What kind of research should I do? Considering clinical vs. health policy. If clinical, which specialty of research should I do?

[CuriousMDStudent]

Was just fortunate enough to be admitted to a T15 medical school that offers students the opportunity to do research prior to medical school matriculation and there are a vast array of opportunities from what I see. I am making this post because I want to see which field of research would be most helpful for residency applications and would also fit my interests.

My history: I've had a lot of experience in basic science research (Specifically with regards to proteins) in college. I did a lot of western blots, protein purification, and etc during college. Frankly, I'm not too interested in doing this again in medical school because of how difficult it is to get a publication and frankly how lonely I felt in lab. Dedicated ~3-4 years to a lab and project and never got a publication just because protein research lol. Still loved the PI tho and learning about the techniques. I've also had experience in health policy research in college. My college frankly didn't have any professors in health policy hence I never got to get published but I have had some experience in doing literature reviews for health policy research.

I know publications are important in the research field and residency applications hence I am considering clinical research because I hear it's easier to get published and it seems more interesting as I would get to interact with patients and it seems like a lot of data analysis.

Hence my following questions are:
1. Which research would be more valued by a residency? Clinical or Health Policy research. Do residencies even care? I like health policy research because of it's flexibility. A lot of it is literature review which can be done to fit my schedule. I also just find health policy really interesting because I like understanding the policies and systems that I or doctors in other countries work under.

2. If I were to do clinical research, which specialty should I do the research in? Does it have to be the specialty that I want to match into? Frankly, at this point, I don't know what specialty I want to go into. I'm worried that let's say I do research in specialty ! but later find out that I really like specialty 2 and plan to match in that specialty. Would the research I did in specialty 1 be useless for when I apply to residency for specialty 2. Would residencies be like "If you like our specialty so much why did you do research in specialty 1?"

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[Dro133]

Just a general piece of advice from an MS4: do what you enjoy and try not to worry too much about what you think residency programs will like/not like (I know, easier said than done). If you do what you like, you will be happier and more productive. Coming from a T15 medical school and having research under your belt, you will likely not have any problems matching in whatever specialty you want to (assuming decent board scores). Also, residency programs are run by human beings, and most human beings understand that interests evolve over time. Sure, there might be some residency programs that don't think that way, but do you really want to work for such a rigid program anyway? If you're really worried about this though, one piece of advice I've read on here is to do research on a topic that is relevant to multiple specialties (i.e. cancer research).

tl;dr: do what you enjoy, everything will work out.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

Just a general piece of advice from an MS4: do what you enjoy and try not to worry too much about what you think residency programs will like/not like (I know, easier said than done). If you do what you like, you will be happier and more productive. Coming from a T15 medical school and having research under your belt, you will likely not have any problems matching in whatever specialty you want to (assuming decent board scores). Also, residency programs are run by human beings, and most human beings understand that interests evolve over time. Sure, there might be some residency programs that don't think that way, but do you really want to work for such a rigid program anyway? If you're really worried about this though, one piece of advice I've read on here is to do research on a topic that is relevant to multiple specialties (i.e. cancer research).

tl;dr: do what you enjoy, everything will work out.

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely keep this in mind. I'm going to look into the research opportunities in more details and see what faculty will actually take me and then make a decision.

You mentioned something interesting which is doing research on a topic that is relevant to multiple specialities. Do you know other examples of this? I can't seem to find threads pertaining to this on SDN.

 

[longhaul3]

Congrats on your acceptance. If you have any interest in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.), you should consider doing clinical research in that field. It's almost a requirement for a successful residency application in those fields, and it can make a big difference if you get started early as you can get hooked up with a mentor and achieve sort of senior status on a number of projects without having to take a year off. You'll also get to know the department just by being around which makes a big different in small specialties. If you end up not going into that field, doesn't matter, it won't hurt you for less competitive specialties.

Topics that can be believably spun into multiple fields: trauma/critical care, wound healing/surgical site infections, immunology, basic/translational oncology.

I'd stay away from health policy research unless it's truly interesting to you as a career path. It's not going to get you anywhere in the specialties that really want to see research on a residency application. Same goes for global health.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

Congrats on your acceptance. If you have any interest in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.), you should consider doing clinical research in that field. It's almost a requirement for a successful residency application in those fields, and it can make a big difference if you get started early as you can get hooked up with a mentor and achieve sort of senior status on a number of projects without having to take a year off. You'll also get to know the department just by being around which makes a big different in small specialties. If you end up not going into that field, doesn't matter, it won't hurt you for less competitive specialties.

Topics that can be believably spun into multiple fields: trauma/critical care, wound healing/surgical site infections, immunology, basic/translational oncology.

I'd stay away from health policy research unless it's truly interesting to you as a career path. It's not going to get you anywhere in the specialties that really want to see research on a residency application. Same goes for global health.

Gotcha. Thanks for the very frank response and the recommendation! I will probably look more into research opportunities in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.) as doing research in those fields seems to have more pros than cons.

Also, do you there is a stigma against those who are chasing the most competitive specialties? I've noticed that even tho I will be going to a T15 school a minority of students end up going into fields such as ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc. Is that because they're just competitive or do you think admins and professors are potentially not big fans of students doing these fields due to the current primary care physician shortage?

 

[efle]

Gotcha. Thanks for the very frank response and the recommendation! I will probably look more into research opportunities in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.) as doing research in those fields seems to have more pros and cons.

Also, do you there is a stigma against those who are chasing the most competitive specialties? I've noticed that even tho I will be going to a T15 school a minority of students end up going into fields such as ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc. Is that because they're just competitive or do you think admins and professors are potentially not big fans of students doing these fields due to the current primary care physician shortage?

There's plenty of support from admins/faculty, and it's not that they're too competitive, it's just that most people are interested in other things. For example, there are more 250+ scorers going into emergency medicine each year than derm or ENT or plastics.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

There's plenty of support from admins/faculty, and it's not that they're too competitive, it's just that most people are interested in other things. For example, there are more 250+ scorers going into emergency medicine each year than derm or ENT or plastics.

Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification!

 

[longhaul3]

Gotcha. Thanks for the very frank response and the recommendation! I will probably look more into research opportunities in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.) as doing research in those fields seems to have more pros than cons.

Also, do you there is a stigma against those who are chasing the most competitive specialties? I've noticed that even tho I will be going to a T15 school a minority of students end up going into fields such as ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc. Is that because they're just competitive or do you think admins and professors are potentially not big fans of students doing these fields due to the current primary care physician shortage?

No problem. There is not a widespread stigma. These are just small fields, and when it comes time to decide on a career, most people are just not that interested. Additionally, you don't meet many surgeons in pre-clinical med school—most administrators are in IM, FM, psych, peds, etc. because they have the time and inclination dedicate to med ed.

 

[CuriousMDStudent]

No problem. There is not a widespread stigma. These are just small fields, and when it comes time to decide on a career, most people are just not that interested. Additionally, you don't meet many surgeons in pre-clinical med school—most administrators are in IM, FM, psych, peds, etc. because they have the time and inclination dedicate to med ed.

Got it. Thank you for that clarification

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Congrats on your acceptance. If you have any interest in the most competitive specialties (ortho, nsg, derm, plastics, etc.), you should consider doing clinical research in that field. It's almost a requirement for a successful residency application in those fields, and it can make a big difference if you get started early as you can get hooked up with a mentor and achieve sort of senior status on a number of projects without having to take a year off. You'll also get to know the department just by being around which makes a big different in small specialties. If you end up not going into that field, doesn't matter, it won't hurt you for less competitive specialties.

Topics that can be believably spun into multiple fields: trauma/critical care, wound healing/surgical site infections, immunology, basic/translational oncology.

I'd stay away from health policy research unless it's truly interesting to you as a career path. It's not going to get you anywhere in the specialties that really want to see research on a residency application. Same goes for global health.

For someone interested in IM and potentially a fellowship in cardiology, oncology etc would you still recommend staying away from health policy research? Or is this kind of research more valued in IM? The research im thikning of would be in things like health services research more broadly.

 

[longhaul3]

For someone interested in IM and potentially a fellowship in cardiology, oncology etc would you still recommend staying away from health policy research? Or is this kind of research more valued in IM? The research im thikning of would be in things like health services research more broadly.

I don't think research is really that important for people hoping to match in medicine. I'm sure it helps if you want to train at a top-tier place. I don't know if MGH IM would care whether your research is in basic science or public health—you'd have to get some input from someone in IM.