Research Topic Importance for Residencies?

[ApothecaryReady]

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I was hoping that someone could shed some light on how much residency programs weight the topic of research projects/publications. If I was applying to, say, a neurology residency, would they really only care about neurology research, or would other research be beneficial to the application? In a similar vein, would residency programs only be interested in strictly medical research, or would infectious disease/epidemiology research be a plus?

 

[TexasPhysician]

Research publications are important in some fields and less important in others. Neurology is less competitive and doesn't require research....although would be a plus. Any publications would be a plus, regardless of field. All research would benefit you, although the closer the research is to your desired field, the more bonus points you get.

 

[typhoonegator]

Going to a good residency program is competitive regardless of the specialty. In neurology, the best programs have a large proportion of MD PhD applicants, many of whom will have published extensively in neuroscience.

It's always nice to see research on an application, but the more pertinent the research is to your chosen field, the more focused you will appear to be. While diversity is great, it is nice to find someone who can hit the ground running. Also, the admission committees are made up of real people, and a neurologist is going to get more excited about neurology research than a project on zebrafish cardiogenesis.

Obviously, not everyone has everything figured out from day 1, so it's OK if you did AIDS research and then decide to go into orthopedic surgery. If that happens, you can still partner with someone during MS3 year and write a case report or something, if you are concerned about getting published in your chosen field.

 

[RxnMan]

I was hoping that someone could shed some light on how much residency programs weight the topic of research projects/publications. If I was applying to, say, a neurology residency, would they really only care about neurology research, or would other research be beneficial to the application? In a similar vein, would residency programs only be interested in strictly medical research, or would infectious disease/epidemiology research be a plus?

It makes sense that in-field research would be viewed more highly (the interviewer may actually know something about your project), but the process is more important on your level, in terms of gaining skills. In addition, I always advise other students to choose your mentor, not the project. If you know of a great teacher who has a record of working well with students and supporting students, work for them. Your experience will be more pleasant, you will learn more, you will have a better letter at the end, greater likelihood of publishing, and you'll have a supporter for the rest of your career. A big name or a flashy project, while nice, are generally more risky and less productive.

For answers to this and other research-related questions, please read the Research FAQ (link in my sig).

 

[TexasPhysician]

Going to a good residency program is competitive regardless of the specialty. In neurology, the best programs have a large proportion of MD PhD applicants, many of whom will have published extensively in neuroscience.

Top schools will have a larger proportion of MD/PhD applicants than low tier schools. The overall proportion is not very large.

You can get into a VERY good neuro program without research at all if you have a strong application.

 

[typhoonegator]

Well, we're getting into semantics here, but I personally think classes with > 50% have a "large" proportion of MD/PhDs, particularly when those classes contain > 10 residents.