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Research for Residency


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Hi everybody,

I was wondering, when working on a research project to strengthen your residency application, does the research have to be in the field that you want to specialize in? For example, if you want to apply to radiology, or dermatology, do you have to do research in those fields to make the research relevant to your application? Also, if your school doesn't have a department for what you want to specialize in, what can you do to get experience in that field?

 

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It definitely helps to do it in the field that you're applying in, as it can serves multiple purposes: 

1) networking with academic staff from your home or other schools at conferences 

2) discussion topics during CaRMS interviews 

3) potential LoR from supervisors for CaRMS, especially if you have a long-term relationship (research + some clinical time with them) 

If your home school doesn't have a department (seems like derm from your other thread) you can go to a school during your summers that does and do research there.  

 

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Although research in general is a boost to your application (shows motivation and productivity), as above, if you are aiming for a particular specialty, it would be ideal to do research in a relevant area to 1) demonstrate sincere interest in that field, and 2) get a letter of reference from someone who has known you longer and better than an elective supervisor would, and also someone who is more likely to be known to programs you are applying to.

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21 hours ago, Lactic Folly said:

Although research in general is a boost to your application (shows motivation and productivity), as above, if you are aiming for a particular specialty, it would be ideal to do research in a relevant area to 1) demonstrate sincere interest in that field, and 2) get a letter of reference from someone who has known you longer and better than an elective supervisor would, and also someone who is more likely to be known to programs you are applying to.

I would agree with that :) Some fields in particular are more picky about the research being related. This sort of stuff is often very program/centre specific. 

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Ok great, so you don't think it would be looked down upon for residency apps if you have MSc from a different field for which you're applying too? I guess the obvious question might be why did you change your mind or something along those lines?

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29 minutes ago, duke101 said:

Ok great, so you don't think it would be looked down upon for residency apps if you have MSc from a different field for which you're applying too? I guess the obvious question might be why did you change your mind or something along those lines?

Looked down? I don't think so at all. I mean it might look at some places "better" if the Msc exactly lined up but really no one is going to rank you lower because you have a masters in something. That would just be stupid. 

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23 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

Looked down? I don't think so at all. I mean it might look at some places "better" if the Msc exactly lined up but really no one is going to rank you lower because you have a masters in something. That would just be stupid. 

LOL. While how much a MSc might help is debatable, it's really hard to make an argument that it would detract in any way. No one expects students to have pre-selected their specialty years *before* entering medical school, so don't worry. Just don't feel self-conscious about it and tell people that you did the MSc because you couldn't get into medical school out of undergrad, or that you're older than the average applicant and don't feel as energetic, etc. :P No matter the field, any MSc should have allowed you to develop valuable transferrable skills (e.g. written communication, research literacy) that will help you in your future career, and that should be the line you take, end of story.

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