Research a must?

[RIPSanto]

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I skimmed through a few threads and didn't really find a great answer for this question, plus it seems like research is becoming more and more important so I thought I'd post on here...

I am hoping to do a general surgery residency that will allow me to do a fellowship in trauma/critical care. Do I need to have research in medical school? I did 2 years of undergrad research (no pubs or anything, mostly assisting in research). I really don't like research, and I would prefer to do something else productive...

Also, I know as an MS 1/2 I don't know I want to do g. surg. But I am relatively certain I will end up in a non-supercompetitive field. So, how would the response to this question change for say EM, anesthesia, PM&R or IM...

 

[Isoprop]

Two documents that are of interest to you:

Charting Outcomes

Characteristics of Applicants Who Matched to Their Preferred Specialty in the 2011 NRMP Main Residency Match (4th edition) (PDF, 268 pages)
This report documents how applicant qualifications affect match success. Twelve measures are incorporated in this report, including number of contiguous ranks, distinct specialties ranked, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores, number of research experiences, publications, work and volunteer experiences, percent of applicants with AOA membership, and graduate degrees. These measures are calculated for all applicants and for each specialty.

Program Director Survey

(PDF, 164 pages) This report presents the results of selected items from the 2010 NRMP Program Director Survey. Data are reported for 19 specialties and include: (1) factors used for granting interviews and ranking applicants; (2) use of USMLE exam scores; and (3) the percentage of interview slots filled prior to the November 1 release date of the MSPE

The tldr version - research can help your application, but it's not needed to match except certain specialties like radonc.

 

[RIPSanto]

Thanks isoprop!

 

[ucsfstudents]

Research will improve your competitiveness for top schools (harvard, johns hopkins, etc) and competitive fields like ortho and plastic surgery, derm, etc.

 

[DrBowtie]

And while not necessarily mandatory to do research during medical school, many general surgery residencies are requiring or "strongly recommending" 1-2 years of research tacked on to the standard 5 year residency (6-7 years of residency total).

If you aren't interested in research, make sure and steer clear of these programs when applying.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Also note that "research" is a very broad term (as I am sure you know)...you may find that your research experience in undergrad will vastly differ from experiences in medical school.

If you decide that research is necessary for your residency application I'd give some serious thought as to the type of research. Deans at our school warn students about "research" where you looked at 500 charts and write up an abstract of your findings.

Interestingly, one residency program director at my school advocated doing quality-improvement research at your institution. For example, charting lengths of hospital stays in a post-op group with daily ambulation encouragement vs. a group w/o such reminders. He made the argument that students who don't like bench-top research may get more satisfaction out of this approach and it signals to residency directors that you are an applicant who tries to contribute to his institution and are an active participant in your work-environment. Great fodder for ye ol' "what will you add to our program" questions.

Chances are you could find some type of research that is tolerable, if not interesting, and eases your concern about application strength.