<p>How important is research for a medical profession?
I know being a doctor means spending your life studying lots of sciences. I don't mind reading biology textbooks, but starting my own independent venture doesn't seem like my cup of tea because of the time involved in a very narrow area of a subject.
I liked the notion of being a doctor because it applies a knowledge of science toward a practical and societal good, but in terms of 'enriching' my mind with scholarly medical stuff, that doesn't really appeal to me. I know research is important, and it needs to get done, but I'm don't really want to get into that.</p>
<p>So how much do research skills count for being a doctor, and for getting into med school?</p>
<p>Most docs don’t do research. Research is only a must if you are shooting for top research medical schools, though that doesn’t mean it won’t help elsewhere too.</p>
<p>There are all different kinds of scientific research. Research is a process, not a monolithic thing. Research doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to spend your days chained to a lab bench pipetting solutions.</p>
<p>If you’re more drawn toward the societal good–you could do research into the efficacy of hospital practice models or how to improve the delivery of healthcare services to certain segments of society. More public health planning/policy than microbiology.</p>
<p>My personal opinion is that medical school use research (somewhat) as a proxy for certain personal qualities that medical schools are looking for in a candidate—persistence in the face of difficulty, failure and boredom, as well as self-discipline and the ability to follow through on a project and to work well within a group. So it’s not the research per se they’re looking for, it’s the personal qualities it embodies.</p>
<p>I know D1 has at least one classmate who did zero research in college. (He was a music theory and performance major.) But he did produce a senior recital, a senior thesis (on music theory–research but not lab-based) and a significant body of original compositions. So no lab research, but his body of work demonstrate those same qualities I outlined above.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>According to self-reported data, ~90% of all matriculants have prior “research” experience. That may be one 10 week summer, one course on ‘research’, or several years of research with publications. But the point is that nearly everyone checks that box on the application.</p>
<p>WOWMom and blue bayou bring up some good points,</p>
<p>Unless it’s going to cause you to miss out on something incredible, I would recommend spending a summer doing research and trying to find something less basic science/lab bench oriented (my guess as to what you think of when you hear “research”) and more clinical/public health oriented both for the fact that yes, it is sort of the norm, and for the fact that you’ll make a better applicant for saying “I dabbled in research and didn’t like it, here’s why,” because you can’t really know that you don’t like it until you’ve given it a shot.</p>
<p>And yeah, definitely shouldn’t be applying to research oriented schools for both the odds of admissions reason and just the fact that the school’s philosophy will conflict with your own which won’t be a good experience.</p>