Research

[ERDOC555]

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I'm looking for an overview of how research works in medical school and where I should be spending my time. I did research in college and the general format was "run study->review results->publish paper". I understand that this can still be done in medical school but there are also other types of research like case reports, posters, and other things that fall under the umbrella of research.

 

[asmallchild]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for an overview of how research works in medical school and where I should be spending my time. I did research in college and the general format was "run study->review results->publish paper". I understand that this can still be done in medical school but there are also other types of research like case reports, posters, and other things that fall under the umbrella of research.

I'm hoping that someone can post with a breakdown of the basic options for research and what types they recommend for medical students. If someone posts a really good answer, I'd love it if @asmallchild could sticky it to the forum for future viewers. It's been hard for me to find much on this topic.

The second question is less important: What counts a derm research? Is it anything to do with the skin (including immune, burns, genetics) or does it have to be a specific clinical aspect of dermatology (effectiveness of X in treating Y, Signs associated with disease Z, etc.)

TL;DR:
1. What is the best type of research to be doing
2. How broad/narrow is "Derm Research"

Thanks in advance 🙂

Let's see what kind of response we get before making this a sticky.

1) That's subjective. I matched because I was heavily involved in basic science/translational research. I only had 1 major publication but it was in the JID. I made connections with some very powerful people along the way who essentially got me into a residency program despite having a few warts on my application profile. When I interviewed outside of the program where I did research, everyone seemed very interested in my research and I fielded lots of questions. To me, basic science is the way to go.

I'm sure if you ask others, you can achieve similar or better results with clinical research too probably with an easier path to publication.

Things to look for when you do research:

- are you doing it with someone influential?
- are you doing it with someone who has a track record of matching their research fellows?
- is this work you are interested in? You can't really fake it. You need to be able to stomach doing the research and then afterwards, intelligently and enthusiastically talk about it at interviews
- is there an opportunity to publish?

2) Derm research is fortunately very broad. Any of the topics you mentioned should qualify. The key, again, is does the work fall under the pointers I listed above. I've rarely met medical students who regretted their decision to pursue research (even if it meant taking 1 year off). Those who did:

- did their research with someone with no power and no connections
- did their research at a research fellowship with a known history of spitting out their fellows whether matched or unmatched
- did their research but actually seemed bored or confused when talking about it during interviews (seriously, it looks worse than NOT doing research)
- did their research but never got to publish (publishing isn't the end all be all. I personally find making connections to be more important. But there are plenty of programs that don't consider research to be legitimate until it's published)

 

[ERDOC555]

Let's see what kind of response we get before making this a sticky.

1) That's subjective. I matched because I was heavily involved in basic science/translational research. I only had 1 major publication but it was in the JID. I made connections with some very powerful people along the way who essentially got me into a residency program despite having a few warts on my application profile. When I interviewed outside of the program where I did research, everyone seemed very interested in my research and I fielded lots of questions. To me, basic science is the way to go.

I'm sure if you ask others, you can achieve similar or better results with clinical research too probably with an easier path to publication.

Things to look for when you do research:

- are you doing it with someone influential?
- are you doing it with someone who has a track record of matching their research fellows?
- is this work you are interested in? You can't really fake it. You need to be able to stomach doing the research and then afterwards, intelligently and enthusiastically talk about it at interviews
- is there an opportunity to publish?

2) Derm research is fortunately very broad. Any of the topics you mentioned should qualify. The key, again, is does the work fall under the pointers I listed above. I've rarely met medical students who regretted their decision to pursue research (even if it meant taking 1 year off). Those who did:

- did their research with someone with no power and no connections
- did their research at a research fellowship with a known history of spitting out their fellows whether matched or unmatched
- did their research but actually seemed bored or confused when talking about it during interviews (seriously, it looks worse than NOT doing research)
- did their research but never got to publish (publishing isn't the end all be all. I personally find making connections to be more important. But there are plenty of programs that don't consider research to be legitimate until it's published)

Thanks so much! That is all incredibly helpful information!