Why do residencies care about research?

[sunflower79]

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It seems an established fact that to get into a competitive specialty it helps to do research. But someone here said most of the ppl who do research aren't interested in academic medicine; they're just playing the game. Why is the game set up this way?

😕
thanks,
sunflower

 

[Blake]

I don't know, actually. Seems like there's BS everywhere. 🙁

 

[Jaded Soul]

The short answer is doing research is the best way to demonstrate that you have interest and dedication to the field.

 

[brianjc]

Research = Money and a good reputation for institutions. In my opinion thats the bottom line.

 

[Mr. Rosewater]

pple in acedemia LOVE publications. it's what they live for. i'd imagine that most of the pple who decide which residents to higher are academians, so there you go.

 

[Mumpu]

Same reason as undegrad research. Competitive programs use anything they can to narrow down the field of applicants, be it Step 1 scores or the number of papers you published.

 

[vr4nut]

I asked a 2nd year yesterday about this, because he and I both are interested in surgery and he did research this summer. He said that they look for residents who show promise of being able to not only do what they are required to do for the field, but who will also further the field. This could apply to surgery, for example, because you show that you will keep up on learning and developing new techniques.

 

[azzarah]

Personally, I view doing research as an opportunity. You get to "create" medical knowledge before getting your MD degree...how cool is that! 😍
But then I go to a big research school and plan to go into academia....😀