Pertinent Research

[fmpjb]

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I was wondering if any neuro, brain, or spine basic science research/publications help for application purposes to neurosurgery residency, or does the research have to be neurosurgery research to be beneficial?

any help/ideas on this would greatly be appreciated.

 

[naegleria brain]

research in any field is good enough; it shows the interviewer that you didn't mind giving up a weekend of drinking to do some work instead, and highlights your work ethic

it also shows a propensity to research, which academic centers love because they assume you'll bring research to their institution

i'm sure whatever youre doing is good. HOWEVER, doing neuro-research will give you contacts, hookups, and pertinent reccomendations that research in, say, CT surgery wouldn't.

e.g. - a neurosurgical recc would be read by a neurosurgeon, and there's a good chance they know each other. a CT, probably not;

at any rate, any research is good and helps your cause no matter what field you decide to go into, so if you haven't decided what you want, no worries.

 

[Tre Cool]

I have a similar question about research. Do competitive neurosurgery residencies view basic science research as better than clinical science research from applicants? Or vice versa?

I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do this summer and it is fast approaching. I need to figure out basic or clinical first and where at. Do you suggest doing research at your home school where you can continue it through the rest of your years in med school or do you suggest doing research at a place where you'd like to go for residency but it would only be for a summer?

Please help!!

 

[naegleria brain]

tre cool
there are pros and cons to both for your questions; i'll discuss them briefly
basic science - yeah, it does look better in general. but it takes a lot longer to complete, and, in my opinion, and i'm sure others as well, its downright boring.
now, how would you compare one basic science publication vs. two clinical research articles? it's hard to say. with clinical you really get the volume. with basic, if youre lucky and the data works out and youre published in time; great. both have strengths and weaknesses.

home school - you get to work with them for three full years. you get to work on projects with them closely, and you'll get some great reccs hopefully. at where you go, you begin touching base with the guys there, always a plus.

HOWEVER, it is far more beneficial, in my opinion, to do a sub-I your fourth year at the school of your choice, do extremely well, and get a letter from there. unless you can work with your target school closely for the next three years doing research and sub-I there, then go for it. otherwise, i'm not sure how much a summer research project would dazzle them compared to an awesome sub-I where you really prove your work ethic, skills, and attitude.

hope this helped