Research/pubs for IM programs

[ElixirofLife]

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I'm an MS2 who's seriously interested in IM (in particular GI and academic medicine). I've heard about the importance of research for high tier IM programs and was wondering the best way to get published going forward into MS3/4.

I had a small part-time research project and a poster presentation during summer of MS1 and prior to med school I had two 2nd author pubs in basic science and did some clinical work but don't have any pubs to show for that (left long before the conclusion of the study).

What would be the most efficient way to get published and be competitive in this regard once application time rolls around? I'm in the middle of step 1 prep right now and I imagine MS3 to be pretty busy. Any advice would be appreciated. I have my sights set to go into academics so I'll be shooting for top programs. Thanks!

 

[bleedinggreennation]

Hey man, I'll respond because I think I have a lot of insight/experience after going through the IM application/interview process. Basically my intuition is that when it comes to publications and research, residency program directors only know how to count. I had a pretty unique bench research background coming into medical school (2nd author publication in molecular neuroscience in Nature), and I continued to do bench research in medical school in glioblastoma stem cell biology. I was able to work in the lab full time for 5 months but basic science research is incredibly slow, and the only thing I had to show for it when residency applications rolled around was a 2nd author abstract published in Neuro-Oncology. So if you are set on basic science research, understand that it is a big gamble and that if you don't publish, it doesn't really help much. Unless you are a unique applicant (such as having an MBA or a lot of global health work or do something that can you can carve out a unique niche), publishing research is sine qua non for getting into a top IM residency, since IM is now becoming incredibly competitive at the top places. I had 2 good friends who also applied IM that were identical and excellent applicants (both had 260s in step 1 and step 2), both had mostly honors and both were AOA, but one of them didn't have any publications. The one without pubs didn't get any interviews from the big 4 programs + Penn, whereas the other that had 3 pubs got interviews from MGH, BWH, Hopkins, and Penn...I think this example truly illustrates the significance of research. I know it's difficult accomplishing anything else during 3rd year of med school, but I would definitely try and get involved in a simple clinical research project (maybe a retrospective chart analysis or write a review). Look up PIs/attendings that are publishing a lot in an area you are interested in or talk to upperclassmen that know which PIs are good for clinical research/getting pubs, and try and set up a project ASAP. Best of luck with everything, let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[ElixirofLife]

Really appreciate your informative reply! Yeah, I'm fully aware of the nature of bench research - I've done some in the past and it's been incredibly slow.

It seems like from what I hear it's almost all about the quantity of pubs that counts (anyone correct me if I'm wrong). If I were to do GI or Pulm research, should I just shoot for getting a bunch of small publications out of it? I know it must be hard to fit things into MS3, but would you say it's doable to squeeze some work into lighter rotations or during winter/spring break? Also, how feasible is it to publish during the beginning of MS4 in time for applications to go out? I have basically nothing in the IM realm as of now and I'm worried this may hold me back when applications roll around since I didn't get too much out of my project during MS1 (small psych project). I plan on just seeking out some clinical projects that can hopefully be done on my own time (chart reviews, etc).

Many thanks again for the information and the encouragement 🙂

 

[bleedinggreennation]

It's quantity but it is also the degree of authorship, ideal publication would be first author, but it doesn't really matter what journal it's in...could be something like Mediterranean annals of pathology for all it matters. There will be the med student that is able to pub first author in NEJM/JAMA (they do exist) but that is obviously extremely rare. I think the reason why publishing is important for residency applications is because program directors use it as a surrogate for 1. if you are passionate about a certain field and 2. whether you are able to get **** done/deal with all of the crap that is academic medicine such as writing an IRB/doing the statistics/coordinating a project/writing it up eventually. I think what you are able to do in MS3 is really a product of how rigorous your rotations are, but in general it will be difficult to do very much of anything during IM/surgery/obgyn rotations but on rotations that have good hours and you don't have to work the weekends, such as psych/peds/amb care/neuro, you could get some stuff accomplished. You should look up when the residency application is due on ERAS, as I forget the exact date but I think it is sometime in June/July between MS3 and MS4, so I'm not exactly certain about how much you'll be able to accomplish during the beginning of 4th year before residency apps start going in.