<p>All right, this has been bothering me for awhile, so please bear with me if you can, and I apologize if I'm sounding a bit redundant. I've recently been feeling like an underachiever. I see a good number of high school students who are doing and participating in research, and I have had no luck in this area. I've been researching programs and ways of getting into research, but most are extemely expensive. I've also been trying to e-mail faculty at a local university, but no success.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is, are all of those kids who are lucky to be participating in research going to end up being the future neurosurgeons, cardiac surgeons, etc. while those of us who haven't started research are not? I know I'm probably being my neurotic self and so I'll stop now. It's nice to get this off my chest, though.</p>
<p>Thanks to those who have been able to finish reading my tangent.</p>
<p>Anyone have any advice?</p>
<p>yes you are being neurotic.</p>
<p>Those things won't, in and of themselves, make a difference to medical schools b/c they are HS activities. They may, of course, help in securing research positions later on, though, but most college students have ways of securing research positions if they really try.</p>
<p>Research is a highly desirable component in some but not all specialties for residency. Typically though, that's research done while in medical school, which is probably much more readily available and easy to secure than it is for undergrads. Less prior research experience is probably needed.</p>
<p>The big things you're overlooking is that there are many, many, many other things that lead up to a) getting into medical school (spoken by a med student who did no research, ever, until he got to med school) and b) getting into residency programs. Interest, grades, extra and co-curricular activities, test scores, and interviews are all very important components for both med school and residency positions.</p>
<p>To your initial question, is early research an indicator of any success? Probably because the people who are motivated enough to even begin looking for such positions, are likely strong in other areas that will help them in the future. Are they necessarily going to be successful in the way you've defined it (neuro or cards)? No. Are those who haven't started research inherently behind and can't be successful? Absolutely not. </p>
<p>To be completely honest, I think it's a little ridiculous for HS students to be doing any sort of actual research, unless they have some sort of unique situation. In most fields there's simply way too much background knowledge necessary (that comes from taking college level courses and I'm not talking about AP credit) in order to be able to make meaningful contributions.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bigredmed! I do agree that I was a bit neurotic, but I was feeling a bit discouraged since I hadn't had any luck finding research. However, I've recently been in contact with a local cardiovascular and thoracic foundation that is interested in me maybe helping them in research.</p>
<p>I do have one other question; what are the medical specialties in which research is a highly desirable component?</p>
<p>All of them, always, besides (I assume) family practice. It's just a question of which specialties are so competitive that you have to be a highly desirable applicant.</p>
<p>Well, I do have an interest in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, which I would assume is one of the most competitive specialties, right?</p>
<p>1.) CT Surgery is a fellowship, and so your accomplishments during your residency are much more important than your accomplishments during medical school. Obviously your accomplishments during college and high school would basically not matter, period, except that the name of your medical school will be somewhat relevant. (Maybe?)</p>
<p>2.) CT first goes through gensurg, which is not too bad.</p>
<p>3.) CT itself has not been particularly competitive recently; in fact the 2005 match had more spots than applicants*. CT surgery is in economic doubt recently with the increasing capabilities of interventional cardiology.</p>
<p>*The source of this information was rumors, so I'm not 100% sure this is exactly true, but it still represents a general trend.</p>
<p>Wow, I did not know that. bluedevilmike, do you know any CT fellows? If so, what do they and you think about the future of CT?</p>
<p>"extemely expensive"</p>
<p>What?! You have to pay to do research? What place is this? If any money changes hands, then they should be paying YOU!</p>
<p>Unless of course, you're talking about independent research.</p>
<p>Yes, some programs like UPenn's cost more than $5,000 and offer little financial aid.</p>
<p>I should have replaced "highly desirable" with "nearly a requirement". That's a better description. Again, though, this is research done while in medical school we're discussing.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike, are you a student in Duke Med School?</p>
<p>Oh, I just though you were because of the bluedevil part of your name. All right, thanks to everyone for their help!</p>
<p>Olivetree,</p>
<p>You should really not worry about kids who have been able to do research in HS.
It's simply because some high schools have research programs and most don't.</p>
<p>My S's high school has a couple of very established labs within the school and research mentors who are dedicated and involved. Not every school can offer such an environment. </p>
<p>When my S presented his research at the state level, I found that he competed with some other kids who had done College level research. These kids were paired by their school with several mentors from Columbia Univ. Again, some schools (esp Science Magnet schools) are able to offer these opportunities to their students. It's the same with AP courses. Not every school offers the same number of APs. </p>
<p>Just because you did not have this opportunity does not mean that you are not interested or not able.</p>
<p>What matters in the long run is that you show interest when you DO get an opportunity and have the environment conducive toward research pursuits.</p>