No research experience: Research Summer Before M1 Year?

[GottaGetThatMD]

Hey Guys,

I was lucky enough to get accepted at a research heavy school without doing any research in undergrad. I'm really unsure of what specialty I want to pursue but I know that I should engage in research to keep my options open.

Would you recommend that I find some clinical research opportunities for the summer before my M1 year? Part of me wants to be free for the summer, but I also feel like I'm very inexperienced in research compared to my peers. Any thoughts? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

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[cbrons]

Nah I would just chill

 

[NonTradJp]

.

 

[Donald Juan]

I would say just chill because that's what you want to do, and definitely don't do research just because you feel behind your peers...yeah, some people might have multiple degrees already and CVs that will put you to shame, but you'll probably be surprised that not everyone is like that at all, and it's certainly not required to be successful in med school.

Of course, if you're a huge nerd and you want to get started with some things, clinical research is usually fairly light on the workload, easy to get publications, and a great way to make connections and get introduced to different areas of medicine and find out what you're interested in. It also is probably the most substantial extracurricular for residency applications. So, I'm certainly not gonna recommend totally against the idea like I would to someone asking if they should study before med school starts.

 

[Keladry]

Chill out this summer; get involved in research during MS1 if you want after you've had a chance to settle in.

 

[Thangbill]

Hey Guys,

I was lucky enough to get accepted at a research heavy school without doing any research in undergrad. I'm really unsure of what specialty I want to pursue but I know that I should engage in research to keep my options open.

Would you recommend that I find some clinical research opportunities for the summer before my M1 year? Part of me wants to be free for the summer, but I also feel like I'm very inexperienced in research compared to my peers. Any thoughts? I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Hi, I'm actually in the same shoes as you are. I thought about doing research before the summer as well. But as summer approaches, I realize this might be the last summer vacation without worrying about extracurricular activities and exams etc. so I'll just relax and let med school take care of med school.

 

[GottaGetThatMD]

@Donald Juan thank you for the thoughtful response!

 

[ZuluHotel]

I would say just chill because that's what you want to do, and definitely don't do research just because you feel behind your peers...yeah, some people might have multiple degrees already and CVs that will put you to shame, but you'll probably be surprised that not everyone is like that at all, and it's certainly not required to be successful in med school.

Of course, if you're a huge nerd and you want to get started with some things, clinical research is usually fairly light on the workload, easy to get publications, and a great way to make connections and get introduced to different areas of medicine and find out what you're interested in. It also is probably the most substantial extracurricular for residency applications. So, I'm certainly not gonna recommend totally against the idea like I would to someone asking if they should study before med school starts.

I second all that. If you actually want to do research, it never hurts to get involved early but there's no need to do it just to keep up with the Jonses.

 

[FIREitUP]

I would only do it if you're 100% gunning for derm, plastics, ortho, etc. You'd be surprised how much a couple papers could help you in those fields.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

I would only do it if you're 100% gunning for derm, plastics, ortho, etc. You'd be surprised how much a couple papers could help you in those fields.

Is it absolutely necessary, tho? I wanna do ortho but I also want to enjoy my last free summer before med school starts. Isn't summer between M1 and M2 enough time to do research if you get started sometime 2nd semester of M1?

 

[ShabbaRanks]

Is it absolutely necessary, tho? I wanna do ortho but I also want to enjoy my last free summer before med school starts. Isn't summer between M1 and M2 enough time to do research if you get started sometime 2nd semester of M1?

Absolutely necessary- not at all.

I think it all really depends on your PI and your projects. Some projects you can probably finish up in a summer whereas others might take more time.

Personally, I am going to try to do clinical research this summer before m1 because if not I will be sitting around for three months doing nothing besides watching Netflix, golfing and lifting. I should probably be somewhat productive.

 

[FIREitUP]

Is it absolutely necessary, tho? I wanna do ortho but I also want to enjoy my last free summer before med school starts. Isn't summer between M1 and M2 enough time to do research if you get started sometime 2nd semester of M1?

nothing is "absolutely necessary" but, if you really know that you are 100% set on ortho, then it can absolutely make a difference. Plus, how time off do you need to really enjoy your last summer? You can work on a review and case reports a couple days a week and hang out for the rest of the time.

Please, don't delude yourself---the competitiveness of these fields is increasing and you should take every opportunity you can to strengthen your application, especially since you have time to kill.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Absolutely necessary- not at all.

I think it all really depends on your PI and your projects. Some projects you can probably finish up in a summer whereas others might take more time.

Personally, I am going to try to do clinical research this summer before m1 because if not I will be sitting around for three months doing nothing besides watching Netflix, golfing and lifting. I should probably be somewhat productive.

Dude I would love to do nothing but watch Netflix, exercise, and hang out with friends all day erryday for a whole summer.

nothing is "absolutely necessary" but, if you really know that you are 100% set on ortho, then it can absolutely make a difference. Plus, how time off do you need to really enjoy your last summer? You can work on a review and case reports a couple days a week and hang out for the rest of the time.

Please, don't delude yourself---the competitiveness of these fields is increasing and you should take every opportunity you can to strengthen your application, especially since you have time to kill.

I definitely need more than 2-3 weeks, that's for sure. How am I supposed to stay at home and work on research at the same time? I don't wanna move to school so soon just for that. I know how competitive ortho is. But I'm not going to spend every waking minute of my time preparing for residency application. I'll put in the work, but I wanna have fun too. Besides, my long-term goal is PP, not academics. If other med students can match ortho without using up their free pre-M1 summer, then I can too.

 

[wiggitywack12]

Yeah just wait until you get to med school. Hopefully you have an ortho department, then you can meet the faculty, start asking questions and start getting involved. Not much you can realistically do for residency before you even start M1 besides maybe shadowing some orthos near you...

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Yeah just wait until you get to med school. Hopefully you have an ortho department, then you can meet the faculty, start asking questions and start getting involved. Not much you can realistically do for residency before you even start M1 besides maybe shadowing some orthos near you...

Unfortunately, my 1 accepted school doesn't have an ortho dept. All my waitlisted schools do, tho. So crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!

 

[wiggitywack12]

Unfortunately, my 1 accepted school doesn't have an ortho dept. All my waitlisted schools do, tho. So crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!

Oh. That's tough. Since ortho is what you want, I would definitely take one of the waitlist spots if they open up for you.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Oh. That's tough. Since ortho is what you want, I would definitely take one of the waitlist spots if they open up for you.

That's the plan!

 

[ShabbaRanks]

I definitely need more than 2-3 weeks, that's for sure. How am I supposed to stay at home and work on research at the same time? I don't wanna move to school so soon just for that.

I feel you on this. I've been lucky enough to hook up with a PI at my school that says I can work on my projects from home. I meet with him in a few weeks so hopefully this remains the case!

 

[FIREitUP]

Dude I would love to do nothing but watch Netflix, exercise, and hang out with friends all day erryday for a whole summer.

I definitely need more than 2-3 weeks, that's for sure. How am I supposed to stay at home and work on research at the same time? I don't wanna move to school so soon just for that. I know how competitive ortho is. But I'm not going to spend every waking minute of my time preparing for residency application. I'll put in the work, but I wanna have fun too. Besides, my long-term goal is PP, not academics. If other med students can match ortho without using up their free pre-M1 summer, then I can too.

dude, its your call. you can stay at home and write a case report or a review article. it's not hard. if you don't want to, that's fine, too. people have matched without research. in the end you realize there's a price to pay for everything.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

dude, its your call. you can stay at home and write a case report or a review article. it's not hard. if you don't want to, that's fine, too. people have matched without research. in the end you realize there's a price to pay for everything.

If I end up getting off the waitlist for my top choice well before orientation, then I might consider flying down to the school, meet a potential future PI, have him/her teach me the basics and give me a simple project to do from home, and then go back home and write stuff. I'm not shooting for like MGH or Wash U ortho; I just wanna match somewhere that'll provide me the best possible clinical training for PP and allow me to score a fellowship for whatever subspecialty I want to do. It's great that not doing research =/= not matching. Means I don't have to focus primarily on that hoop to jump thru and instead focus on grades, steps, and LOR's.

 

[FIREitUP]

If I end up getting off the waitlist for my top choice well before orientation, then I might consider flying down to the school, meet a potential future PI, have him/her teach me the basics and give me a simple project to do from home, and then go back home and write stuff. I'm not shooting for like MGH or Wash U ortho; I just wanna match somewhere that'll provide me the best possible clinical training for PP and allow me to score a fellowship for whatever subspecialty I want to do. It's great that not doing research =/= not matching. Means I don't have to focus primarily on that hoop to jump thru and instead focus on grades, steps, and LOR's.

alternatively, you can send an email either way. people don't realize how much research can be done at home. every little bit counts!

 

[Redpancreas]

No just chill. I had nothing substantial in undergrad, yet I've landed a competitive research externship and am on board with two research projects. You'll find something. Don't be afraid to ask. Even if they ask for your CV...because when I've given them my CV without much research, I still get called for positions. I honestly think the CV is just a custom at this point. Not sure if they're actually read for M1 summer research projects.

 

[MedSchoolSurvivor]

I’m currently an ortho resident and here is my advice: Enjoy your summer. While research is becoming “necessary” to match into ortho, and the match is becoming increasingly competitive, I don’t think sacrificing one of your only remaining summers to do so is worthwhile. You should focus on relaxing and mentally preparing yourself for the start of medical school. Once you get the hang of the type of studying required in medical school, then I would start doing research. You don’t want to have unnecessary distracters during this initial critical time period.



However, I would make an early connection with your ortho department and let them know that you do want to go into orthopedics, and that you would like to do research. This will then give you plenty of time to start/work on a project when you feel that the time is right.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

I’m currently an ortho resident and here is my advice: Enjoy your summer. While research is becoming “necessary” to match into ortho, and the match is becoming increasingly competitive, I don’t think sacrificing one of your only remaining summers to do so is worthwhile. You should focus on relaxing and mentally preparing yourself for the start of medical school. Once you get the hang of the type of studying required in medical school, then I would start doing research. You don’t want to have unnecessary distracters during this initial critical time period.



However, I would make an early connection with your ortho department and let them know that you do want to go into orthopedics, and that you would like to do research. This will then give you plenty of time to start/work on a project when you feel that the time is right.

Thanks for the great advice! This is all contingent on me getting off the waitlist for any of my waitlisted schools; they all have ortho depts, my accepted school doesn't. I also got kinda scared when I heard that ortho was even more difficult to match into this year.

 

[ASD2019]

Thanks for the great advice! This is all contingent on me getting off the waitlist for any of my waitlisted schools; they all have ortho depts, my accepted school doesn't. I also got kinda scared when I heard that ortho was even more difficult to match into this year.

I'm rooting for you Ace... Your one of my fav posters!

 

[NickNaylor]

Don't do research before medical school. Even if you're in a competitive specialty, it's unlikely that that summer will make much of a difference in the long-run. Use that time to relax and refocus and hit the ground running when you start school.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Don't do research before medical school. Even if you're in a competitive specialty, it's unlikely that that summer will make much of a difference in the long-run. Use that time to relax and refocus and hit the ground running when you start school.

Well, if the legendary NN says so, I guess it's true lol. However, one caveat is that you are at a top 20 school and I won't be...

 

[NickNaylor]

Well, if the legendary NN says so, I guess it's true lol. However, one caveat is that you are at a top 20 school and I won't be...

But the point still stands - that really doesn't depend on your institution.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I did not do research in the field I was planning on applying to before I started medical school (matched in the same field I was planning on going into pre-medical school). I got my name on >5 papers while in medical school, 1 first author and it GREATLY helped me while applying to a competitive surgical field.

I would think about it like this; do whatever will make you happy if we are talking pre-M1. If you'll really enjoy it then do the research, if not then don't worry about it. HOWEVER, I would work on finding a mentor in the first few weeks if you haven't already. Absolutely do not wait until after winter break to find a research lab. Start early and start planning whatever your project is.

And to second the posters above, if you have a choice between a school with a home program and without then GO TO THE ONE WITH A HOME PROGRAM! Who you know is all important in residency matching.

 

[FIREitUP]

Don't do research before medical school. Even if you're in a competitive specialty, it's unlikely that that summer will make much of a difference in the long-run. Use that time to relax and refocus and hit the ground running when you start school.

Meh, personally I think every little bit counts. But if the research ends up making you stressed out and unable to transition into med school, then that's another story. I do think a summer of research can help. Although everyone says you can't get much done in a summer, my personal experience has been that you can get several papers in depending on the PI you're working with. This can definitely help you in the long run, IMO.

 

[NickNaylor]

Meh, personally I think every little bit counts. But if the research ends up making you stressed out and unable to transition into med school, then that's another story. I do think a summer of research can help. Although everyone says you can't get much done in a summer, my personal experience has been that you can get several papers in depending on the PI you're working with. This can definitely help you in the long run, IMO.

I agree, but I think doing a summer of work at your institution and building connections from that work after M1 would be significantly more valuable than doing somewhat random research prior to starting medical school. Plus, I think self-care in the form of taking some time to relax is way understated in terms of importance by most.

 

[FIREitUP]

I agree, but I think doing a summer of work at your institution and building connections from that work after M1 would be significantly more valuable than doing somewhat random research prior to starting medical school. Plus, I think self-care in the form of taking some time to relax is way understated in terms of importance by most.

I don't disagree. Though, building connections beyond your institution can help as well. I don't think it's unreasonable or detrimental to mental health to work a few hours a week on a case report and/or a review article, especially if the person is a big name in the field. What I'm trying to say is, that every little bit counts in a competitive field. I've seen too many friends go unmatched in competitive fields to make me not recommend doing as much as one possibly can.