This is a follow-up to my earlier post on doing research as a med student.
Having published or having papers submitted for publication is a big boost to your residency application. It's a great way to not only learn more about a subject in a field, but to contribute to that field and show you're interested in it. Having someone who can contribute to a specialty through research is an asset.
However, doing 1 or more years of research as a medical student isn't necessary if you're applying to a competitive residency, or fellowship down the road. We all know plenty of people who publish during med school, or who don't publish and get in. I was surprised to find out that there actual published research studies that analyze how different accomplishments and attributes of a medical student's application affect their acceptance to a residency.
The thing is, as a med student, it's hard to get something significant done in basic science research, especially if you've never done it. Getting a publication in basic sciences or clinical science depends a lot on the time you join the lab and how many projects they have actually ready for someone to work on. You might want to work in a lab, but they won't have a project for you, you might end up on a dead-end project, or you might join a lab where there's a paper going to be submitted soon and you're the one getting to do a few of the last necessary experiments.
It's a gamble, so learn the most you can about the projects you'll be given.
Also, residents get the "higher-level" projects, like intense animal research and big projects that go onto important clinical meetings (American Academy of Pediatrics, etc), while I've seen medical students get assigned a lot of case reports or case series.
It's largely because of the amount of time necessary to start and finish a quality study.
I hope this helps, and sheds a bit of light on what it's like doing research in med school.
Having published or having papers submitted for publication is a big boost to your residency application. It's a great way to not only learn more about a subject in a field, but to contribute to that field and show you're interested in it. Having someone who can contribute to a specialty through research is an asset.
However, doing 1 or more years of research as a medical student isn't necessary if you're applying to a competitive residency, or fellowship down the road. We all know plenty of people who publish during med school, or who don't publish and get in. I was surprised to find out that there actual published research studies that analyze how different accomplishments and attributes of a medical student's application affect their acceptance to a residency.
The thing is, as a med student, it's hard to get something significant done in basic science research, especially if you've never done it. Getting a publication in basic sciences or clinical science depends a lot on the time you join the lab and how many projects they have actually ready for someone to work on. You might want to work in a lab, but they won't have a project for you, you might end up on a dead-end project, or you might join a lab where there's a paper going to be submitted soon and you're the one getting to do a few of the last necessary experiments.
It's a gamble, so learn the most you can about the projects you'll be given.
Also, residents get the "higher-level" projects, like intense animal research and big projects that go onto important clinical meetings (American Academy of Pediatrics, etc), while I've seen medical students get assigned a lot of case reports or case series.
It's largely because of the amount of time necessary to start and finish a quality study.
I hope this helps, and sheds a bit of light on what it's like doing research in med school.
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