Best time to Fit In Research?

[astrife]

I will be starting medical school this fall. I'm very interested in pursuing a residency in diagnostic radiology, and my dream would be to get into a mid-tier academic program in a large city. I know research has to be a big part of one's residency application, but I'm wondering at what point in medical school most people find time to fit in time for research, especially enough time to possibly get published?

I'm asking this now because I'd like to know if M1 is a good time to get started, and if so should I started seeking out mentors/PI's now? If it matters my school's pre-clinical years are Fail/Pass/Honors, and I'm not sure about the clinical years (though I'm suspecting my clerkship grades are much more important than research in third year).

Thanks for your answers!

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[fun8stuff]

I will be starting medical school this fall. I'm very interested in pursuing a residency in diagnostic radiology, and my dream would be to get into a mid-tier academic program in a large city. I know research has to be a big part of one's residency application, but I'm wondering at what point in medical school most people find time to fit in time for research, especially enough time to possibly get published?

I'm asking this now because I'd like to know if M1 is a good time to get started, and if so should I started seeking out mentors/PI's now? If it matters my school's pre-clinical years are Fail/Pass/Honors, and I'm not sure about the clinical years (though I'm suspecting my clerkship grades are much more important than research in third year).

Thanks for your answers!

Step 1, AOA, and clerkship grades are more important. You can match into radiology without research, but it is very difficult if you do not have the numbers. The best time to do research is the summer during M1&M2 as most med students have this time off. Some places even have summer research externships. Some med schools also allow you to take a research month during M3 and M4 which you can use to get a project started. Some people also do a radiology elective during M3 and start working on a research project during that month.

 

[whatabro]

I asked the same thing to my school's radiology residency Program Director after I decided on radiology in second year. I'd already started a project in another department (which ultimately only lead to a poster at a big conference) but she said that I should only do more research if I really wanted to do it in my career. Her advice was that grades and Step 1 are way more important and that research is only something that can add to your application but the lack of it in no way detracts from your app. That only might not apply at top-tier research powerhouses.

Moral of the story = do some research if you want to ultimately stay in academics but otherwise spend that time working hard on grades and USMLE scores since doing poorly in those is not easily overcome by med student level research.