Research At Home School Vs Oop School

[Economist]

I am entering med school this fall and have been offered to come back to do research with my current PI next summer. However, my current PI is in Alberta while I will be attending UBC (my undergrad was at UBC and i grew up in B.C.).

 

Obviously I want to stay in UBC for the summer and also I wanted to attend UBC for residency, and work here down the road. However, I will be getting a co-authorship (project is wrapping up) with my current PI within span of few months and he seems very willing to help me with my career (get me a 1st author paper over next summer + have me do clinical rotation with him so he can write me a letter).  

 

This sounds like a very very exciting and a great offer but I'm just wondering if I wanted to match to UBC where I assume it will be very competitive, would it be more beneficial to do research at home even if it doesnt get me any publications? Everyone seems to emphasize network and getting as much face time with faculty as possible. Is it worth it for me to go OOP ?

 

 

[plane]

If it were me, I'd say the research stint in Alberta is better, just because of the likelihood of a publication + a good LOR from someone with a clinical and non-clinical/research perspective of you. The only downside I can think of is whether your PI's specialty/field is what you think you'll be pursuing for residency; you might then want to explore other options. 

 

I'd say you will have plenty of other chances to further your network in UBC as you go through med school. Besides, you wouldn't want to put all your eggs in the UBC basket anyway, esp for carms. Inasmuch as you wanna maximize your home school advantage, a publication + LOR wouldn't hurt. Good luck!

[thatonekid]

I agree with the poster above.

 

Also, something to consider is that it'll just be 1 summer in Alberta, whereas you have all year to do research at UBC if you want to.

[MD2015]

In a heartbeat, I would jump at the Alberta opportunity. It is win-win for you with no downside. It is far from a sure thing that you will end up @ UBC come CaRMS. Begin to spread your wings in your own best interests.

[NLengr]

I would do it if you really want to do the research for its own sake. Don't do it because you think it will help the match/career. Even if you think you know what you want to do right now wrt specialty, the odds are likely that you're interests will change in med school.

 

Unless the research is in the specialty which you apply to in CaRMS, it won't really have any role in your match. Even if it is in the specialty, the benefit you receive from research in the match is at best very limited (at least in my experience).

 

From a match POV, you are probably better off spending time at your preferred location for residency (which I assume is UBC) shadowing and possibly doing research in whatever specialty you think you want to do after you have completed first year. Face time with faculty and residents will carry you a lot farther than a random first author paper.

[Edict]

I would have thought that since you are already at UBC you will have plenty of face time already, I think you can take the summer in Alberta, first it gives you some face time in a different school and you get a publication plus possibly build a solid career connection.