Internship or research

[lifesciencedude]

I am an undergrad pre-med student and wanted to know what to do in summer. Do medical schools value summer internship or summer research more for med schools applicants.

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[Mr.Smile12]

I am an undergrad pre-med student and wanted to know what to do in summer. Do medical schools value summer internship or summer research more for med schools applicants.

It depends on the medical schools and you own interest in pursuing research. Yes, there is some value in general with doing something with the science knowledge you gained in a classroom setting and getting yourself involved in discovering new knowledge or insights.

I don't think it's just limited to medical school applicants, but to all who wish to get something more out of their undergraduate education than just a bunch of textbooks and notes. Which actually should be all students for what that's worth.

If you want research, while you are an undergraduate or recently graduated from college, the options are going to be there for you. Many medical school applicants do full-time research in their gap years (especially in the postbac IRTA program at NIH), and having a little exposure during the summer or during the school year helps a bit. Research is also an enterprise for many MD programs, so of course there is value there (in addition to several other professional schools for dental, optometry, pharmacy, vet, etc.).

That said, you MUST have clinical experience and non-clinical community service if you want a desirable medical school application. The value of these experiences is "must have" compared to research.