Research for Residency

[sunshine02]

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To get into a top residency, I heard that research is highly encouraged and often times pretty much mandatory.

Does that mean it has to be biological/medical research? Can it be in psychology? Can it be in computer science?

 

[QuizzicalApe]

The reason research is encouraged is because if you do research, you're more likely to continue performing research and in so doing you will raise the profile of your program and make your colleagues and attendings look better by association. And you'll advance medicine yadda yadda.

The more similar your research is to research you're likely to do as a resident relevant to your field, the better it will be for admissions purposes.

 

[sunshine02]

So for example if you wanted to go into opthamology residency then it's best to do opthamology research during med school?

 

[QuizzicalApe]

So for example if you wanted to go into opthamology residency then it's best to do opthamology research during med school?

That would be ideal, but since people often change their minds during medical school as to their desired specialty, nobody holds it against you if you did research in something else instead. It would be most impressive if you were involved in some research in that field, and would give you more to talk about during an interview, but just about every program would be content with someone who is interested in and produce quality medical research, period.

 

[sunshine02]

Thanks! Out of curiosity, would psychology research be considered medical research?

 

[Dral]

Thanks! Out of curiosity, would psychology research be considered medical research?

You're starting to step on to shaky ground there. Some consider psychology/sociology soft science.

I personally don't think of them that way, but some might.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

Thanks! Out of curiosity, would psychology research be considered medical research?

You probably won't be doing psychology research in medical school, and what you do in medical school is going to carry more weight unless you get published in a top-tier journal in college.

 

[phonyreal98]

Thanks! Out of curiosity, would psychology research be considered medical research?

It depends.

fMRI of brain function during cognitive/behavioral tasks in a clinical population? Sure.
Family dynamics in families of different ethnic backgrounds? Not so much.

Not to say that one is "better" than the other or whatever that means.