so i'm entering medical school this fall and have been perusing some research opportunities. i'm thinking i would like to do academic medicine but, of course, i am not yet sure of what specialty i would want to do. my question is, does it matter if the research i'm involved in early on has nothing to do with the specialty i ultimately decide upon? thanks for any input.
Research and residency
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Wait for the current med students to weigh in, but the answer to this question varies by specialty.
From my understanding, for some specialties, research specific to that specialty is a de facto requirement for a lot of academic residency programs. For some specialties, and for more community-based residency programs, specific research won't matter as much, if at all.
You have plenty of time in your first two years to get involved in some projects. I would consider waiting until you have a little bit better idea what direction you want to go with your specialty. I wouldn't feel great getting involved in a project and jumping ship if/when my mind changed about specialties or about pursuing academic medicine.
From my understanding, for some specialties, research specific to that specialty is a de facto requirement for a lot of academic residency programs. For some specialties, and for more community-based residency programs, specific research won't matter as much, if at all.
You have plenty of time in your first two years to get involved in some projects. I would consider waiting until you have a little bit better idea what direction you want to go with your specialty. I wouldn't feel great getting involved in a project and jumping ship if/when my mind changed about specialties or about pursuing academic medicine.
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It does matter with some residency programs. So you might consider getting involved in a project that is relevant to many disciplines, for example, something immunologically-based. Once you're set on a certain pathway, you can potentially jump to(or ease into) something more specialty-specific.
C
cowme
Specialty specific research > Random other research >>> no research at all.
People are usually clueless as to what specialty they want early on. Try to get involved in something that applies to many fields (Infectious disease, oncology, radiology, surgery)
People are usually clueless as to what specialty they want early on. Try to get involved in something that applies to many fields (Infectious disease, oncology, radiology, surgery)
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Everyone knows most us of have no clue early on, so if you get involved in something 180 degrees opposite of what you end up wanting to do early on in medical school no one is going to hold that against you. It would a little awkward to have a couple of abstracts to an Ophthal meetings on your CV the same year you submit your application for Internal Medicine.
What were you planning on doing research-wise anyway?
What were you planning on doing research-wise anyway?
thanks for the replies.
as for the research i'm planning on doing- like i said i'm still looking into various opportunities but here's an idea of a few of the projects:
a. binding sites for colon cancer drugs
b. aging's effect on gene expression
c. inflammation's role in diabetes and cardio disease
So basically all of these will be basic science research opps.
as for the research i'm planning on doing- like i said i'm still looking into various opportunities but here's an idea of a few of the projects:
a. binding sites for colon cancer drugs
b. aging's effect on gene expression
c. inflammation's role in diabetes and cardio disease
So basically all of these will be basic science research opps.
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All of those are fine for essentially any area of medicine for future applications.
Pick what you think its the most interesting and go for it.
I agree with the above. The key is doing some sort of investigative work with a deliverable (paper, published abstract, poster at a meeting, etc.). If it turns out to be in a field unrelated to the one you apply to, it's not the end of the world. I got asked about undergrad research and med school research at every residency interview, and neither of my primary projects in either instance were in the field I applied to.
One recommendation I've heard before and liked is the suggestion to focus early research efforts on one of the more competitive fields in which are you interested. Since field-specific research does confer some application advantages to unrelated research, you'd be giving yourself as much of a leg-up as possible in the more competitive field - while simultaneously getting some exposure to that specialty to help you decide whether you actually like it - yet still performing work that would benefit your application regardless of ultimate specialty choice.
One recommendation I've heard before and liked is the suggestion to focus early research efforts on one of the more competitive fields in which are you interested. Since field-specific research does confer some application advantages to unrelated research, you'd be giving yourself as much of a leg-up as possible in the more competitive field - while simultaneously getting some exposure to that specialty to help you decide whether you actually like it - yet still performing work that would benefit your application regardless of ultimate specialty choice.
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