How Important is Research For Residency?

NRMP Program Director Survey Results show that research experience or publications are among top 30 + factors which programs cite in selecting applicants to interview. So, research plays an important role in interview invitations and residency match. Having good knowledge about medical research enables medical students, residents and even attending physicians to understand evidence based medicine better and makes them better physicians.

Research publications are additional feathers in the cap in your residency curriculum vitae (CV) just like any other additional skill set you can have which programs may be looking for. Particularly, research experience/publications are highly valued in top tier university residency programs compared to community residency programs. Also, if an applicant has lower USMLE scores, research publications may be a great means to add to your CV and impress the program that you are a hard worker.

Having said that, research is not just a checkbox which you need to just tick to impress the interviewer or program director. The program directors and other faculty (who have gone through the residency application process) already are well aware that the applicants do research to impress the residency program. Take up the research only if you are passionate and genuinely interested in it and do a meaningful one which can make an impact in clinical medicine or policy level. You should be proud about your research work throughout your career.

There are many residency applicants who have other skill sets and they match to the great programs without much research. So, if you have other skill sets which you can add to the program and makes your CV stand out from the crowd, you don’t need to have great research experience.

There are several additional advantages in getting involved in research which directly and indirectly is important for residency application.

Network with the Program: Knowing the applicant prior to the application significantly influences the chances of interviews/matching and research is a good way to do it. While it is a fact that US clinical experience is more valued than research, research helps you to bond with your mentors for a longer duration. Your mentor gets an opportunity to value your contribution to science. If you have research publications together, you will have a place in his CV for the rest of his life (and vice versa). Research based relationships help applicants to network with other faculty as well because research needs robust multidisciplinary collaboration.

Get Clinical Rotations: When you bond with your mentor for a long time during research, it provides an opportunity for clinicians to trust you and provide opportunity to follow them in hospital/clinic. This just widens the network, particularly with residents and fellows in the hospital. Their good word to the program director will mean a lot.

Letter of Recommendation (LoR): When you and your mentor have a long duration of working together, it provides an opportunity for mentors to come up with specific examples of your contribution, quantify and compare your works with your peers. These add value to the letter of recommendation. Letter writers also get an opportunity to express their perception of the candidate’s field of interest and commitment. Imagine you have an LoR from your mentor who has supervised you both in clinical experience and medical research. It will be the strong LoR.

Perceived commitment in specific specialty: NRMP data suggests that the perceived commitment in the specialty is a very important factor in ranking the candidates. Research in the particular area of interest helps a lot to emphasize this. For example, if you are interested in pediatrics, you may do research on type 1 diabetes or malnutrition or teenage challenges in type 1 diabetes mellitus. If you are interested in preventive medicine residency, your research in public health or healthcare disparity can be of great value.

Research Skills as your Strength: There are many ways research experience can be mentioned in your interviews, particularly as your strength. This can be an additional skill set which you bring to the program. Research trains you in evidence based medicine and nurtures your scientific temper. If you have research experience, you can explain to the program how it will make you better in patient care and how you overcame come your barriers to medical research.

Physician Scientist Pathway: Physician scientists are skeptic medical doctors who question the status quo in the field of medicine and perform research for better understanding. Physician scientist pathway residency programs enable residents to pursue research training in their specialty along with their clinical training. At the end of the residency, physicians should be able to conduct independent research and/or apply for search grants. Prior extensive experience in medical research is important and will definitely be helpful to show the commitment to this residency pathway.

Fellowship Application: There are several clinical fellowship programs which want their fellows to focus on medical research ranging from clinical investigation, basic science, translational science, global/public health, or medical education. So, if you are passionate about research and start early on, you are likely to have several publications in the field of interest when you apply for fellowship. Also, when you are applying for residency, you can state the program about your fellowship plans which gives them a clear idea about your long-term goals.

Academic Jobs: ACGME encourages residents to be involved in scholarly activity during training. So, during the hiring process, residency programs recognize the importance of physician faculty who are inclined to provide research opportunities for their medical students and resident physicians. If you are a proven researcher, you understand potential barriers to these activities, and are able to provide recommendations on how to increase the research capacity.

EB-1 Green card: When you start publishing your research, in high impact journals, you are actually contributing to the science in healthcare. Once you have several publications, you can get an invitation to write books and/or be an editor in reputed journals where you will judge works of another researcher in your field. These works are highly valued not only by residency programs but also by USCIS for the green card. If you start researching early, say during your medical school, you may qualify for a green card when you apply for residency. This can alleviate some of the visa related burden.

Be an Expert: Research projects help you understand the area in depth. While researching, you will have to do thorough literature review, learn the study population, compose your manuscript, and take constructive criticism from your co-workers. This nature of research will foster your intellectual curiosity and you will strengthen your knowledge in the field. This will enable you to have an upper hand during the interview process.

Alternative Career: This is something which may not please residency applicants but truth has to be told. There are many residency candidates who do not match into the residency program and they take up alternative careers. When/if you consider an alternate career, remember that you are already a medical doctor and you have a hard earned degree. Your clinical knowledge along with a research skill will make you a much better job applicant than a PhD who does not understand clinical medicine.