<p>Medical schools like research because there is such a thing as a physician-researcher – physicians who conduct biomedical research to enrich the field. In addition, even if you never become a researcher, knowing how research is conducted will enrich your practice. You will know how to look through medical journals for the cutting-edge research in your field and will keep current on new technologies that will better serve your patients. Research is what keeps the field of medicine relevant, and without physicians who are invested in research, we’d still be stuck in early 1800s medicine.</p>
<p>There are a lot of ways to do it – you can do it during your summer or your school year. Generally it involves going to a professor who’s research in whihc you are interested and asking if they need a research assistant. There are also formal research programs that are sponsored by different universities and organizations – the National Science Foundation has a lot, called “Research Experience for Undergraduates” (REUs). Many large academic medical centers have programs for undergrads to shadow doctors and do research over the summer. Search for “Summer undergraduate research fellowship” or something akin to that on Google.</p>
<p>Also…like bluedevilmike has, you do not need publications to “count” research. The vast majority of undergraduates will never publish a paper, certainly not a first or second-authored paper.</p>