Undergrad research for the match?

[Syndicate]

Hello everyone,

I am currently an undergrad senior and I've been accepted to medical school entering in next August. I'll be honest and say that although I have no idea what I want to specialize in, I want to enter the most competitive specialty I can get into and I am willing to work towards it. Since I am and will be literally just sitting in my apartment not doing anything for 4 out of the 7 days of the week now and next semester, I was thinking about getting myself involved with research in a lab at my school. My question is, how much does undergrad research matter for the match? I've used the search function and past threads have said that publications in undergrad matter for the match but it didn't say much about research in general. Since it is unlikely I will be getting published in this short (~4 months) span, will there be any advantage in getting involved with research next semester? I already have a couple summers worth of research and a publication (non-first author). Will an additional semester of research in undergrad (most likely without publication) give me any bonus points when it comes to the match?

Also, I am most likely going to be doing another summer research internship (same as the 2 I've done before) next summer before medical school. Will this summer of research be viewed as "research done in medical school" or "research done in undergrad"? And how much will this summer of research (again, probably without publication) help towards the match?

I realize USMLE scores, clinical grades, LORs, AOA are most important but I'm trying to see if any of this is will garner me bonus points. Thank you all for reading and I appreciate any constructive responses.

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[BurberryDoc]

As I understand these things, research looks terrific if you want to enter an academic/research driven program, but maybe less needed if you were applying to more community based residencies. I don't think there will be a direct net benefit from jumping on the research bandwagon at this point, but if you remain involved in research through medical school, you can report a longer history of involvement in research, which will create a convincing argument for your fit in academic/research driven residency programs. My suspsicion is that more weight will be placed on your most recent research (ie, in medical school). Hope this helps, and congratulations on your acceptance @Syndicate!

 

[scarletgirl777]

Hello everyone,

I am currently an undergrad senior and I've been accepted to medical school entering in next August. I'll be honest and say that although I have no idea what I want to specialize in, I want to enter the most competitive specialty I can get into and I am willing to work towards it. Since I am and will be literally just sitting in my apartment not doing anything for 4 out of the 7 days of the week now and next semester, I was thinking about getting myself involved with research in a lab at my school. My question is, how much does undergrad research matter for the match? I've used the search function and past threads have said that publications in undergrad matter for the match but it didn't say much about research in general. Since it is unlikely I will be getting published in this short (~4 months) span, will there be any advantage in getting involved with research next semester? I already have a couple summers worth of research and a publication (non-first author). Will an additional semester of research in undergrad (most likely without publication) give me any bonus points when it comes to the match?

Also, I am most likely going to be doing another summer research internship (same as the 2 I've done before) next summer before medical school. Will this summer of research be viewed as "research done in medical school" or "research done in undergrad"? And how much will this summer of research (again, probably without publication) help towards the match?

I realize USMLE scores, clinical grades, LORs, AOA are most important but I'm trying to see if any of this is will garner me bonus points. Thank you all for reading and I appreciate any constructive responses.

this has been discussed, but outside the premed forum so I'll give you a pass

It matters. How much depends on how substantive your work was, what fields your applying to, and the competitiveness of the residency within the field. Papers and presentations at major meetings from undergrad go on your CV no matter your authorship, but if they're unrelated to the specialty you eventually choose then many interviewers will be less interested in discussing them. Just being present in a lab isn't really worth mentioning (this isn't like applying to med school), there needs to be a product. Some fields are just not as research focused, and therefore research isn't really necessary for even the top academic programs, and some fields have a way lower bar for what constitutes substantive research (a case report v. a retrospective review of hundreds of patients).

Ultimately, I would only get involved with projects that interest you. Research is hard and time consuming and it's hard to stay motivated and therefore be productive if you're not fully engaged. Personally, the research I did before med school did help, but I was lucky in that it just so happened to be relevant and I did actually produce something to show for it. Also all the time I spent doing research that didn't "count" helped me learn so I made less mistakes and planned ahead appropriately when it was time to do research that did count.

Also: for some reason in residency application world, publications also means presentations and posters at national meetings. So if you present a poster at the annual anesthesiology meeting for example, that goes on your CV. The major meetings even publish abstracts in journal supplements so you can list your poster as a published peer reviewed piece instead in the same section as journal articles. Therefore it is a lot easier to rack up "publications" on your CV for residency than you would think.