Research experience?

[Handsome88]

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I'm already a medical student, but I don't know where else to post this question other than the pre-medical forums...

Is research experience required to be clinical or would lab research also be considered just as much? If not, then does it matter which field you do your research in? For example, can you do research in surgery and end up applying to IM? I just really have no preference as of yet as I'm only first year.

I was offered to help out in non-payed research but my job was simply sort of like "data entry"...Do you think that would be good still....better than nothing? Or will it be a waste of time?

Thanks!

 

[Catalystik]

It sounds like a waste of your time, unless it would very soon lead to better things.

Either clinical or bench research is fine, if you're looking ahead to the residency application process. If you want to go into an extremely competitive field (rads, ophth, derm, some subspecialty surgical areas like plastics) then research relevant to that field is important, otherwise it doesn't matter. You could chose an area that crosses many fields like pharm or immunology.

 

[mikedc813]

If you just want to get something published quickly, do clinical research. Basic science research takes much longer to get results. You can easily get at least an abstract done within a month depending on the project. I'm in residency now and have written up 3 abstracts and a paper for submission within the past year. It's very doable - just find a good mentor who will help you and give you research ideas.

It generally doesn't matter what field you do research in when applying to residency programs, except for the more specialized programs. For instance, radiation oncology is such a specialized field that it's strongly encouraged to do some radiation-related research to be competitive.