How much research is needed?

[user123456]

How many abstracts, papers, first author papers are needed for middle of the road surgery disciplines? (e.g. urology, vascular, general, neurological, etc.)

I know there’s stories of people that have none but is there a consensus on average to make you competitive/equal to others going into interviews?

Specifically not talking about the ultra competitive ones like ENT, eyeball knitting, or plastics

 

[carmsinoid]

There is no magic minimum. Also, I wouldn't think of more competitive to match = more research is needed. That's absolutely not the case. Some specialties are highly academic, and so the residency selection process will favour that (e.g. neuro, cardiac). Others are much more clinical-focused as a field with less emphasis on academia and so the selection process doesn't place as much emphasis on that aspect, even if it's a more competitive specialty in CaRMS. Generally, surgical or non-surgical, research is just an easy way to show interest in the specialty, work with staff and residents in that specialty, build a network, etc. If you can achieve that without doing research, then there's no real advantage to doing research unless you are actually interested. But like I said, some specialties are just very inherently academic specialties, and in those cases, you absolutely need research.