Questions from a pre-M1

[hawkeyeking56]

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First I want to thank everyone in this forum for all the great information and insights. I was just recently accepted into med school (try to guess where considering my name) and as part of all the stuff they sent me was information about the research distinction tract at my school. Basically you need 16 weeks of research with a few presentations and you get a special distinction on your dean's letter and diploma (or something like that). I'm really interested in neurology though I have in no way explored it enough to be sure. I have a couple of Q's

1) How important is research in neurology in getting into the top residency programs??? (I know top programs will be subjective for the individual person but say I am still an unrealistic and ambitious kiddie and think I want to go to UCSF, Mayo, et al...)

2) What would be the best way to find out during this upcoming summer and my M1 year if I am serious enough about neurology to spend 8 weeks during the summer after my M1 year doing some neurology related project?

3) Is it possible to put in the 8 weeks of remaining research to get that special distinction during my M3 year? (I suppose only Iowa people could answer this one specifically)

4) Considering it takes some time between submitting a paper/abstract and it getting published, which is what I would want to accomplish if I put in the time, what would be the latest I finished my research and still be reasonably sure I would be able to put this on my residency application?

5) Is there a big difference between bench and clinical research in the eyes of residency admissions?

I realize some of this is probably ridiculously naive and it most likely won't pan out this way, but if someone could give some insight on one of more of my Q's it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[GopherBrain]

I usually don't talk to Iowegians, but you asked some good questions - so I will make an exception.

We have similiar backgrounds. I go the the state school in a certain state to the north of Iowa, and I am heading to UCSF for my residency.

1) How important is research in neurology in getting into the top residency programs??? (I know top programs will be subjective for the individual person but say I am still an unrealistic and ambitious kiddie and think I want to go to UCSF, Mayo, et al...)

If you want to go to a really top-flight school, you will have a tougher time without research experience. However, you do NOT need a ton, and you do NOT need to be published. You just need enough exposure to understand what academic medicine is all about. Even in this, there is variation in the top programs. To use your example programs, I can easily picture a good all-around candidate going to Mayo without any research experience at all. This is harder to picture at UCSF.

2) What would be the best way to find out during this upcoming summer and my M1 year if I am serious enough about neurology to spend 8 weeks during the summer after my M1 year doing some neurology related project?

I'm not sure that there is a way. Neuology is a field (like IM) where different people can have radically different practices and lives. So even if you tagged along with someone and hated the experience, it wouldn't be that meaningful.

3) Is it possible to put in the 8 weeks of remaining research to get that special distinction during my M3 year? (I suppose only Iowa people could answer this one specifically)

Yeah, this is a question for Iowa people. I did about 8 weeks between M3 and M4, so it is possible some places.

4) Considering it takes some time between submitting a paper/abstract and it getting published, which is what I would want to accomplish if I put in the time, what would be the latest I finished my research and still be reasonably sure I would be able to put this on my residency application?

You don't need a publication to list the experience. You can list it as "in process", "in review", etc. Other than that, the answer depends on the field, the journal, and too many other factors to project.

5) Is there a big difference between bench and clinical research in the eyes of residency admissions?

In a word, no. But (as a gross generalization) MDs tend to end up in clinical research, and MD/PhDs do more bench. So you might want to sample from the appropriate category to see if you like it.


All things being equal, I'd do research in med school. Do you need 16 weeks of it, or the Iowa researcher merit badge? Probably not. Follow your gut.

Best of luck.