Research and DO school

[sena]

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A few questions. From what I have gathered, most DO schools do not require research. Do you know of any that do?

Also, is there any benefit in application by having research when applying DO?

If there are DO schools that do require research, Is there any reason to believe that the rest of DO schools will begin making research a mandatory prerequisite in the near future?

 

[MedPR]

A few questions. From what I have gathered, most DO schools do not require research. Do you know of any that do?

Also, is there any benefit in application by having research when applying DO?

If there are DO schools that do require research, Is there any reason to believe that the rest of DO schools will begin making research a mandatory prerequisite in the near future?

No schools (MD or DO) require research. And yes, there is benefit as it helps show your comittment to academics and furthering medicine.

 

[Goro]

My own two cents is that doing research helps you understand the scientific method, and you will carry that across your clinical career by engaging in critical thinking.

A few questions. From what I have gathered, most DO schools do not require research. Do you know of any that do?

Also, is there any benefit in application by having research when applying DO?

If there are DO schools that do require research, Is there any reason to believe that the rest of DO schools will begin making research a mandatory prerequisite in the near future?

 

[AmicaVera]

No DO schools gave a flip that I'd done two years of research. So I don't know how to answer your question. Just about everyone in every interview that I had been in had done some pretty substantial research, so it might just be one of those check marks that you have to get done. Either way, it's a good experience for later down the line, especially if you want to start research in medical school for the purpose of applying for residencies.

 

[BabyDoc86]

No DO schools gave a flip that I'd done two years of research. So I don't know how to answer your question. Just about everyone in every interview that I had been in had done some pretty substantial research, so it might just be one of those check marks that you have to get done. Either way, it's a good experience for later down the line, especially if you want to start research in medical school for the purpose of applying for residencies.

👍 This.

In all of my interviews, they seemed to care more about what I had done to directly help people (clinical experience, volunteerism) than my bench research (lots), but they did seem interested in my research that involved improving patient care. IMHO, research can be beneficial to you in the long run, even if adcoms don't necessarily require it.

 

[gmcguitar4]

Agreed. In my interviews they did not ask me about my research at all. Their questions focused on my experience with patients and all the volunteer work I did.

 

[brosephlol]

I was asked a good amount of research questions at azcom. They seemed very interested and asked me specific questions on what I did and the transitioning of research into medicine. They seemed pretty content when I talked about what I learned, why I did it, and what I did in the lab.

Focus not on "if research looks good to do schools" and more of what you think you will get anything out from it. That's what the school care about.

 

[zoner]

As mentioned, nobody requires it, yet I have heard both touro-ca and western encourage it. I would imagine the public DO schools also have an interest in people with research experience.

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i think those two only encourage it because they are so competitive with gunner Californian applicants... They from what I hear have really sucky research

 

[Eiot]

Focus not on "if research looks good to do schools" and more of what you think you will get anything out from it. That's what the school care about.

and if I think my time is better invested elsewhere then what?

 

[zoner]

\
Focus not on "if research looks good to do schools" and more of what you think you will get anything out from it. That's what the school care about.

this is only half true imo,,, these schools aren't all that holistic. you got to have decent amount of various things they are looking for which includes research. if they have two same applicant one with just alright dumb research and one without, they will for sure pick the one with just alright dumb research.

 

[Mbeas]

this is only half true imo,,, these schools aren't all that holistic. you got to have decent amount of various things they are looking for which includes research. if they have two same applicant one with just alright dumb research and one without, they will for sure pick the one with just alright dumb research.

Definitely not true. As someone who is interviewing this application season, I feel like you should have picked up on that.

 

[zoner]

Definitely not true. As someone who is interviewing this application season, I feel like you should have picked up on that.

why do you say that? yes, this is what i picked up as a someone interviewing this cycle and last cycle as well. what, you think they are going to call whoever was your research mentor or adviser and ask about the quality of certain applicant's research? hellll no. yes, if published and all that- fantastic, but mostly it isf better to have that experience than not to have it at all

 

[felix2929]

this is only half true imo,,, these schools aren't all that holistic. you got to have decent amount of various things they are looking for which includes research. if they have two same applicant one with just alright dumb research and one without, they will for sure pick the one with just alright dumb research.

maybe this explains my low verbal score on the mcat but i have no idea what you are saying

 

[zoner]

maybe this explains my low verbal score on the mcat but i have no idea what you are saying

what i meant is that they don't really care if you had an amazing research experience or not. they just care that you had some. that you at least know vaguely what its all about. unless of course you published papers and etc. if they compare two same applicants and one had no research whatsoever and the other candidate had just one year of superficial research, who do you think they will invite for an interview?

 

[Mbeas]

but mostly it isf better to have that experience than not to have it at all

I will agree with this part in defining "you" as a person.

But, in terms of accepting students, someone with research experience won't necessarily get priority over someone without research experience. I think most people here have noticed how much admissions is a crapshoot.

 

[dododr]

So I had 0 research, but a lot of patient exposure, and I got interviews every DO school I applied to. Don't do it if you don't want to do it. That being said, make sure you are doing something worthwhile besides school. Think about experiences that would help with the "why medicine/why DO" questions that will be asked at least 3X in the application experience. Research could fulfill this, but there are other things out there.

I know of one MD school that I am pretty sure required research though.

 

[zoner]

So I had 0 research, but a lot of patient exposure, and I got interviews every DO school I applied to. Don't do it if you don't want to do it. That being said, make sure you are doing something worthwhile besides school. Think about experiences that would help with the "why medicine/why DO" questions that will be asked at least 3X in the application experience. Research could fulfill this, but there are other things out there.

I know of one MD school that I am pretty sure required research though.

wow, that was pretty gutzy of you.. my adviser told me not to risk it

 

[koan]

There are MD programs out there that require students to complete a research project during MS1/2, UWSOM for one. I doubt that is the case for any DO schools, and I doubt any of them have substantial research departments although they may have isolated respected and accomplished investigators. Touro-CA has more research focus than any of the other DO schools I saw, but I would still qualify the overall effort as minimal for a health sciences school. However, that doesn't mean if you are research-oriented you need to work with Touro. I spent the summer in a lab at UCSF, which wouldn't have been possible without the research experience I had prior to med school. I know of other Touro students who got fellowships to do clinical research elsewhere at public MD school-affiliated hospitals as well.

The things I think you want out of research as a med student are:

1. Good things for your CV - this follows you through school to residency and beyond, and any research experience is probably better than none as Zoner said (although I agree with this basic premise, I don't think everyone needs to do research, especially if you dislike it, just focus on building on the narrative of what is important to you in medicine)
2. Contacts - you get to spend hours upon hours upon hours with a PI who is probably an MD or PhD or DO or both or all three. This person will open doors for you, write letters vouching for your character, and challenge you to think... as long as you work hard and enjoy what you're doing.
3. Publications - it isn't that hard to get a poster / abstract done in a halfway decent lab with a year of work, and then voila! You're a published author!! Seriously, I think this is a bigger deal in turning heads on applications, whether to med school or residency, than how many hours you worked at the free clinic (many would disagree with me...)

Lots of people hate research and do it anyway because they feel they should. I disagree with that. But dang if you're gunning for anything -- and lets face it, every step of this process has gotten ridiculously competitive -- I can't imagine going into that battle without some research juice.