Summer after M1

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medstudent9839

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I'm currently an M1, and my school is already sending tons of e-mails stressing me out about summer research opportunities. I'm getting married this summer and already have several vacations planned, so it would be difficult for me to commit 10-12 weeks straight to research full time. I've done research in the past, and really did not enjoy it at all, so I kind of just want to enjoy my summer. Of course, I would still plan to shadow/volunteer/possibly work in a medical setting over the summer, but would it be frowned upon to not do research after M1? I'm thinking I'm probably most interested in emergency medicine or OB, but of course I'm only an M1, so not 100% sure right now. Is research required for these specialties? I don't want to do nothing this summer and regret it, but then again, I prefer shadowing and volunteering over research any day.
 
I say enjoy your summer. Research experience can't hurt your application, but it's certainly not a requirement in my opinion. Your focus in M1 and M2 should be to learn your basic sciences and prepare for Step 1. Congrats on getting married!
 
I would do research. I'm not incredibly interested in research either, but since you're unsure of your speciality choice then you may end up falling in love with something competitive. It'd be better to have it. I would be upfront with the tine you're going to be out of town and work on a project that works with it. It will either help your application in a field that doesn't "require" it or make you eligible for some of the more competitive fields. It won't be a deal breaker in your two current fields of interest.
 
Get married. Don’t look back. Forget the research. Any program that doesn’t understand that is a program you don’t want to join. There’s plenty of time for research, but you only get married once. Unless you’re a surgeon and then you get married like 3 or 4 times. 😉

If you get back from your honeymoon and have the time, maybe jump in on some clinical projects that could land you a paper. These take minimal hours and would give you something to show for your time, but it’s not essential. You can also do some projects during ms2 year as well.

If you’re think OB or EM then to my knowledge, research is not essential but is certainly a nice thing to have. Please someone correct me if I’m out of date on that. I always make the point that publications are one of the only things you can do in medical school that will still be featured on your CV ten years from now.

If I were you, I’d prioritize the personal life for this last block of time you have. If you see some blocks where you will have time - maybe after your partner goes back to work or something - then maybe find something to work on. I would probably try to find a topic that splits the two fields - something about OB emergencies and how they’re managed, referral patterns, ED vs LandD management differences, cost differences between the two, etc. Lots of that has probably been done but talk to faculty and figure out where a gap in knowledge is and find a way to answer the question.
 
medstudent9839 said:
I'm currently an M1, and my school is already sending tons of e-mails stressing me out about summer research opportunities. I'm getting married this summer and already have several vacations planned, so it would be difficult for me to commit 10-12 weeks straight to research full time. I've done research in the past, and really did not enjoy it at all, so I kind of just want to enjoy my summer. Of course, I would still plan to shadow/volunteer/possibly work in a medical setting over the summer, but would it be frowned upon to not do research after M1? I'm thinking I'm probably most interested in emergency medicine or OB, but of course I'm only an M1, so not 100% sure right now. Is research required for these specialties? I don't want to do nothing this summer and regret it, but then again, I prefer shadowing and volunteering over research any day.
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Just enjoy the summer! If you don't like research, just save it for next year or clinical where you can write some clinical stuff or a review for OB or ER
 
I wouldn’t just “forget” about research like everybody else has mentioned. It could be critical depending on what specialty you decide on down the line especially if you have any leanings early on. With that said, I do agree that you should enjoy your summer. I want to enjoy my summer too, but also be productive. I myself don’t want to do 10 weeks of dedicated 40 hour weeks doing research but I started doing research (chart reviews) which I plan on doing throughout the summer as well. It’s very laid back, and it’s better than being completely unproductive as well. Also there are opportunities that are 4-6 weeks long, not always research, sometimes they are summer fellowships that give you opportunities to get clinical experience.

Just my 2 cents
 
jcorpsmanMD said:
I wouldn’t just “forget” about research like everybody else has mentioned. It could be critical depending on what specialty you decide on down the line especially if you have any leanings early on. With that said, I do agree that you should enjoy your summer. I want to enjoy my summer too, but also be productive. I myself don’t want to do 10 weeks of dedicated 40 hour weeks doing research but I started doing research (chart reviews) which I plan on doing throughout the summer as well. It’s very laid back, and it’s better than being completely unproductive as well. Also there are opportunities that are 4-6 weeks long, not always research, sometimes they are summer fellowships that give you opportunities to get clinical experience.

Just my 2 cents
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What's the best department to get involved in to start some research doing chart reviews? Would love some advice on how you got started!
 
Listen, do it right and focus on your wife. Pissing her off so early by not spending time with her as a newlywed is the first mistake you'll regret. You can always do research but spending those first months together is extremely important in how "dedicated" you are to the marriage. You'll have plenty of research opportunities throughout the year and if you need to take a year off between M2-3 and do research to enhance your application than do it. You don't want a bitter and angry wife during M2 year and STEP 1 studying that's for sure. Think smart.
 
Enjoy your summer.

You do have to realize if you happen to fall in love with plastics in a year you'll likely then have to do a dedicated research year, but playing the odds, research after M1 isn't going to make or break an app for the vast majority of specialties. There's some risk involved, but since you're not leaning towards a competitive specialty, there's no reason to deprioritize your wedding. You're not just sitting on your ass because you're lazy, you have a legit reason to take time off during your M1 summer. Focus on family and enjoy the time.
 
I don't plan on going to anything competitive so I'm doing a paid preceptorship, some review of m1 materials in preparation for m2, and then some relaxing.
 
medstudent9839 said:
I'm currently an M1, and my school is already sending tons of e-mails stressing me out about summer research opportunities. I'm getting married this summer and already have several vacations planned, so it would be difficult for me to commit 10-12 weeks straight to research full time. I've done research in the past, and really did not enjoy it at all, so I kind of just want to enjoy my summer. Of course, I would still plan to shadow/volunteer/possibly work in a medical setting over the summer, but would it be frowned upon to not do research after M1? I'm thinking I'm probably most interested in emergency medicine or OB, but of course I'm only an M1, so not 100% sure right now. Is research required for these specialties? I don't want to do nothing this summer and regret it, but then again, I prefer shadowing and volunteering over research any day.
Click to expand...
Enjoy your summer, you won't ever have one like it again.
 
Snoopy2006 said:
Enjoy your summer.

You do have to realize if you happen to fall in love with plastics in a year you'll likely then have to do a dedicated research year, but playing the odds, research after M1 isn't going to make or break an app for the vast majority of specialties. There's some risk involved, but since you're not leaning towards a competitive specialty, there's no reason to deprioritize your wedding. You're not just sitting on your ass because you're lazy, you have a legit reason to take time off during your M1 summer. Focus on family and enjoy the time.
Click to expand...
Even if you're planning on plastics, the sort of research you'd do over the summer probably isn't going to make your application go from a lost cause to stellar
 
getdown said:
Listen, do it right and focus on your wife. Pissing her off so early by not spending time with her as a newlywed is the first mistake you'll regret. You can always do research but spending those first months together is extremely important in how "dedicated" you are to the marriage. You'll have plenty of research opportunities throughout the year and if you need to take a year off between M2-3 and do research to enhance your application than do it. You don't want a bitter and angry wife during M2 year and STEP 1 studying that's for sure. Think smart.
Click to expand...
This made me chuckle.... I'll be the wife! But don't want to piss off my new husband either! Lol
 
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