Summer plans in between 1st and 2nd year?

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ladysmanfelpz

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Been awhile since I've posted on here, but looking for some ideas fellow SDNers.

I'm a first year at AZCOM. So far doing well and don't want to slow down in the summer. Stagnancy breeds failure. I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I also don't want to limit myself when applying for residencies. It sounds like many of my fellow classmates have been able to find summer experiences to bolster their app for residencies. The opportune time sounds like around this winter break to early February to get something going, so I just wanted to see what you all suggest.

An ideal summer for me would be a research project followed by a lil vacay and then work/volunteer until the next year starts. I've talked to others who have made this happen. I attended a club meeting dealing with just this thing and was able to hear some experiences of the 2nd years. Mind you this was for my Surgery club, so fairly competitive students.

What some chose to do was research, others a mission trip, and one an Anatomy TA position over the summer. I'd prefer research as I have none and think it looks the best on an app. Talking to my buddy who is interviewing for Surgical residencies he said all the interviewers asked about was his research. It was in something outside the field, but he said that didn't matter and spun it as that is what he was interested at the time. Its my opinion that a TA position wouldn't do much. Yeah you may know anatomy a lil better, but what did you contribute to the field?

So how do I go about finding a good research position? Some of them seemed straight forward. Apply for a spot with this program, or research funded by this university (Vanderbilt for example) and they'll set you up at a location with a specific duty under a researcher for an allotted amount of time. It seemed fairly "cookie cutter" to me with big promises, such as first author on one or two publications, and second on several others. I've also heard students simply reaching out to professors and asking to research under them throughout the summer.

What's your opinions on research? Does a "cookie cutter" program look worse? Is it better to branch out and do "free lance" research under your university or other university professor? Is it simply publications that matter?

One of the programs that sounded interesting was a diabetes research (I'll look up the organization and update this post). It was in locations I would like to live and have family in the area, Seattle and Chicago. There was both lab and field based research. Different pros and cons to each, but both "guaranteed" publications. Again my ideal would be 3 weeks to a month of research and then come back and do other things that interest me. Also if it matters, my last job was at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Would this help me with an in for research?

Thank you all in advance for the suggestions and like I said I'll update with the specific organizations they suggested when I get around to it.

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I'm starting my own research, actually started a few days ago. Hope to be finished by summer. If you have somethinf in mind that interests you, maybe talk with your research chair?

Over summer I think im going to do a step 1 review and shadow the EMS med director in town. And chase my toddler around... Lol.
 
If you are aiming for something competitive and refuse to chill then research is the single most productive thing you can do. Make sure to get something out of it. Studying will be in vein, medical missions are viewed as glorified vacation (not my words. The one PD I know), and volunteering isn’t nearly as important for residency apps as it is to medschool apps.
 
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Do most people just relax between their 1st and 2nd year?

This is in response to @DO2015CA

All depends. I did an abstract that was submitted to a national conference but that’s it. It is literally your last free summer but if you’re gunning for something competitive you can use this time to be productive. Especially if you have no research opportunities at your school.
 
I memorized all of Sketchy Micro, worked out, and did outdoor stuff for my summer break.
 
Pick something to study low-key. Personally, Micro, Biochem, or immunology would be a good choice. Spend just a little time each day and you'll have it mastered over the summer while still getting to relax and chill before that storm hits again.
 
Do most people just relax between their 1st and 2nd year?

This is in response to @DO2015CA

I did absolutely nothing during the summer and it didn't affect me whatsoever. I actually did extremely well in second year, even much better than the people who "spent all summer studying". I think it's a huge waste of time to do anything. The only thing that will likely be of any yield would be to watch sketchy.
 
Totally recommend just chilling out. I did a little bit of research, but it was totally meh research and pretty sure no one gave af about it on my ERAS app. That being said, I did some reading that was tangentially related to medicine (Atul Gawande) and tried to be outdoors as much as possible. As OP said, stagnancy breeds failure (and while I could argue against that), so does failure to achieve life/work balance and inability to just chill.
 
Totally recommend just chilling out. I did a little bit of research, but it was totally meh research and pretty sure no one gave af about it on my ERAS app. That being said, I did some reading that was tangentially related to medicine (Atul Gawande) and tried to be outdoors as much as possible. As OP said, stagnancy breeds failure (and while I could argue against that), so does failure to achieve life/work balance and inability to just chill.
Being mortal? Bomb book
 
K a lot of good opinions in here. I'm really not trying to gun, but also want to have a productive summer. I've heard studying is basically pointless so don't plan on doing that at all. The research I think would be good as I think I would like to have all options open.

So I guess I would like to turn this into a "How do I go about finding summer research" thread. I know a friend who is trying to start his own. Maybe I can jump on with him as he is going for ophthalmology which I am also interested in. As I mentioned earlier I know students who have contacted staff about jumping on to help with their research. Here is some of the research the 2nd year students mentioned: medicalstudentdiabetesresearch.org and Tgen.org/education/helios-scholars-at-tgen. I can't remember the length of the diabetes, but the Tgen is 8 weeks. Anything other suggestions besides just applying for a program like these? Like I said I'm a research newbie 😉
 
Everybody is different.

I finished sketchy micro, biochem, and cardio chapters in FA.

I don't regret it and if I could go back... I'd do more and try to finish every system we covered in first year.

Like I said. Do what you wanna do and what you feel is right! Just remember this whole thing is a marathon, not a race!
 
Any suggestions on research programs like I suggested? I'm applying to the two that I mentioned.
 
K a lot of good opinions in here. I'm really not trying to gun, but also want to have a productive summer. I've heard studying is basically pointless so don't plan on doing that at all. The research I think would be good as I think I would like to have all options open.

So I guess I would like to turn this into a "How do I go about finding summer research" thread. I know a friend who is trying to start his own. Maybe I can jump on with him as he is going for ophthalmology which I am also interested in. As I mentioned earlier I know students who have contacted staff about jumping on to help with their research. Here is some of the research the 2nd year students mentioned: medicalstudentdiabetesresearch [removed link] and Tgen [removed link]. I can't remember the length of the diabetes, but the Tgen is 8 weeks. Anything other suggestions besides just applying for a program like these? Like I said I'm a research newbie 😉

Any suggestions on research programs like I suggested? I'm applying to the two that I mentioned.

I guess it's weighing what you can realistically achieve over a summer at an institution you've had no prior dealings with. Both of the opportunities you linked to sound like bench work under a PhD, and optimistically may produce a poster by the end of the summer. You've heard studying over summer is basically pointless, but I've heard bench research (as opposed to clinical research) is largely a waste of time unless you have connections and know for certain you can get some decent pubs (which are few and far between in bench work). Also, there should be faculty at your program that are currently engaged in research that you could reach out to, why go to a third party for bench research when you could make connections with your faculty and potentially produce more than a single poster? If you got started now, you may be able to head up your own project by the time summer rolls around.
 
I did research at penn for lipid. got published. watched sketchy micro seldomly but i enjoyed played video game.. do i regret it,.. we will find out after my board examinations.. stay tune
 
So I didn't get any of the research positions I applied for. Now what?

I don't want to make it a wasted summer. Is a mission trip worth it? I've heard those can look like glorified vacations. I've also contacted a couple doctors at the last hospital I worked at but still haven't heard back for research. I can also check with professors at my school although I don't know who or what they are doing. Last thing is I could work at the last hospital I worked at, but I really don't know how I feel about working away for my last summer for maybe 3 grand.

I will get some TA work and have volunteer lined up as well. Should I just do this and shadow some doctors as well?

Thoughts on what I should look into next? Thanks everyone.
 
So I didn't get any of the research positions I applied for. Now what?

I don't want to make it a wasted summer. Is a mission trip worth it? I've heard those can look like glorified vacations. I've also contacted a couple doctors at the last hospital I worked at but still haven't heard back for research. I can also check with professors at my school although I don't know who or what they are doing. Last thing is I could work at the last hospital I worked at, but I really don't know how I feel about working away for my last summer for maybe 3 grand.

I will get some TA work and have volunteer lined up as well. Should I just do this and shadow some doctors as well?

Thoughts on what I should look into next? Thanks everyone.
You had some 4th years from your school this year match fields that are traditionally very research heavy for matching. Could always try and use a student services type person at your school to get in contact with those 4th years and see what they did in terms of research. People on SDN are going to be relatively protective if they know of a great opportunity.
 
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