Research Year?

[chromuffin]

Hello everyone! I was talking to a friend the other day who is a second year and he is taking a year off to do research for OBGYN in order to appear competitive and get his foot into a top-tier west coast program. I'm really set on Rads and I'm wanting to practice in the southwest (Phoenix). I've struggled some in school and haven't made great marks (mostly P, 1 HP). I think I'll be able to hit 235-245 for step 1. My question is.. should I consider a research year to beef up my resume after third year if that's even possible? In undergrad I had a lot of ECs related to medicine, but I've been pretty stagnant in med school (1 summer of research with 2 presentations and a poster but no pubs in oncology, involvement in 3 SIGs). Hoping to do some more research third year in rads but I'm not sure when. Could really use some advice. Thanks all!

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[Warderino92]

If you're willing to apply to community programs as well as academics the charting the match data shows that you have nothing to worry about. It's more rare as a USMD not to match into radiology than it is to match with lower/more average grades. Check out page 47 and 49 to see what I mean.

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Charting-Outcomes-US-Allopathic-Seniors-2016.pdf