Green, I hadn't read your Q but was rather responding to the OP in my above post. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I'll go back and quote you from earlier so that I can address your Q this time.
How important would you say it is for the research to be in the field you intend to match?
If I spent a good deal of time doing quality, publishable research in cardiology and eventually decided to go in to surgery instead, would I be on equal footing with people who did no research at all? Would it be considered, but only slightly? Could it possibly be looked upon unfavorably as a lack of commitment and conviction in the field?
In short, is it worthwhile to start research before you are certain which specialty you want to pursue?
I have a lot of experience with bench research in the academic wet lab setting as well as a little bit of work in the clinical arena.
I've been thinking about summer research because my first year is winding down. Most of my M4 associates agree that summer M1-M2 research is c.v.-padding fluff because it rarely leads to publication and is undertaken with little focus on a specialty (and/or doesn't lend itself to hands-on clinical research). So with that in mind, I would generate full fire power toward destroying USMLE I during M1/2. Yeah doing a little bit of something in your free time may pan out in a minor way later on, but you cannot change your step 1 after you pass it.
So my advice to everybody early in their medical training is to worry about waxing step 1 and sort out the other details later when more doors will be open to you.
In a nutshell, one of my most popular opinions on allo has gone something like this. For the preclinical years, prepare for step 1. When you think that you are ready for it, you haven't studied enough. After you've waxed every practice question available in the USMLE database and board review books, you just might be close to being ready, but you are not. When you can correct the errors in high yield and first aid, you still have some studying to do.
When your gorgeous wife disrobes, ties your wrists to the headboard, and demands that you make love for hours, the first thing that should pop into your head is how to slip out of the knots so that you can get back to your studying. Okay, maybe that's overdoing it a little bit... (no specialty is worth that kind of sacrifice)
I think that you get my point. If you shine on step 1, your opportunities will be plentiful regardless of what sort of niche you believe you've developed. If you pair a stellar step 1 with some good M3 clinical evals and sprinkle a smidgen of specialty-specific research during your M3/4 selectives, you will have whipped up a recipe for a pleasing match.
I would say, however, that non-specialty-specific research is better than none all; but the step 1 trumps both.
If you want to generate primary literature in the basic sciences, then MD/PhD would be a much better choice.
In reference to finding a lab to settle into, most med school faculty recognize that med students are a transient presence in their research programs. You show up for a few hours here and there, review a couple of case studies, get listed as author #4 on a couple of clinical papers, and go about your otherwise busy schedule. If you have time to devote a lot of effort into the type of basic primary science commonplace to grad school, undergrad research, or summer programs, some may feel that you're not prioritizing properly.
After having said all of that, it won't hurt you to do some research early on, and the zeal that you display for the pursuit of knowledge will serve you in any interview setting when it comes time for residency. If you get an opportunity with a project that you enjoy, by all means take it if you have time. Just don't let it hinder your studies.
And by all means get yourself a gorgeous spouse. The above scenario probably helps with your stress level (though I wouldn't know
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