What to do during MS1

[Gravity22]

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Hi all, so I am about to graduate from undergrad and will be starting
medical school in the fall. I have no research experience and was wondering if I should do research this summer to get a head start. Also should I try and join clubs at my medical school or maybe try to join the student council as a leadership position, do residencies care? I think I want to do orthopedic or some type of surgery and dont want to regret not doing something extra if it helps me get a good residency. Advise from anyone especially people who have matched would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you!

 

[LostinLift]

It's a little late in the year to try and join a summer research project. Are you living near your med school? You could always email a few people on the ortho faculty to see if they need any help doing research. Or perhaps a better idea is to try and contact the surgery interest group / orthopedic interest group and see if they can hook you up with a project/mentor who needs help.

 

[Gravity22]

It's a little late in the year to try and join a summer research project. Are you living near your med school? You could always email a few people on the ortho faculty to see if they need any help doing research. Or perhaps a better idea is to try and contact the surgery interest group / orthopedic interest group and see if they can hook you up with a project/mentor who needs help.

I live about 40 minutes away from my medical school, and 25 minutes away from my undergraduate institution, I guess I will contact some of the faculty at the medical school to see if they need any help with research, and see what they say, thanks!

I tried joining some summer research projects but the professors either didn't accept me or didn't get back to me, can I still just ask other faculty without summer research projects to do research for the summer? I just don't want to commit myself to something before I actually know how free I will be when I start medical school.

 

[LostinLift]

I live about 40 minutes away from my medical school, and 25 minutes away from my undergraduate institution, I guess I will contact some of the faculty at the medical school to see if they need any help with research, and see what they say, thanks!

I tried joining some summer research projects but the professors either didn't accept me or didn't get back to me, can I still just ask other faculty without summer research projects to do research for the summer? I just don't want to commit myself to something before I actually know how free I will be when I start medical school.

In all honesty you probably won't get much done nor get much of a head start on research. Waiting until you start in the fall, seeing how things go, and getting started for a summer research project is probably best.

 

[Pacna]

Supposedly residents have recently finished some big exam, so they're back to caring about research around now. If you can call/email a research coordinator, you might get a good PGY-2 to help you get your name on something.

 

[Tired]

...

 

[Gravity22]

Thanks LostinLift for the advise I appreciate it!

 

[Gravity22]

Supposedly residents have recently finished some big exam, so they're back to caring about research around now. If you can call/email a research coordinator, you might get a good PGY-2 to help you get your name on something.

This may be a dumb question, but do I call/email a research coordinator at my medical school or like a hospital in my area?

 

[Pacna]

This may be a dumb question, but do I call/email a research coordinator at my medical school or like a hospital in my area?

For ortho, look into groups nearby. They'll probably have a website, and their staff will be listed. If they have a research coordinator on staff, you're golden. Just send that person an email/phone call, and I doubt you'll have much issue landing something.

Talk to the research director at your school if you have problems finding these groups.

 

[NickNaylor]

IMO the main things you can do during M1 are to 1) explore potential interests, 2) get involved with research if you're interested (and depending upon what you decide based on #1, even if you aren't), and 3) begin networking. Doing research prior to matriculating seems a bit premature but I can't blame the ambition. Personally I'd rather have the time off to relax and prepare mentally for the task of medical school. Long-term planning of things like research involvement, etc. will be made much easier once you start to get a sense of what you may be interested. By no means I'm not saying that you need to know for sure what you want to do by the end of M1. Most people don't. However, if you know, for example, that you may have an interest in a competitive specialty, then you should move forward with activities that will support that goal should that end up being the case. If you don't end up pursuing something competitive then no harm no foul - you'll just be a competitive applicant for anything else. It's more difficult to slam together an application in the latter half of M3/first half of M4 if you decide to do something competitive but didn't really build the CV in the previous years to support that.

In other words, assume the "worst" - and by worst I mean that you're interested in a very competitive specialty - until you pare your interests down to what you might feasibly pursue. That way you'll be in a good position no matter what. M1 is a great time to explore fields and to start networking because you'll have a relative abundance of time compared to M2 and especially M3.

 

[JimmyB123]

IMO the main things you can do during M1 are to 1) explore potential interests, 2) get involved with research if you're interested (and depending upon what you decide based on #1, even if you aren't), and 3) begin networking. Doing research prior to matriculating seems a bit premature but I can't blame the ambition. Personally I'd rather have the time off to relax and prepare mentally for the task of medical school. Long-term planning of things like research involvement, etc. will be made much easier once you start to get a sense of what you may be interested. By no means I'm not saying that you need to know for sure what you want to do by the end of M1. Most people don't. However, if you know, for example, that you may have an interest in a competitive specialty, then you should move forward with activities that will support that goal should that end up being the case. If you don't end up pursuing something competitive then no harm no foul - you'll just be a competitive applicant for anything else. It's more difficult to slam together an application in the latter half of M3/first half of M4 if you decide to do something competitive but didn't really build the CV in the previous years to support that.

In other words, assume the "worst" - and by worst I mean that you're interested in a very competitive specialty - until you pare your interests down to what you might feasibly pursue. That way you'll be in a good position no matter what. M1 is a great time to explore fields and to start networking because you'll have a relative abundance of time compared to M2 and especially M3.

How do you network in M1 when most of your time is with basic sciences?

 

[NickNaylor]

How do you network in M1 when most of your time is with basic sciences?

Because you're not spending 24 hours a day in a lecture hall or studying? How did you do things not related to classroom learning in undergrad?

 

[JimmyB123]

Because you're not spending 24 hours a day in a lecture hall or studying? How did you do things not related to classroom learning in undergrad?

Mhm. You mean networking with attendings?

 

[FiveOClock]

I wouldn't start in the summer before. I would just chill since you will not be doing that again for a while. You may get to med school and depending on how your school ranks and grades, you may find out very quickly that ortho will not be an option for you. I would focus on learning to do med school in the fall then if you're still doing well by xmas ---> research options.

 

[MedSchoolSurvivor]

I'm a current ortho resident so I can empathize with your plight about how/where do I get research. Firstly, I wouldn't worry so much about research until you start class and get your bearings with the upcoming onslaught of material that is about to befall you. The last thing you would want to do would be to start a research project that you weren't able to work on because you underestimated the amount of class work that you will have. That won't make you look good...trust me.

That being said, getting research can be a real pain in the butt and can take a long time since a fair amount of it falls through. If I were you I would look up the recent publications of the attendings in your ortho department and see who is actively publishing. Then I would make contact and express interest in becoming part of their research machine in the upcoming months. By the time all that happens you will probably be a few months in and able to know if you could realistically work on a project.

 

[NickNaylor]

Mhm. You mean networking with attendings?

Find attendings doing work you find interesting and see if you can contribute in some way. If someone gives a lecture in class on material that you're interested in, follow-up with them and see if they can point you to people or places to get involved with research. If you have an interest in a particular field, talk to attendings or advisors and see if you can shadow in clinic and start working on those relationships.

All of these things require time and effort. If you're expecting to have research opportunities, professional relationships, etc. handed to you on a plate, you're likely going to be disappointed. You have to go out and pursue these things independently. If they are important to you - and they should be if you're even thinking of doing something competitive - then you will make time for them.

 

[clonoGnic]

I wouldn't start in the summer before. I would just chill since you will not be doing that again for a while. You may get to med school and depending on how your school ranks and grades, you may find out very quickly that ortho will not be an option for you. I would focus on learning to do med school in the fall then if you're still doing well by xmas ---> research options.

Not the OP here but similar situation (entering M1). However, I'm going to a true P/F school with no internal ranks. Would it be safe to assume that I will at least pass my courses, and thus commit to research/shadowing/networking/etc. early in the first semester? Or is it still advised to wait?

 

[seminoma]

Not the OP here but similar situation (entering M1). However, I'm going to a true P/F school with no internal ranks. Would it be safe to assume that I will at least pass my courses, and thus commit to research/shadowing/networking/etc. early in the first semester? Or is it still advised to wait?

wait

 

[FiveOClock]

Not the OP here but similar situation (entering M1). However, I'm going to a true P/F school with no internal ranks. Would it be safe to assume that I will at least pass my courses, and thus commit to research/shadowing/networking/etc. early in the first semester? Or is it still advised to wait?

If the school really has no internal ranking or AOA determinants from preclinicals, then they've designed the system to allow you to do more things during MS1. So I would go for it and use that extra time to build your app.

Be very careful though. Many schools claim to not grade or keep internal rankings but will pull them out on occasion for things like AOA selection. Do your fact-checking very carefully.

 

[seminoma]

If the school really has no internal ranking or AOA determinants from preclinicals, then they've designed the system to allow you to do more things during MS1. So I would go for it and use that extra time to build your app.

Be very careful though. Many schools claim to not grade or keep internal rankings but will pull them out on occasion for things like AOA selection. Do your fact-checking very carefully.

Or maybe they designed it to encourage students to work together rather than breed cut throat competition.

Even in a P/F school the most important thing is to study hard and learn as much as possible.

 

[FiveOClock]

Or maybe they designed it to encourage students to work together rather than breed cut throat competition.

Even in a P/F school the most important thing is to study hard and learn as much as possible.

No doubt. I wasn't trying to imply that more free time was their intention. But as a result it is less necessary to memorize some of the minutiae you may need to learn when being compared to others. So arguably more free time.

 

[BurghStudent]

Enjoy this time, when you are not yet actually responsible for anyone but yourself.

 

[22031 Alum]

No doubt. I wasn't trying to imply that more free time was their intention. But as a result it is less necessary to memorize some of the minutiae you may need to learn when being compared to others. So arguably more free time.

Maybe, but I think it's safest to assume that you will need time to adjust to the load of med school. Even if the school uses pure unranked pass/fail, I don't think anyone should count on having more free time. It may take all you've got just to reach the minimum P. I think the second half of first year is the best time to really get involved with research. As someone else said, it wouldn't reflect well on you to make a commitment early, then break it because you're struggling.

 

[seminoma]

Maybe, but I think it's safest to assume that you will need time to adjust to the load of med school. Even if the school uses pure unranked pass/fail, I don't think anyone should count on having more free time. It may take all you've got just to reach the minimum P. I think the second half of first year is the best time to really get involved with research. As someone else said, it wouldn't reflect well on you to make a commitment early, then break it because you're struggling.

Agree, but I would also tell new M1s to get a feel early on for what the research climate is like at their school. For example, a lot of people at my school are interested in ortho so there's basically a waiting list for ortho research projects. I probably wouldn't have gotten the stuff I'm currently working on if I hadn't reached out early on in M1.

I think residents/attendings are receptive to an M1 showing interest and also being honest about being unsure how much time they can commit right now. Being the guy who says "I'm interested, but I only have 2-3 hours a week to work on research" is a lot better than being the guy who says he has tons of time, but then stops showing up to research meetings after the first week.

 

[PL198]

how to get research in med school : you literally just email people until someone says yes

 

[NickNaylor]

So I contacted a researcher and she's wanting to know what I'm interested in achieving from the experience. How do I state that I want to achieve an authorship out of the experience besides stating the obvious?

Say that you want to get some hands-on research experience, you'd like to have some degree of independence with a project if possible, and that you'd like to do something that will ultimately result in an abstract, poster, and/or manuscript in the future.

 

[seminoma]

Say that your goal is to get published. There's nothing wrong with that. Research should be about sharing your findings with the medical community and the only way to do that is publication. Don't feel like wanting to get published is a bad thing. Lots of people do research just for the experience or to put "worked on xyz" on their cv. Wanting to publish and acknowledging the amount of work and time necessary is a good thing.

 

[Tired]

...

 

[JimmyB123]

Say that you want to get some hands-on research experience, you'd like to have some degree of independence with a project if possible, and that you'd like to do something that will ultimately result in an abstract, poster, and/or manuscript in the future.

Sticky material

 

[operaman]

Emailing is good. Phone calls can be better if you're good on the phone. Face to face is best. Call their admins and set up appointments to meet in their office and talk for 5-10 minutes. Then show up prepared and looking professional.

I would definitely focus on classes for the first few months of M1 until you find your feet. Remember that half of your incoming class of high-achieving, high-MCAT, high-GPA students will immediately become "below average." The bar changes in medical school and you don't yet know for certain where you'll fall. As much as it pains me to say it, grades and boards above all else. Ironically, if they are high then they will be relatively unimportant, but if they are low it could be a real problem. Worry about research once you have the rest under control.

 

[Gravity22]

Thank you all for your input. If I was going to do research I was only going to work on a summer project with a faculty member, not necessarily ortho research but general research to gain research experience to get into other labs. Then when classes start I would stop to see how well I am doing in classes before continuing research.

 

[Gravity22]

Earlier in the semester I had applied to summer research that was stipend thinking that it would be a good "summer job" but my resume was sent to other faculty members, today I met with one of them. He see me laid backend easy to get along with, can I ask him if it is stipened?