Research is research, right?

[NotADoctor1]

I've been using this site for a while now, and I was under the impression that any type of research is sufficient so long as you can talk about it intelligently and prove that you can be productive. Now, that's not to say all research is created equal: if you cure cancer that's obviously more impressive than most research that undergrads are involved with. Nevertheless, I thought that you don't need to do biomedical research to be competitive for top research schools. However, I had an interaction with someone today who said that they were rejected from a research-focused MD school, and the feedback that one of the ADCOMs gave was that their research wasn't biomedical in nature, and that they weren't very interested in it as a result. Obviously, the opinions of ADCOMs vary from individual to individual, but is this a widespread view that applicants should be aware of? More personally, am I making a mistake doing a lot of basic science research in an area that isn't too related to medicine?

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[Moko]

Obviously, the opinions of ADCOMs vary from individual to individual, but is this a widespread view that applicants should be aware of?

Nope.

More personally, am I making a mistake doing a lot of basic science research in an area that isn't too related to medicine?

And nope.

Granted, I can only say with certainty that I have not seen this at my school, but I have not heard of this as being a common viewpoint. This particular school either took it really hard when they fell in the research rankings, or they are vying to be at the very top of the brothel.

Spoiler: for this school

You will never beat Harvard.

 

[Goro]

As long as you are learning something about the scientific method, that's fine, even if you're studying clams in Fiji.

 

[deleted1025488]

I feel like you can spin anything in an interesting or positive light if you write about it well on your app. Maybe your friend misinterpreted the AO or there was more to the rejection.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

I applied this past cycle and my research was on a basic science topic whose connection to medicine is not obvious to a layperson. During the app cycle, I did notice that most interviewers didn't connect with my research passions (which is alright btw) and it took more "work" on my part to make my research easy to understand and convince them why it is important. I think it's just that since interviewers/adcoms tend to be physicians or medical professionals, a greater number of them are likely to be excited about your research if it has strong clinical components. That being said, I would never advise someone to pursue clinical research they are not passionate about just because it is clinical. My passion for my research did shine through as I am happy with my cycle results!

 

[LizzyM]

I could think of some areas of research, perhaps in astronomy (within the discipline of physics), or geochemistry, that would seem so foreign to adcoms that they would have a problem seeing your curiousity in scientific discovery that is in any way related to human biology. Organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, would all be relatable, even if the subject of the study is animal or botanical, or even single cell organisms, rather than human.