Research Publications

[ahmajo]

Hi there

 

I am a first year med student (stressing about CaRMS already) and I heard today that research published BEFORE entering med school (i.e. in undergrad or during a previous grad degree) are not considered for CaRMS. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Does it depend on the program/school?

 

Thanks!

[jnuts]

A couple of programs I applied to went through their scoring system for the for the paper application. There are points given for any catagory they can standardize (for example, awards generally don't give you any points as they can't be compared across schools).

 

One program I know of scores research out of 5 points. You get 1 or 2 for having any research, 2-3 for having any clinical research, and 3-5 for clinical research relevant to the discipline (depending on how involved you were and the complexity of the research).

 

So the short answer is yes. The type of research matters. Its also a good way to pick up points as, supposedly, few applicants have any clinical research while most have pre-clinical.

[Lactic Folly]

I have never heard that research done before medical school does not count, although having relevant research is a bonus as stated above.

[2014hopeful]

Sorry for the ignorance, but was is pre-clinical in contrast to clinical research? I'm also in first year and would love to know.

 

Thanks!

[ahmajo]

Actually what I heard was any research (regardless of the field, clinical, basic, whatever) that you published before entering medical school was not considered when you apply for residency positions. But I guess I was misinformed.

[Lactic Folly]

The use of pre-clinical and clinical in this thread seems to refer to two different ideas: pre-clinical in the sense of preclerkship (first two years of medical school), while clinical is used in the sense of the type of research (e.g. basic science, translational).

[tooty]

One program I know of scores research out of 5 points. You get 1 or 2 for having any research, 2-3 for having any clinical research, and 3-5 for clinical research relevant to the discipline (depending on how involved you were and the complexity of the research).

 

Which program is this?

[octals]

I put research on my carms application from before and during medical school. The vast majority of my authorship was in disciplines other than my selected specialty. I'm currently going through the process of carms, and I've applied to a competitive specialty in which many programs specifically suggest research be done. I received interviews at almost every program in the country in spite of a significant proportion of it being done before med school and almost none of it in the specialty I've chosen.

 

If I was going to do it over again I'd likely do the same. It allowed me to get a good look at different types of research and actually helped me in deciding on my specialty of choice.

 

One thing you've got to realize early in medical school is that you can't know every program's scoring rubric for residency applications, although this doesn't stop many people from attemoting to do so throughout med school. Forget about the programs (especially early in med school), and just focus on improving the core domains of competency through extracurricular work (teaching, research, Canmeds roles) and you'll be ahead of the game.

[ABC]

Thanks octals, great advice