Research year - how productive?

[stratumbasale]

I will be doing a research year in derm (with my school's department) between M2 and M3 (so starting this summer). The way this works at my school is we select a research mentor to work with (from a list that the school approves) and that person also writes evals throughout the year that go on our transcript. I've been told by multiple people that it's important to be "very productive" this year, but what that translates to in terms of projects/publications/presentations is a bit unclear. Some advice has been conflicting with one person telling me that it's better to have 1 or 2 big projects that lead to publications in high impact journals and another person saying quantity is more important and I should aim for 10-15 publications/presentations this year. Does anyone have any advice regarding productivity for students who do a research year in derm? I'm going to choose projects that I'm interested in, but also want to make sure I'm not hurting myself if I take on bigger projects that may mean a smaller number publications at the end of the year.

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[Dral]

I am of the opinion that it is better to do a few things well. Just like interviewing for medical school, depth seems more important than breadth on the Derm interview trail.

Being president of a relief organization is more impressive then being on three small committees.

 

[cableguy555]

Unfortunately most of the time quantity>quality when it comes to matching in dermatology. Now there are two types of people who do derm research: to increase chances of getting matched into derm OR to increases chances of getting into a top program.

Now if your AOA, have 255+ step1, great recs, etc... then you'd probably want to do 1-3 large projects that'll get you published in top journals. For example, hidradenitis, bullous pemphigoid, etc... Or research in whatever your interested as long as its not cosmetic derm.

Now if your not AOA, have 240ish step1, ok recs etc (like the 99% of derm aspirants) .. and are solely looking to get matched, then getting published in a lot of papers in particularly important. I would aim for 10-12 publications. As long as you are named an author, it does not matter what you did. In addition to lab work, most people also do research in disparities in access to dermatology, payment models, telemedecine and so on... This work is simple to because it requires a few google searches and a couple of phone calls...

Most program directors will NOT read your all your papers, rather they'll look at the title and maybe the abstract if it seems interesting unless you're applying to top programs. During residency you'll have greater freedom to pursue research in the areas you are interested in without the pressure to publish. I would suggest that you try to be highly productive during your research year and try to publish at least 10 papers.