nnst Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Is it bad to do research that is focused in one specialty for the past 4 years? Especially since this is a specialty I am not interested in pursuing. It just seems like one research project is leading me to another that are all focused in this same specialty. It's hard to get out of this loop. The research position I just got offered for this summer is also at a very esteemed hospital, and I don't know if I should turn it down solely because it's in the same specialty of medicine I always do my research in. Opinions please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroD Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 30 minutes ago, nnst said: Is it bad to do research that is focused in one specialty for the past 4 years? Especially since this is a specialty I am not interested in pursuing. It just seems like one research project is leading me to another that are all focused in this same specialty. It's hard to get out of this loop. The research position I just got offered for this summer is also at a very esteemed hospital, and I don't know if I should turn it down solely because it's in the same specialty of medicine I always do my research in. Opinions please? Depends on what you're trying to achieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconitase Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Depends. Is your goal to be academic and research? How closely related is this field to your intended field of study going forward? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 On 12/19/2018 at 1:10 PM, nnst said: Is it bad to do research that is focused in one specialty for the past 4 years? Especially since this is a specialty I am not interested in pursuing. It just seems like one research project is leading me to another that are all focused in this same specialty. It's hard to get out of this loop. The research position I just got offered for this summer is also at a very esteemed hospital, and I don't know if I should turn it down solely because it's in the same specialty of medicine I always do my research in. Opinions please? Are you 100% sure you won't be pursuing that specialty? Is there any way to relate your current research to your specialty of interest? If the answer is no to both, you can still pursue the research if it is productive, teaching you methodology and getting you papers, but you also should contact and do research in the area you are interested in on the side if you have the time. If you are interested in a competitive specialty and you are currently doing research in a completely not related field, you may want to consider switching over and doing research in a competitive specialty, because research in these fields is also a way to network and the more time you do that, the better chances you get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnst Posted January 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nnst Posted January 18, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 On 12/20/2018 at 10:23 PM, Edict said: Are you 100% sure you won't be pursuing that specialty? Is there any way to relate your current research to your specialty of interest? If the answer is no to both, you can still pursue the research if it is productive, teaching you methodology and getting you papers, but you also should contact and do research in the area you are interested in on the side if you have the time. If you are interested in a competitive specialty and you are currently doing research in a completely not related field, you may want to consider switching over and doing research in a competitive specialty, because research in these fields is also a way to network and the more time you do that, the better chances you get. Great, thanks for your help! It's a specialty I almost 100% will not be pursuing and it's not related to any kind of specialty I am interested in. But the research does sound interesting, and I do think I can get a publication or two out of it. Plus it's at an amazing research hospital in America and I think would be an interesting experience. I am planning on doing small research projects during my school year in stuff that is applicable to more specialties, I just don't want to waste one of my two free summers pursuing research that is unrelated to my specialty of choice. I expect my specialty of choice to not be a competitive specialty however. Perhaps Pediatrics or Internal. My choice now is to either pursue an unpaid research internship at a top-ranked academic centre in US but in a specialty I am not interested in OR pursue a paid research studentship in a more relevant specialty at a hospital that is closer to home (where I would want to be practicing eventually as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aetherus Posted January 18, 2019 Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 7 hours ago, nnst said: Great, thanks for your help! It's a specialty I almost 100% will not be pursuing and it's not related to any kind of specialty I am interested in. But the research does sound interesting, and I do think I can get a publication or two out of it. Plus it's at an amazing research hospital in America and I think would be an interesting experience. I am planning on doing small research projects during my school year in stuff that is applicable to more specialties, I just don't want to waste one of my two free summers pursuing research that is unrelated to my specialty of choice. I expect my specialty of choice to not be a competitive specialty however. Perhaps Pediatrics or Internal. My choice now is to either pursue an unpaid research internship at a top-ranked academic centre in US but in a specialty I am not interested in OR pursue a paid research studentship in a more relevant specialty at a hospital that is closer to home (where I would want to be practicing eventually as well). In my opinion, the choice is quite clear. I would take the paid internship closer to home where you would like to practice. Thr prestige of the institution is pretty irrelevant for CaRMS and even more so if it’s not in the specialty you want. In fact getting unpaid research internships in the states is not very difficult as a medical student. I know of several people who could have gone to the states for unpaid research including myself. Most people turned it down to do research at a Canadian institution in a location they would like to practice in order to start networking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlkhhylyiluh6 Posted January 18, 2019 Report Share Posted January 18, 2019 research in the field > research out of the field > nothing at all. Just spin it right, say the skills you learned are transferable and youre excited to explore research in that field, etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted January 19, 2019 Report Share Posted January 19, 2019 23 hours ago, nnst said: Great, thanks for your help! It's a specialty I almost 100% will not be pursuing and it's not related to any kind of specialty I am interested in. But the research does sound interesting, and I do think I can get a publication or two out of it. Plus it's at an amazing research hospital in America and I think would be an interesting experience. I am planning on doing small research projects during my school year in stuff that is applicable to more specialties, I just don't want to waste one of my two free summers pursuing research that is unrelated to my specialty of choice. I expect my specialty of choice to not be a competitive specialty however. Perhaps Pediatrics or Internal. My choice now is to either pursue an unpaid research internship at a top-ranked academic centre in US but in a specialty I am not interested in OR pursue a paid research studentship in a more relevant specialty at a hospital that is closer to home (where I would want to be practicing eventually as well). I'm going to offer a different viewpoint, do research that you are interested in. Honestly, if it were me, i'd go to that US academic centre, do some cool research, see how things are done in the US. It is absolutely invaluable and a great experience. Even if you have a horrible time, you'll come back with a few lessons or two. If i were evaluating CaRMS, i'd probably be intrigued at that experience if anything. Connections can be built at home without a question, but at the same time, research is something you build up. You probably are going to be doing something more meaningful in the states given that you've worked in the field already, whereas if you started something with a preceptor in internal medicine at this point it'll probably be less meaningful. Ultimately though, it will be up to you. It depends on how competitive this hospital closer to home is and how competitive of a candidate you think you are. If you feel like you'll need every ounce of work in order to match to this place, you may want to consider taking the research studentship closer to home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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