When medical schools and programs refer to medicine, does that include research?

<p>For example, if I am asked why I want to go into medicine, does that include both working with patients and doing medical research? If so, what constitutes medical research? Does it have to do with drugs and such? Or would research into chemistry with possible implications in medicine or something along those lines also count as medical research?</p>

<p>Thanks :)</p>

<p>depends on the school - but generally “medicine” must include patient care and can include research</p>

<p>You could do chemistry research but an MD is probably not adequate if you want to do basic chemistry research with applications in drug design. You’ll need at least an MD/PhD or if the chemistry is the only part you’re really interested in, just do a PhD.</p>

<p>Biomedical research is not limited to drugs - but typically people looking to pursue basic or translational research (rather than clinical research) are encouraged to consider MD/PhD training. An MD really only trains you to diagnose and treat patients.</p>

<p>Alright, thanks! I was just curious because I’m answering a question about why I’m interested in medicine for an essay and I wanted to know if it was relevant to write about a research internship I completed. I think I’ll just add it in there, but not focus on it too much.</p>