Wanting to do research only tangentially related to my field

[Magyarzorag]

My goal is anesthesiology. However, there is very limited research in anesthesiology in general, and the few topics/areas that are available really don't interest me. I am , however, interested in psychiatry and mental health in general, as I have been a "victim" of it in the past and am a big advocate. I also feel like this research brings me closer to people and lets me work directly with communities. For example, I am very interested in opioid abuse research and studying it in communities and developing treatments. Since its pain medicine, is it "close enough to anesthesia research". I'm also interested in clinical research on PTSD and depressed patients.

Would doing Psych research be useless for residency, or will it help. I'm very interested in this area, and I want to do something I'm a personal advocate for. I know those with no research have a 94% match rate, while those with 1-5 publications have a 94.3% match rate, so research isn't that important in anesthesiology

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[wanderingorion]

Do whatever you are interested in

 

[Magyarzorag]

Do whatever you are interested in

I know and I want to do that. My question is whether anesthesiology residencies will look down on me for doing psychiatric research. I'm sure many people have a change of heart during rotations 1-2 years before applications

 

[wanderingorion]

I think the general consensus is research=research. I doubt they "look down" on any scholarly work, especially if you're passionate about it and productive

 

[IMGASMD]

My goal is anesthesiology. However, there is very limited research in anesthesiology in general...

Rly?
If your school doesn’t have any, please say so. Then it should be there is very limited research in anesthesiology at my institution.

Because all my PIs (MD/PhD, MD, PhD) will have huuuuggggee problem with your statement.

Anesthesiology is one of the most versatile field. It can relate to your basic sciences, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, neuroscience, pharmacology. Now to your clinical fields, preop assessment, Medicine, psychiatry, neurology. Intraop, cardiology, endocrine of course surgery. Postop, pain, cardiology, critical care medicine. Biomechanics, with all the monitors that we use in the OR.

If you want to do psych research, please do; however, don’t use no research in anesthesia to justify your lack of imagination.

 

[Dr G Oogle]

Here’s an interesting topic. Changes in pre-existing mood disorder symptom severity after surgery. I.e does major surgery lead to flares, relapses of depression/psychosis/mania/SI afterward and how long does that risk persist. Could do a Questionnaire based study before and after surgery or some sort of datAbase analysis. All of the fields in medicine are interconnected and you can easily find something that marries your interests.