LOL
I will just post a list of the journals I have published in first so if thats all people care about they can read and move on , and then I will post my story below for those who want to read lol
Current number of publications 41 (also a number of these are accepted for publication and are in the copy edit process and should be published online or in print soon. (32 was when I applied in september). Also, 4 of these are abstract pubs and I finally got a case report this fall lol. So in total, 36 are full length original research.
Journals: The BMJ, JAMA, Journal of bone and Joint surgery (x3) (number 1 ortho journal in the world), Journal of the american academy of orthopaedic surgeons, orthopaedic journal of sports medicine, arthroscopy x2, Journal of arthroplasty, Injury (x2), JAMA-dermatology (x2), JAMA otoloryngology, Plastic reconstructive & aesthetic surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery, annals of plastic surgery, international orthopaedics, pediatric otorhinolaryngology, among others these are the ones off the top of my head.
So, as AnatomyGrey said, lots of luck and hard word sprinkled with what I like to think of as divine intervention (you non-religious people can just call it more luck)
I picked my school (I got into like 10 DO schools) based on 2 things 1. They had their own ortho program and 2. there was this guy who supposedly let students do research and get publications.
However, I had ZERO research experience from undergrad so I knew it was going to be an uphill battle.
Early in my medical school career I talked to him (the PI) and was let on his "research team". He teaches medical students how to do research, and puts them on teams together to do these projects. He is an expert in methodological quality and really dives deep into evaluating the quality of published clinical research. Many of his projects are what you would call systematic reviews and met-analyses however they have their own twist to them. Journals LOVE his type of work. The pros to this type of research is 1. No IRB needed which saves a lot of time and 2. You can open a sweat shop and do the same project in multiple fields or sub-fields because it doesn't matter what specialty we are looking at the goal is still the same: to evaluate and report the quality of the work produced to ensure it is 1. reproducible 2. generalizable and 3. not fake findings lol.
So, he started me off on a team of medical students on a psychiatry study about October of my first year. I QUICKLY realized my work ethic was far superior to the others on my team and they would just slow me down. So, (without permission at the time lol) I broke off and took the methods and did my own studies on the same subject in Dermatology, ortho, and ENT. After I showed him my work he was amazed, and we developed a great relationship as I became my PIs work horse. This meant lots of 1 on 1 teaching and mentorship the other students did not get. For the rest of 1st year (from november on) I spent probably 2-3 hours a day minimum on research. How did those first 3 studies turn out? One was publish in JAMA - Dermatology, one in JAMA - Otolaryngology, and one in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (number 1 ortho journal in the world). This success resulted in more attention from my PI, and the rest is history.
Now, I had developed some really good research skills. It takes me about 2.5 hours to write an intro on any subject and 4 hours for a discussion. So, I could churn out papers almost as fast as I could come up with ideas for them. Many times me and one of my best friends (who matched ortho the year ahead of me) would just get ideas from reading literature in other specialties on similar methodological issues and say "hey, we can do that" and we would just do it. Summer of 1st year the pubs started rolling in, and I was at like 7 by the time 2nd year started and I just kept rolling with this because it became clear it was going to be something that could set me apart especially if I had good board scores. Also, because I came up with my own ideas and liked to work with minimal teammates I was first author on about 80% of the papers I was on. Of those original 7 pubs, 6 of them I was first author on.
Fast forward to just after second year. I just got my board scores back and was devastated because I worked so hard and my UWorlds said I would be 250+ and now I am wondering if I should switch specialties or apply to a backup. Right at this time the PD at my home program was changed to an MD who was much more academic, and had a vested interest in getting the program to do more research. He also had some clinical projects that had just been sitting, and some great ideas for clinical projects. He heard about me because I had been getting the residents on research projects for the last 2 years, asked for my help, and because of the training I had in other types of research I 1. Knew how to write scientific exceptionally well 2. knew what methodological safeguards were important for quality studies and 3. knew how to navigate the submission and revision process and he let me fly on a few clinical projects that are now published ( one of which in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (a top orthopaedics journal). Also, I now (and then) wrote all of the IRBs for the ortho program. I found IRB's are nothing more than basically protocols, which I had already been making for my other studies. Writing an IRB due to my training was NBD at this point, and took me an afternoon (at most). Working with this PD brought a ton of life back into my research endeavors and now all 3rd year and 4th year I was working on clinical research and the methodologic research with my original PI. Furthermore, this PD had TONS of faith in me and really took me under his wing. He did a lot of things for me that boosted my confidence as a person and applicant to ortho. The letter he wrote me (I now have a copy of) was honestly probably the GOAT letter. Despite wanting me to stay, he still wrote me a letter than opened up many more doors for me and for that he has my upmost respect and loyalty. In all reality, my research skills were more than just a cool CV booster. They helped me create relationships with my home program that I otherwise would have never had and as a result I was very involved in ortho from my first year forward, but especially after the PD switch.
Now however, instead of being the work horse on every study I had a group of 1st and 2nd year I worked with who would do the heavy lifting and I would more or less act as a PI and guide the projects. This allowed me to really continue the original line of research while also being the heavy lifter for the clinical side of my research. These projects all turned out exceptionally well. I am now currently a clinical research heavy lifter and a methodlogical researc mentor if that makes any sense.
The next step in my research transformation is, because I have done so much, I now had the knowledge to lead studies. So, asked the PD about some issues in trauma surgery and we decided to do a full blown systematic review and meta-analysis about a certain subject. I did the protocol, data extraction, wrote the paper, did the stats, and did the revision for this. All on my own, and it was published in JAMA. The largest ortho systematic review ever to my knowledge (over 100+ studies included). I am currently the PI for multiple studies I am running regarding reverse total shoulders, that I anticipate to be published in very high journals.
Now, the interesting thing is my original 3 studies actually made me an expert in this certain type of methodological study and I am asked frequently to peer review for big journals on this subject. I have peer reviewed for the BMJ, New England Journal of Medicine, and many others. Most recently the BMJ (a top medical journal in the world) asked me to write an editorial to be published soon regarding this same issue that I started my first 3 studies on the first year of medical school. God is very good, and it has been crazy to see things come full circle.
I am going to put this in all caps because this is the reason why I have so many publications: THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GETTING PUBLISHED IS 1. WRITING, ITS NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU FIND ITS ABOUT HOW YOU WRITE ABOUT IT 2. ANTICIPATION, YOU HAVE TO ANTICIPATE WHAT PEER REVIEWERS ARE GOING TO NAG YOU ABOUT AND ADDRESS THAT BEFORE YOU SUBMIT THIS STUDY (this only comes with experience), 3. YOU NEED A RECIPE FOR YOUR MANUSCRIPTS, DO THE SAME THING EVERY TIME. MY INTROS ALWAYS HAVE THESE 4 PARAGRAPHS (1. little bit of background 2. what others have found in other fields/studies. 3. what knowledge is missing 4. how we aim to address what is missing) DISCUSSIONS ARE ALMOST THE SAME (1. small summary of what we found 2. how our study fills in knowledge gaps 3. how our study compares to other studies 4. what are the clinical implications 5. what are ways we can change for better in the future 6. limitations 7. conclusion. DONE!!! I literally do that on every paper. BECAUSE I HAVE A SYSTEM AND STICK TO IT, I AM ABLE TO WORK EXTREMELY FAST AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CITATIONS I NEED BEFORE I EVEN ATTEMPT TO WRITE THE PAPER BECAUSE I WRITE ALL MY PAPERS THE SAME. HOWEVER, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF GETTING HEAVY PUBS IS NOT RELYING ON OTHER PEOPLE. YOU HAVE TO BE THE ONE WHO WANTS IT MORE THAN ANYONE, AND YOU CANNOT BE ABOVE DOING THE DIRTY WORK. I TELL MY YOUNGER STUDENTS "THE BEST WAY TO PUBLISH QUALITY AND PUBLISH FAST IS TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF. THE MORE HANDS YOU GET DIRTY THE LESS QUALITY THE WORK WILL HAVE AND THE LONGER IT WILL ACTUALLY TAKE".
I am happy to answer any questions about my work or give any advice needed, however, you are likely not going to have this degree of success unless you have a mentor like mine, which is why I feel very blessed to have went to the school I did.
I think its important to understand my success was due to 1. a high output mentor who taught me how to be high output myself. 2. A weird God given talent for writing (many studies accepted without revision) 3. A loving wife who let me do all this stuff without complaining about how hard I was working
