Research during 4th year dilemma

[brownwolf100]

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So the one thing missing from my application for this upcoming cycle is research during medical school. I have the opportunity to join a research project, and was hoping to work on it prior to interview season and complete a research elective rotation to finish things up in November.

However, the timeline for the project is not exactly what I expected. The a literature review is just beginning and once that occurs, optimization of the study design will take place. It looks like the majority of time from now until summer (or fall, winter?) will involve working on the research review. I'm not sure I will even begin chart review or data analysis by the time residency applications open.

My question is: is there any benefit to working on the research review? Would there be a way for residency programs to see my involvement in this project that may not be up and running prior to residency application submission? Can I update residency programs with my involvement as more progress is made? Or does this seem like a lot of work without much to show for during interview season?

 

[ceilingfan019]

So you're an M3 now going into 4th year with this research opportunity that is just beginning with literature review.

Although you don't provide more details about the project, the most important part is that you aren't confident that the data collection will even begin by when applications open.

You could put it on your CV under research experience that you just started this project (I always include dates of involvement) and leave the rest to interpretation. But updating programs about the progress of your research project seems unnecessary. Imagine being a PD and receiving these weird updates from an applicant that their research project just finished including patients in their study.

My advice would be to try to find something you can do more quickly that does not require chart review.

 

[LyMed]

Agree with the above poster. How are the research opportunities in your school? Research takes a long time to get rolling, so it's optimal to jump on multiple projects at once.
I would only update a PD once the research has been published.