Hey guys! I just posted this on the medical school reddit as a poll but no one is commenting. I cold emailed doctors over the break and have an opportunity to do research an hour away in state where they have have a great ophtho residency/fellowship program and could start spring of my M1 and do more work over the summer. I could also apply to out of state optho research internships and possibly expand my OOS network with high probability of getting a guaranteed pub/presentation over the summer. Thoughts?
What is the better research opportunity?
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An hour away seems pretty brutal depending upon the extent of required events at your school
Most times it’s class 8/9-12, thursdays the schedule will vary in morning or afternoon for clinical prep related activities (but usually minimal studying needs to be done). I talked to an M3 at my school that has been doing research there since the start of M2. She said it was doable, but M2 in her opinion was a lighter load than M1. She also said it was tough in the beginning, but she got the hang of it and now she goes in mostly Friday after class + during the weekends and gets a lot done. She encouraged me to pursue research there and she would put in a good word for me.
You are completely right, I would definitely have a lot less free time spring of M1 and traveling for the lab alone takes away 2 hours of studying. I want to make it work and I am trying to figure out if I can grunt it out till my lease ends in the summer and move in between my school and the lab. My SO wants to move closer to where the lab is anyways for job opportunities.
Maybe I can just ask if I can start in the summer instead, it’s not set in stone that I start in Spring. I don’t burn out very easily but I want to make sure I am over performing vs what I tell my PI I can contribute.
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I wrote a bunch of Cochrane systematic reviews as a student and resident. They're tedious but easy enough to churn out if you know what you're doing. Ask the editor to assign you an available topic and supervisor and go from there. You can work on them remotely with supervisors and publication is almost guaranteed.
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Would it be possible to write this as neither a student nor a resident or are they pre requisites for writing?
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Yeh. As long as you're affiliated with something remotely healthcare related. Check with the editor of the specific Cochrane topic group.
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Why do you need to travel? You can get a chart review project remotely? But you might not be able to access their EMR if you are not a student there.
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Tough to advise. Sounds like you must not have an ophtho program at your home institution if you’re doing this level of acrobatics to try and get research—what have current M4s at your school who applied this past year for ophtho done for research and what do they recommend?
My initial thought is to just do both. I think you need to start research ASAP for ophtho, and also apply for formal internships over summers. Need to also start thinking about whether a research year is in the cards for you
My initial thought is to just do both. I think you need to start research ASAP for ophtho, and also apply for formal internships over summers. Need to also start thinking about whether a research year is in the cards for you
I am still new to all of this, thank you! I have been cold emailing docs and what I got so far was a meeting for clinical research at an academic institution with a good fellowship program in ophtho about an hour away. I still need to talk to them about commitment and I am meeting with an experienced faculty member on advice about research beforehand since I don’t know how to do anything besides benchwork. My home program doesn’t have an ophtho program, and we aren’t ranked so I thought it was a good opportunity and I know 2 M3s who do it and said they have made it work! Plz lmk if I can give more info, I think a mentor willing to help me understand the literature and etc would be amazing!
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Thank you for the response! You are right and my school does not have a home institution for ophtho. Do you think it is manageable to do both? Is it possible to go out of state for research when just starting to do this other research at the hour away institution?
I need to still talk to the research director about commitment and what research I am interested in doing so that would help answer my question. There are a couple M3s that do research over there and they said it’s been manageable to do the hour hike since technically you can go there in person on the weekend as well. I might have asked this question too soon because I just don’t know what I am getting into. I have a meeting with a research faculty member at my home institution to learn more about how and what type of research would be good to start with and what my goals are. I know for sure that ophtho is competitive and needs research in the field. It would be great to do both! I just want to make sure I am doing more than promised rather than getting behind in both opportunities
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