Waiting to do research until 3rd year

[plowmanc]

So I’m an MS1 at a state school in Texas looking at doing a combined MD/MBA program. I have good grades my first year so far, and the MBA program will take my summer away. I have 3 publications that just got published but I did the work in undergrad. Basically I’m looking for advice on how to approach picking a specialty to do research in when I have no idea what I want to do? My 3 top choices are Ophthalmology, Anesthesia and ENT but it’s not based on tons of clinical experience (I only decided I wanted to do med school 6 months before applying).
My questions are: should I try to do research in something even if I don’t know what I’m interested in?

If I do an MBA, will competitive residencies accept that as an alternative to research? Or at least if I have limited research still see my mba as a strength?

Am I late on the game if I spend this summer shadowing (to figure out more what I like) + MBA and waiting to do research until maybe 3rd year?


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[plowmanc]

Bump


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[libertyyne]

additional graduate degrees on the surface do not provide any benefit in matching. It seems as though you are less likely to match into competitive specialties if you have graduate degrees unless it is a phd. It is hard to decipher the data since some premeds who didnt get into medical school initially will get graduate degrees and come match time they may not be great applicants. You might benefit from taking a research year if you are gunning for a competitive specialty that requires research. But that is just my opinion and I am an M1. Matching optho and ENT might require research. Anasthesia on the other hand is not as competitive compared to those two.

 

[Redpancreas]

So I’m an MS1 at a state school in Texas looking at doing a combined MD/MBA program. I have good grades my first year so far, and the MBA program will take my summer away. I have 3 publications that just got published but I did the work in undergrad. Basically I’m looking for advice on how to approach picking a specialty to do research in when I have no idea what I want to do? My 3 top choices are Ophthalmology, Anesthesia and ENT but it’s not based on tons of clinical experience (I only decided I wanted to do med school 6 months before applying).
My questions are: should I try to do research in something even if I don’t know what I’m interested in?

If I do an MBA, will competitive residencies accept that as an alternative to research? Or at least if I have limited research still see my mba as a strength?

Am I late on the game if I spend this summer shadowing (to figure out more what I like) + MBA and waiting to do research until maybe 3rd year?


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The MBA won’t substitute for research. What are your goals? Academic/Public Leader vs. Other? Gas isn’t that competitive. If you’re an M1, now’s not too late to find a summer project and mentor. Schools usually compile mentor lists and you need to find the ENT person now if that’s what you want. You can shadow whenever, it won’t take up all your time. Waiting until third year is not optimal as there’s not much time to do research.

 

[Wordead]

So I’m an MS1 at a state school in Texas looking at doing a combined MD/MBA program. I have good grades my first year so far, and the MBA program will take my summer away. I have 3 publications that just got published but I did the work in undergrad. Basically I’m looking for advice on how to approach picking a specialty to do research in when I have no idea what I want to do? My 3 top choices are Ophthalmology, Anesthesia and ENT but it’s not based on tons of clinical experience (I only decided I wanted to do med school 6 months before applying).
My questions are: should I try to do research in something even if I don’t know what I’m interested in?

If I do an MBA, will competitive residencies accept that as an alternative to research? Or at least if I have limited research still see my mba as a strength?

Am I late on the game if I spend this summer shadowing (to figure out more what I like) + MBA and waiting to do research until maybe 3rd year?


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MBA is not particularly useful for ENT (at least not in my program or others I've seen).

You can get some clinical research done during third year if you end up switching specialties. You can always pick topics with some mild overlap - oculoplastics, orbit fractures, DCRs, orbital decompression or something like that, though it's a bit harder to pick and choose projects as a med student. The majority of my research was in another field and I just pumped out a couple ENT papers during M3.

 

[plowmanc]

The MBA won’t substitute for research. What are your goals? Academic/Public Leader vs. Other? Gas isn’t that competitive. If you’re an M1, now’s not too late to find a summer project and mentor. Schools usually compile mentor lists and you need to find the ENT person now if that’s what you want. You can shadow whenever, it won’t take up all your time. Waiting until third year is not optimal as there’s not much time to do research.

I’m not looking at an academic career, I plan on doing a career in private practice/community level hospitals. That’s good to know though about waiting until 3rd year. I will start looking for some more opportunities here sooner rather than later then. Thank you all for your advice!


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[Osteoth]

additional graduate degrees on the surface do not provide any benefit in matching. It seems as though you are less likely to match into competitive specialties if you have graduate degrees unless it is a phd. It is hard to decipher the data since some premeds who didnt get into medical school initially will get graduate degrees and come match time they may not be great applicants. You might benefit from taking a research year if you are gunning for a competitive specialty that requires research. But that is just my opinion and I am an M1. Matching optho and ENT might require research. Anasthesia on the other hand is not as competitive compared to those two.

Why would you say additional degrees are a detractor?

I’m not looking at an academic career, I plan on doing a career in private practice/community level hospitals. That’s good to know though about waiting until 3rd year. I will start looking for some more opportunities here sooner rather than later then. Thank you all for your advice!
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If you're focused on a career in private practice as solely a medical health practitioner/provider then I doubt the viability/necessity of an MBA to reach those goals. An MBA for clinicians is often times the "bridge" that most other professionals accept as collateral for the work experience they did as juniors in pharmaceuticals/healthcare administration/healthcare investing.

 

[libertyyne]

Why would you say additional degrees are a detractor?



If you're focused on a career in private practice as solely a medical health practitioner/provider then I doubt the viability/necessity of an MBA to reach those goals. An MBA for clinicians is often times the "bridge" that most other professionals accept as collateral for the work experience they did as juniors in pharmaceuticals/healthcare administration/healthcare investing.

The charting outcomes data indicates that advanced degree holders are less likely to match in these competitive fields.