Research

[ellipticrain]

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Hello SDN,

I would just like to first say that I am indeed a rookie, and have relatively little understanding of the residency selection process, which is why I have come to seek your expertise! Please be gentle with me 🙂

"Research" is one of those ubiquitous buzzwords constantly thrown around in medical school. From what I can tell, it is highly advised and encouraged that students be active in research activities during the summers between MS1 and MS2. At this point, I am still waiting to hear back from a few programs (very late in the game, I know). I just have some questions I'd like input on while I am still in limbo.

• What does "research" mean to you? The term is thrown around so much -- what does it look like, what do you gain from it, what do you contribute, and what tangibles do you walk away with? I know every experience is different, but I guess I'm just asking about generalities of the process.
  
• Do residency programs look more favorably upon bench research or clinical research (or perhaps a combination of the two)? I feel like there are advantages to both, but is one of these "obviously" better than the other?
  
• Should you do research even if you don't know what area you are going into or would like to pursue? If so, is there a particular area that is good for general applicability or useful for general studies? For example, I understand that someone looking to get into a dermatology residency for example would try their darnedest to get a research project in let's say melanoma if they're interested in skin cancer because it's relevant. Would it be useful for someone unsure of their career path to do research in... diabetes or something?
  
• Does the reputation of the institution at which you conduct your research factor into its impact on your resume/profile?
  
• Given the choice, do you always choose a research project that has the opportunity for publication?
  

If there are any existing resources that I may have overlooked, I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction. Thanks so much all!

 

[BurghStudent]

I'm sure someone more experienced can answer all of these questions. But I had the same worries about what research to do coming in, considering we might not know what we want to specialize in.

I think of it as a divide between medicine, surgery and super-competitive fields. If you know you don't want to be a surgeon, do research with your internal med/other departments, i.e. diabetes. If you know you want to do surgery, but just don't know what yet, perhaps work with a general surgeon. If you're like some, knowing you want one of the uber-competitive specialties like derm, plastics, rad onc, neurosurg, then it helps to do research in that specialty specifically.

Of course, this all has to be weighed against other factors, like, how student-centered your PI is, probability of producing publishable work, etc.

 

[HooliganSnail]

1) Research means whatever you want it to. Everything from spending one day in a research lab to being a first author is research experience. You can put whatever experience you have on your application. Some experiences will be more impressive than others.

2) They care about interesting and relevant research. Preferably something related to the field of interest you are applying to. It is important to note that while there are a few specialties that are research heavy (Derm), most specialties do not really care.

3) Do research if you think its cool.

4) Reputation always matters. Duh!!!

5) If you are asking if you should spend time and effort on a dead on project with no hope of publication, then you already have your answer.

The key thing to all of this is that you should only spend time doing research if you are interested in it. Don't do it just to put it on an application, that is really just a waste of time. Most PD's don't care one way or another.

 

[LostinLift]

Good place to direct these questions

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...h-publications-posters-et-al-edition.1062882/

 

[evilbooyaa]

• What does "research" mean to you? The term is thrown around so much -- what does it look like, what do you gain from it, what do you contribute, and what tangibles do you walk away with? I know every experience is different, but I guess I'm just asking about generalities of the process.

Research to me means any concerted effort made to answer a hypothesis using the scientific method. It can look like a variety of things, ranging from pipetting and running gels in a basic science lab, to doing chart reviews to see if there is an association between a certain treatment modality and side effects, overall survival, etc. In medical school, what most people gain from it is a CV boost. People interested in long-term research generally further the scientific knowledge of their field. Generally, the contributions differ dependent on whether it is a basic science or clinical research setting. The tangibles, however, are generally the same - abstracts, posters, presentations, publications, and LoRs (possibly) from those you did research with.

• Do residency programs look more favorably upon bench research or clinical research (or perhaps a combination of the two)? I feel like there are advantages to both, but is one of these "obviously" better than the other?

Depends. Bench research in certain fields is seen as more valuable, but is significantly more difficult to publish. I think if you can shoot for a combination of the two you will be best off, although there are many a student who have only clinical (or only basic) research to their name

• Should you do research even if you don't know what area you are going into or would like to pursue? If so, is there a particular area that is good for general applicability or useful for general studies? For example, I understand that someone looking to get into a dermatology residency for example would try their darnedest to get a research project in let's say melanoma if they're interested in skin cancer because it's relevant. Would it be useful for someone unsure of their career path to do research in... diabetes or something?

If you have a desire to do research in a field, then go for it. The most competitive specialties (rad onc, derm, plastics, NSG, ENT, Ortho, Ophtho) will generally want specialty specific research (although other areas of research do not hurt your application). Most medical students applying to non-super competitive specialties are not required to do any research

• Does the reputation of the institution at which you conduct your research factor into its impact on your resume/profile?

To some extent. More importantly is where the research ends up (is it a publication or just an abstract? Is it in a high Impact Factor journal or in some throwaway, or worse, your medical school's weekly journal?) Peer reviewed > non-peer reviewed.

• Given the choice, do you always choose a research project that has the opportunity for publication?

In medical school, absolutely. If not a published manuscript, at least an abstract/poster/presentation. The time of doing westerns (or other comparable research) just to have research experience ended once undergrad ended

That's a very barebones answer to your questions above. If you do a search on these forums you will find some more information in greater detail.