Research or Volunteer Work???

[windsurfr]

I'm starting med school this fall and am very interested in emergency medicine (along with another 50% of my class). Does anyone have any suggestions in regards to what residency directors look for??? Is research important or would it be better to focus on volunteering in the community. Any feedback would be great, thanks.

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[Voxel]

Go work in your med school's ER. Learn the ropes and folks that work there. You'll have a leg up on all your classmates and the 3rd year wards. Also, if you are likable and have similiar stats as others , your dedication will shine. They will remember you as the hard working kid who wanted ER from day 1. Do not under estimate this. Good luck with ER. Maybe you could even get involved with an ER research project!?

 

[midwest girl]

Well, I am a fourth year applying this year in EM, and I would think that volunteer work is probably more important. I have both volunteer work and research, but I was never asked (not even at one program) anything about my research. I was asked extensively about my volunteer work. But, I would tend to agree with Voxel, that the best thing to do is to do well on your EM rotation and get good recommendations.

 

[dr.evil]

Most of my classmates did not feel that one was better than the other. They did however feel that program directors wanted to see if the students did the activities just to look good on an application or if you really wanted to do the volunteer work or really had an interest in the research you did.

I vote for the volunteer work though. You can actually accomplish something with volunteer work (especially at the local free clinic). You rarely will be able to do enough research during medical school to accomplish anything (unless you really are dedicated).

 

[windsurfr]

Thanks for all of the response...
I would much rather do volunteer work

 

[tulanestudent]

Well, you just answered your own question. DO WHAT INTERESTS YOU MOST. Find projects that engage you and you have fun doing, and those are what you should spend your time on. I emphasize this b/c I tried to do lab research btwn 1st and 2nd year, knowing I wasn't really the lab type. Well, it was a miserable experience, my name never got on a paper, and I doubt I'll even bother to write it on my CV. I was doing it b/c I felt that I should, yet I expect I will get more noticed for doing the volunteer work I really enjoyed.
By the way, there are other, more fun, ways to get journal publications besides research - like getting in touch with a doc in the ER and writing up a case report on a patient. Some people really like research, but if you don't, don't feel that you HAVE to do it.