The reality is that聽聽isn鈥檛 for everyone, and it doesn鈥檛 necessarily have to be a component of a successful application. Of course, in many cases, bolstering a medical school application with a publication or two can be helpful, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you should sign up to do bench research if it鈥檚 not something you鈥檙e actually interested in.
We鈥檝e covered the topic of聽聽numerous times, but what if pre-med research just isn鈥檛 for you?
Is clinical research right for you?
Before throwing in the towel, do some research on聽: Ask whether it鈥檚 relevant to your medical career. When you think of what鈥檚 involved in scientific lab work and clinical research鈥攖he kind that will help you get into medical school鈥攖he stereotypical image is that of a scientist clad in a white coat and safety goggles, dripping chemicals into flasks and swirling them around to discover the cure for cancer.
For some, this may seem like a medical dream job. For others, the idea of spending your life in the lab is less than exciting. It鈥檚 helpful to remember that there鈥檚 a vast array of options that all count as research experience when filling out your medical school application.
Traveling to South Africa and studying the ways that HIV affects the urban poor in Johannesburg, working with the CDC in Atlanta to map out the economic impact of ebola on Western Africa, or聽working on a trial聽for a new method for educating a community about safe sexual practices, for example, are all considered research.
If you鈥檙e interested in a particular medical field, you can bet that someone out there is too and that a research opportunity exists. Get out there and find what inspires you. You鈥檇 be surprised by what you can turn into a research project or a published paper.
Applying without research experience
Even after doing your research on types of research experience, you may still find you have little interest in the prospect鈥攁nd that鈥檚 perfectly acceptable. Only a fraction of practicing physicians actively conduct research, and it鈥檚 not something that is going to severely hamstring your future聽.
If you鈥檙e flat-out uninterested in doing research to enhance your medical school application, there are some strategies you should adopt to improve your chances聽of acceptance:
1. Give a reason for not doing research
You鈥檙e likely to be asked in your聽聽why you didn鈥檛 elect to participate in research. Have your response ready. 鈥淏ench research is just not for me,鈥� is a valid answer, but they may counter with an example of non-bench research. Be it financial, time constraint, or work related, have a聽reason ready for why you didn鈥檛 choose to go down the clinical research path.
2. Improve your MCAT
If your聽聽is stellar, read no further. If it鈥檚 borderline, take the time to improve it. Your聽, volunteer hours, and letters of recommendation aren鈥檛 going to change, but putting 300 hours into聽聽is the one surefire thing to move your application from the discard pile to the 鈥渕ust interview鈥� pile.
3. Get involved
Research takes a lot of time, so if you鈥檙e not going to participate in it, use that time wisely.聽听产测听, shadowing more, taking a wider variety of classes, or聽聽All of these will show your interviewer that even though you didn鈥檛 do research, you鈥檙e still interested in the field of medicine and in learning. In other words, demonstrate that you鈥檙e not just too lazy to gain research experience.
As always, remember that a better MCAT score is the one thing that can turn a mediocre applicant into a stellar one, so if you opt out of research experience, don鈥檛 neglect your MCAT prep. Research is only one small slice of your medical school application, but your MCAT score is the main course.
Brought to you in partnership with Kaplan Test Prep. Check out Kaplan’s聽, and start working towards聽that stellar MCAT score today.
