MD Ideal time to get started with research?

[tunaktunak]

Incoming MS1 here. From what I've gathered so far from, a couple med students I've talked to, is that the first few weeks (months?) of M1 year should be dedicated to getting used to the grind/torture of classes, and that I shouldn't even think about research/ECs during this time. They have told me to focus on getting research starting the summer after M1 year. Would you all recommend this as well in the age of P/F Step 1? Or should I be really proactive in finding research in early M1?

FWIW, I want to pursue a competitive specialty, and I will be attending a low-tier MD school.

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[Vyzzle]

It doesn't hurt to start early, but honestly doesn't hurt to start later either.

I got connected with mentors at my school before even starting classes (definitely was a little overzealous). I'm glad I started when I did because I was new to research and needed time to get into the groove of it, and I personally had more free time during first year than I did with the work I did before med school so it was a smooth transition. Your mileage may vary, though, of course.

If you want the prudent advice - wait until at least after your first exam.

 

[djiboutiman]

If you know which specialty you want to purse already, then start seeking out research mentors early. That doesn’t mean you have to start the research super early, but it is nice to have a plan in place early on. But also don’t sacrifice your grades, as those are also important to competitive specialties.

Maybe get involved in the specialty interest group at your school, talk to the M2’s and see which PIs have a history of 1. accepting students into their lab 2. publish frequently 3. include students on the publications.

Also a lot of the national summer research programs have application deadlines early(Winter) so you’ll want to have those in mind if you are considering one of those programs.

I waited until the start of the second semester to seek out summer research and all the positions at my school were taken and most of the national research programs were closed to applications.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Personally, I'm glad I got involved in research early. I was able to be productive in M1/2, and then when M3 came I was pretty exhausted from clinical rotations and life responsibilities, so it was nice to not feel pressure to grind on research. There's still time later if you don't get started early though, plenty of people find time and energy to grind it out during M3 if they need it.

 

[aldol16]

Be proactive in finding research. Maybe not in the first month or two as you get settled into med school but you should definitely be looking before summer of M1 year. You should ideally have a project already going with preliminary data prior to the summer so you can dive in during the summer and actually emerge at the end of M1 year with something useful (after the summer). Obviously don't sacrifice your grades for this (you'll still need to learn the material which is relevant for Step 2 and clinical medicine).

For competitive specialties, as Step 1 goes P/F, these ECs and research become more important because there are fewer objective metrics with which to distinguish students.