Not A Fan Of Research

[Gardenea]

Is it ok for me to become a doctor even though I don't like research? I know I have to continue my education to keep up with the latest tech in medicine and I'm perfectly fine with that, but I don't like doing research, patents and papers..

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[Goro]

Is it ok for me to become a doctor even though I don't like research? I know I have to continue my education to keep up with the latest tech in medicine and I'm perfectly fine with that, but I don't like doing research, patents and papers..

Doctors are NOT required to do research.

The wise DrMidlife on research: “you've preferably had some exposure to research so you can be convinced that Wakefield used malicious dirtbag methods and is not the savior of the world's children.”

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Research is not required. What will be required as a lifelong learner is to understand study design, medical statistics, and how to critically read a medical journal article. Research will be highly recommended if you are applying to a competetive specialty.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

There are different types of research - Wet lab, clinical and now Computational. You don't like any of them?

 

[spottedcory]

There are different types of research - Wet lab, clinical and now Computational. You don't like any of them?

Don't forget community-based and humanities research!

 

[Gardenea]

There are different types of research - Wet lab, clinical and now Computational. You don't like any of them?

I'll have to look up what those are... but I don't want to do paper heavy research, I'm not good at writing papers and whatnot.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I'll have to look up what those are... but I don't want to do paper heavy research, I'm not good at writing papers and whatnot.

Have you tried any research?

 

[spottedcory]

I'll have to look up what those are... but I don't want to do paper heavy research, I'm not good at writing papers and whatnot.

This is what I thought until I got into humanities research! I learned a lot about this niche topic I was able to pick out myself, and learned things that no one else would get to know about if I didn't write up a little something about it. Writing papers is just the documentation part of research, which you honestly need in any career, or else how are other people going to build on work you did?

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

Doctors are NOT required to do research.

The wise DrMidlife on research: “you've preferably had some exposure to research so you can be convinced that Wakefield used malicious dirtbag methods and is not the savior of the world's children.”

I havent seen Wakefield’s revoked Lancet paper. What exactly did he manipulate in the data?

 

[Gardenea]

Have you tried any research?

No, I just figured that if I'm not a fan of writing papers in my classes I wouldn't like writing research papers, and I looked up wet lab and clinical research and they look like something I'd enjoy doing, I just don't know if I'd like/be good at writing a whole long paper on what I did.

This is what I thought until I got into humanities research! I learned a lot about this niche topic I was able to pick out myself, and learned things that no one else would get to know about if I didn't write up a little something about it. Writing papers is just the documentation part of research, which you honestly need in any career, or else how are other people going to build on work you did?

I know it's important, I'll definitely have to change my mindset on it.


I want to say that I don't mind research per se, I just wanted to make sure that my future career as a doctor is dependent on weather or not I like to do research, and I probably will change my mind later on, especially since I'm finding out about wet lab and clinical research.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

No, I just figured that if I'm not a fan of writing papers in my classes I wouldn't like writing research papers, and I looked up wet lab and clinical research and they look like something I'd enjoy doing, I just don't know if I'd like/be good at writing a whole long paper on what I did.


I know it's important, I'll definitely have to change my mindset on it.


I want to say that I don't mind research per se, I just wanted to make sure that my future career as a doctor is dependent on weather or not I like to do research, and I probably will change my mind later on, especially since I'm finding out about wet lab and clinical research.

If you are premed, you have PI and probably post doc helping you write the paper. They won't dump everything on you.

 

[account4premed]

No, I just figured that if I'm not a fan of writing papers in my classes I wouldn't like writing research papers, and I looked up wet lab and clinical research and they look like something I'd enjoy doing, I just don't know if I'd like/be good at writing a whole long paper on what I did.

A lot of the times, you'll just be doing grunt work like PCR or counting cells or whatever, so you wont even need to write anything actually! In my lab, I just perform experiments and read papers, but haven't had to write anything so far since I don't have my own project

 

[Goro]

I havent seen Wakefield’s revoked Lancet paper. What exactly did he manipulate in the data?

For starters, he fabricated the data that measles RNA and virus was in the 12 patient's intestinal tissue, as well as ID'ing all of them as having autism. He also failed to inform the editors of Lancet that the kids were found by a lawyer seeking to sue the MMR mfrs, and that he, Wakefield, was hoping to market a single shot measles-only vaccine.

Read the book The Doctor Who Fooled the World by Brian Deer.

 

[spottedcory]

I know it's important, I'll definitely have to change my mindset on it.

My point was more like, I knew it was important, but I never cared to do it until I found something I liked. You just need to find the right subject and then I think you might enjoy it! But to your original question, you don't need to conduct research yourself to be a doctor--you just need to know how to read and understand it

 

[JimKimSlim]

Is it ok for me to become a doctor even though I don't like research? I know I have to continue my education to keep up with the latest tech in medicine and I'm perfectly fine with that, but I don't like doing research, patents and papers..

Yes.

 

[JimKimSlim]

If you are premed, you have PI and probably post doc helping you write the paper. They won't dump everything on you.

Meh, my PI was a "star" in sleep medicine (~10,000 citation) at my top 15 UG, but neither he nor my post-doc mentor helped me write papers for projects/classes or publish my data. I was trained by my old PI that if you're the first author for a research presentation or publication, you're expected to be in charge of everything from organizing additional experiments to writing the paper from scratch.

I guess this situation can be avoided by working with young/assistant professors who could use fresh ideas for additional publications in their CV. Based on my 5+ year as a researcher, the more famous the PI, the less they have time to help undergrads or RA's for their independent projects.

 

[lumya]

I did computational neuroscience research all four years of undergrad and I thought I hated research as a whole, but it turned out I just didn't like the field. I since worked in pharmacology research and now do admin for oncology research and I've found both topics much more interesting (and more clinically applicable). Don't force yourself to do research just for research sake - I did and I really regret the thousands of hours I spent, including the 5 nights in a row I slept in the lab to finalize my thesis.

I will say that doing research taught me a lot about thinking analytically and reading critically, both of which are skills I was able to apply to my job and taking the MCAT. As for writing papers, I find that writing about topics you are interested in comes a lot easier than trying to churn out a 10 page assigned paper on Chomsky for class.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Meh, my PI was a "star" in sleep medicine (~10,000 citation) at my top 15 UG, but neither he nor my post-doc mentor helped me write papers for projects/classes or publish my data. I was trained by my old PI that if you're the first author for a research presentation or publication, you're expected to be in charge of everything from organizing additional experiments to writing the paper from scratch.

I guess this situation can be avoided by working with young/assistant professors who could use fresh ideas for additional publications in their CV. Based on my 5+ year as a researcher, the more famous the PI, the less they have time to help undergrads or RA's for their independent projects.

True, you have to figure out who has time for you but not an easy task for young premeds.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Not at all. Plenty of people do their required projects and then do 100% clinical work as an attending. So long as you know how to acquire and apply new information relevant to your practice, you will succeed in the long run.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

You don't HAVE to do research as a part of your career. You MAY have to do research to ACQUIRE a particular career.