So who here has actually done "research", to put on applications?

[Knicks]

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I haven't.

I mean, who really has time to do "research" while trying to survive med school, pay tuition, ace step 1, etc?

 

[peter90036]

they are called PhDs

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Clinical research is the way to go. Although my GF is all about basic science research, and is in medical school, too.

I did it b/c I like it. Although plenty do it for the CV. Research can't hurt, it can only help. I did it b/w summer of year 1 and 2. I will likely do a research elective come 3rd or 4th year, too.

 

[Man In White]

I did basic science benchwork between 1st and 2nd years for about 6 months. I had done a bunch in undergrad and missed playing around with all the equipment. The earlier 2nd year classes for us were easier, so it wasn't too bad. The thing about basic science is you have a lot of random downtime between assays, so I just studied in the lab. But if you want a quick pub with minimal effort you should try clinical research - just find a project that interests you and ask if they're taking students. It's unlikely you'll get first author, but your name will get in there.

All in all it was a good experience - did a poster, sent in an abstract and paper is in the final drafts.

 

[BillyRubinstein]

I did two years of clinical research with the use of robotics for stroke recovery (prior to med school) - managed to get my name slapped on a couple of papers

 

[lord_jeebus]

Moving to Allopathic...

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I did.

 

[Blade28]

I did clinical research, starting the summer after my MS-I year and ending about two months before graduation.

It was especially tough to put in the hours needed during my busier MS-III rotations.

 

[SomeDoc]

Did it before med school... it was one of the best academic investments I could've made... took "time off" before med school, got an abstract accepted and a publication out of it. In the summer b/w MS1 and MS2, I relaxed after doing a little MS1 review and did absolutely NO RESEARCH. It was smooth sailing in all. I have absolutely no intentions of doing any research while taking coursework.

 

[Ponger]

How much and what kind of research are competitive residencies looking for? I'm currently doing my Masters in Biology and expect 1 or 2 publications as a 2nd or 3rd author. My thesis material is basic science. Would I still need to do more research during medical school? More clinical related?

 

[njbmd]

I was able to work on a couple of research projects during all four of my years in medical school. My research was in Anatomy, ENT and GI. Once I identified the PIs at my institution, it was relatively easy to get a project scheduled and underway.

This came out of my honors research projects from undergrad and from my graduate work but the first step always comes from figuring out how much time you have, your interests and what you hope to get out of a project besides just listing it on an application. I was able to travel and present much of my research at national meetings and a couple of publications. This was excellent experience for residency and into fellowship.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Did it before med school... it was one of the best academic investments I could've made... took "time off" before med school, got an abstract accepted and a publication out of it. In the summer b/w MS1 and MS2, I relaxed after doing a little MS1 review and did absolutely NO RESEARCH. It was smooth sailing in all. I have absolutely no intentions of doing any research while taking coursework.

So UG research can be used as a CV when applying for residency?

 

[kdburton]

I did an 8 wk summer program mostly doing a literature review. I wrote an article, but I don't think its publishable at this point (however it is internally applicable at the hospital I did research at)

 

[peludoguy]

A few months ago I read an article reporting the results of a survey of orthopaedic program directors rating how important parts of residency candidates' application were. Research experience and publications were way down on the list.

the most valued qualities were:

1. personal impression of the candidate (from rotation and interview)
2. boards
3. grades
4. AOA status
5. letters of recommendation

*disclaimer: this is off the top of my head and I may have mixed up the order of a couple of these categories slightly

research was somewhere after all that. That being said, some program directors are more interested in research than others. Research is a great way to learn about a field of interest and make connections in that field (where you can also hopefully get letters of recommendation).

I started out doing research as a way to boost my CV but fell in love with it and now plan to continue research throughout my career. I've taken part in 4 separate projects during the first 2 years of med school and published two 1st author publications. I've had to sacrifice vacation time to do this but hopefully, this work will end up helping me match where I want.

here's the link to the article if anyone's interested:

/web/Orthopaedic+resident-selection+criteria.pdf?gda=lqMWYGEAAAAWSb9MEo9IrulTowzG7nVkNtyFdQKdU7e23Ino_dP2EnG8kn10mEbCMGcr2A0gQ6UQhY_uRZBcSRfRpZAOU4Vt6lXlgvKn4DXnrbU77RuzmVMJP-kItwVPBwjdKujmMDOVcV4Kf5x1iV4X6-2IalYA