Medical Will this research topic hurt my med school/residency chances?

[GoSpursGo]

Hi all!

I am a pre-med undergraduate student who is planning on doing essentially a public health minor. My main interest in public health is in trauma, with a focus on medical trauma. I am looking to do independent research on medical trauma because it's not something that has a lot of recognition or literature. I could see myself making this topic part of my career because I'm extremely passionate about it. I would frame my research as that even if patients get proper, quality care, that care can cause psychological/emotional trauma or distress (for instance in labor, in children, in abuse victims), and to improve this, providers can give trauma-informed care.

I know that generally med schools and residencies don't like things that go against the status quo, and I'm worried that this research would do that and could hurt my chances of being accepted to med school or residency programs. I want to be a doctor first and foremost, so I want to understand if this could prevent that. Do you think that conducting this research and potentially making it a part of my career would harm my chances for med school and/or residency acceptance and if so, how much?

As long as your research has a solid basis, this would be totally fine.

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[Goro]

Structural medicine, which includes understanding the role of trauma in health, is becoming a thing in medical education. My own school is moving towards this.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I think this would be a great topic. First and foremost, do research on something YOU ARE INTERESTED IN as this will help you make the most of it and get something out of it. If you are just doing research to check a box, the extent that you will be able to speak about it in an interview will be limited.