students haven't done clinical research prior to beginning medical school and yet get involved with those projects, so it's not as if you'll simply be prevented from being involved on that basis alone.
 
Right, I understand that. The thing that concerns me is how am I going to get those research experiences in med school without having prior experience.
Research is about 1000x times easier to find in medical school than undergrad. Generally they assume if you got into med school you are probably competent enough to work with them.
 
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This depends on the schools in question. This is not universally true.
Interesting. I can only comment on my experience, but the only limiting factor for my research involvement has been my own free time. If anything sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't be kept on a shorter leash when it comes to analysis and interpretation.
 
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Interesting. I can only comment on my experience, but the only limiting factor for my research involvement has been my own free time. If anything sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't be kept on a shorter leash when it comes to analysis and interpretation.

I meant the availability of research is going to be wildly different at different institutions and medical school doesn't necessarily mean that there are a lot of opportunities.
 
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