research question

[amyliz]

I'm an M1 thinking about ortho. I'm planning to do research this summer, and I have an offer from a guy in the surgery dept. at my school to work with him on a project. Would I be better off to keep looking for something in ortho? Or will it help me to just have any kind of research under my belt?

(feel free to PM me instead of cluttering the board answering questions from clueless M1s... )

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dry dre]

I'm an M1 thinking about ortho. I'm planning to do research this summer, and I have an offer from a guy in the surgery dept. at my school to work with him on a project. Would I be better off to keep looking for something in ortho? Or will it help me to just have any kind of research under my belt?

Not to be obtuse, but your time would be better spent studying for Step 1 (unless you are 100% certain from your personal history that you will ace it).

There are several schools of thought about research, I'll throw one out here. The faculty (in programs you apply to) who get off on selecting applicants interested in research are likely pretty good at determining which applicants did research out of genuine interest and which did research to fill in an otherwise blank section on their residency application. Insofar as someone would pick you to be a research-prone resident, if you *appear* to not be seriously interested in research, it probably isn't worth your time.

What type of research? There are many things you can research that are not particularly ortho but can provide experience for future ortho (or other) research (i.e. once in residency). As a med student I did research in infectious disease and post-op mgmt of coumadin. This only came up in two ortho interviews. In retrospect, while I liked the work and matched ortho, I would have been better served to have studied harder for Step 1 to get more interviews. A great Step 1 score and not research is what gets you a long interview list (probably in most any specialty).

 

[moquito_17]

I'm an M1 thinking about ortho. I'm planning to do research this summer, and I have an offer from a guy in the surgery dept. at my school to work with him on a project. Would I be better off to keep looking for something in ortho? Or will it help me to just have any kind of research under my belt?

(feel free to PM me instead of cluttering the board answering questions from clueless M1s... )

I don't think that in the summer between M1 and M2 there is much to study for Step 1. But the previous poster is 100% correct--the better the Step 1 the more the interviews. Make sure you nail that.

That being said.....Research is a good way to learn about a specific area and 'round out' your application. It is a great, great way to spend a summer if you are serious about ortho. Most research jobs are reasonable hours and you can still hang out and enjoy your summer.

Depending on the program you apply to it may or may not come up. I got asked about mine a lot, but that was just me.

Hope it all works out for you,

 

[HtSht2BoneDoc]

step one is crucial. I cracked a 260+ and have no research. My program docs said i should get at least 40 interviews and match at some sick schools and they are not even worried about me. HOWEVER..... places like HSS and Harvard and clevland clinic ( some of the Top programs ) are kind of research heavy so lets say you have both Youd probably be in better shape than im in and that pretty good shape Almost Olympic shape. So do the research and then Study like no tomorrow in 2nd year, this is key. Summer prob wont help unless you screwed up 1st year and didnt learn crap.

BTW my friend had a 256 last year and no research he applied to 24 got 20 interviews and matched his number 2 ( sick program though)

 

[Fusion]

step one is crucial. I cracked a 260+ and have no research. My program docs said i should get at least 40 interviews and match at some sick schools and they are not even worried about me. HOWEVER..... places like HSS and Harvard and clevland clinic ( some of the Top programs ) are kind of research heavy so lets say you have both Youd probably be in better shape than im in and that pretty good shape Almost Olympic shape. So do the research and then Study like no tomorrow in 2nd year, this is key. Summer prob wont help unless you screwed up 1st year and didnt learn crap.

BTW my friend had a 256 last year and no research he applied to 24 got 20 interviews and matched his number 2 ( sick program though)

Bonedoc, could you give me and idea of the kinds of grades you and your friend got during first and second-year basic sciences? I continue to hear different things about the importance of getting top grades during the first two years. I realize that for crazy-competitive fields like derm and neuroSx, grades from all four years are looked at in addition to board scores. I know that ortho is also one of the most competitive residencies to break into, but how important are grades from years 1 & 2? As far as landing an ortho spot, how much more important is step 1 than grades?

 

[HtSht2BoneDoc]

He was senior AOA. dont know about 1st 2 years. I have honors at my school. I honored 8/14 classes, but was numero uno in the big ones like path, anatomy, physion, and neuro.

These grades help I guess, more so for step 1. if you nail step 1 you should have had some decent grades to be able to rock it. Some people are avg 1st 2 yeas with all passes and get 250s but i dont know how those people do I will find out this year.

Bottom line if your still in 1st 2 years STUDY YOUR BALLS OFF . Gun but not to the detriment of your peers.

 

[Fusion]

He was senior AOA. dont know about 1st 2 years. I have honors at my school. I honored 8/14 classes, but was numero uno in the big ones like path, anatomy, physion, and neuro.

These grades help I guess, more so for step 1. if you nail step 1 you should have had some decent grades to be able to rock it. Some people are avg 1st 2 yeas with all passes and get 250s but i dont know how those people do I will find out this year.

Bottom line if your still in 1st 2 years STUDY YOUR BALLS OFF . Gun but not to the detriment of your peers.

Thanks for the info. I just completed my first semester w/ all passes (grading scale: Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail), but am considering ortho as a possibility and plan to step it up next semester. Best of luck w/ everything.

 

[O'doyleRules]

Research is important in many programs in ortho. Unless you are academically at the top of your class, it will matter. Many programs will not interview you if you have not done research as it shows dedication to the field and more than just a passing glance, so it would behoove you to do research in the field in which you think that you will go into, rather than just surgery. Besides, it will give you the chance to read some papers and meet the people in ortho, and to see if you like the field.

That being said, doing ortho research will not change the level of program that you go to. IE: you will not get into Harvard because you did some cool research if your grades are worthy of east central community program. However, it is an unstated requirement and needs to be done. So don't take the surgery job, and find something in ortho. IMHO.

 

[amyliz]

Research is important in many programs in ortho. Unless you are academically at the top of your class, it will matter. Many programs will not interview you if you have not done research as it shows dedication to the field and more than just a passing glance, so it would behoove you to do research in the field in which you think that you will go into, rather than just surgery. Besides, it will give you the chance to read some papers and meet the people in ortho, and to see if you like the field.

That being said, doing ortho research will not change the level of program that you go to. IE: you will not get into Harvard because you did some cool research if your grades are worthy of east central community program. However, it is an unstated requirement and needs to be done. So don't take the surgery job, and find something in ortho. IMHO.

Thanks for all the advice. I spoke with my clinical mentor and within a couple weeks he hooked me up with the director of research, who threw a project at me to work on starting now...and (big surprise) it's a hundred times more interesting to me than the project I would have done in general surg.

For anyone else in my boat (clueless M1), I was shocked at how easy it was to find research just by shooting off a few emails to people. Apparently being a med student implies some sort of credibility...