Effect of research publication on internship/residency application

[nicrinke]

Howdy, folks. I have a fairly simple question. I am interested in pursuing specialization in either emergency or surgery. My grades are neither amazing nor terrible (3.2ish), but I did recently publish a first-author research article, which was a result of some parasitology research I have done during my DVM curriculum. Does anyone know how valuable this is in increasing my chances of securing an internship and subsequent residency?

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[JaynaAli]

It’s beneficial but I don’t think it’s going to be a magic bullet for you. Honestly, with a GPA of 3.2 you’re likely on the lower end of intern/resident applicants. Residency programs like surgery have many many applicants and often impose arbitrary cutoffs to sort through literally hundreds of applicants. A surgery resident where I trained said they don’t even look at anyone below a 3.5. I’m not saying this to discourage you from specialization, just to advise you to network your butt off and apply broadly to maximize your chances. You may have to do multiple internships even. It’s not impossible to match with that GPA (I also had a 3.2 and was just barely above 50% for my class rank though I am in another specialty) and the publication is a nice feather in your cap. Definitely bring it up in your application, but I would try your hardest to raise your GPA even more and network as much as you can before you graduate because I think those things will have more of an impact. Best of luck!

 

[Vannandy]

Second what Jayna said. Competitive programs have so many applicants that they will set a GPA cutoff. I can't think of anyone at my internship that wasn't in the top 25%, if not 10%, of their class. LORs + class rank will always be the most important things, with the former weighted more. Research is only supplemental and may help get you selected over other competitive applicants. Internship and residency apps are whole different ballgames. Research is a bigger plus for residency applications but usually if they're pertinent to the specialty you're pursuing. Our advice definitely isn't to deter you from applying, but personal experience that this profession is unfortunately very academic. If you set your mind to it you'll get to where you wanna be. Sometimes it takes a specialty internship or two (especially for surgery) before that happens but you'll get there. Heck I know someone who did 3 specialty internship and shes not a resident. You gotta want it.

 

[SocialStigma]

It will be a bonus for residency applications, internships don't generally care as much. Having said that though, I have been part of the process of selecting surgery residency candidates and there are going to be multiple candidates with 5+ first author publications. I agree with the other responses - your primary goal right now should be increasing your class rank/GPA. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about pursuing specialization in surgery!

 

[deleted498041]

I look at people with a GPA below a 3.5, but I can definitely attest to the fact that some people do hold GPA in high regard when picking surgery residents. Definitely keep trying to bring that GPA/class rank up in the meanwhile, and try to put out another paper during your internship.