07-22-2018, 09:27 PM
I go to a small school with no home program. Low 250s on step. Some research, all of it basic science, none of it related to neurosurgery. I think I'll be AOA. At this point, it looks like the best thing for my application will be to get research done and pick the right aways and perform well on them.
I imagine the best thing would be to do a research year, and I don't mind that option at all, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I'm legitimately interested in research, but I'm more interested in having a strong application, so I'd like to find fairly close-ended, productive clinical research work where I'd have contact with surgeons. However, I'm not really sure how to find a position like that, other than cold emailing people whose projects are interesting and saying I want to do research for a year until someone bites. Is that pretty much how to do it? It doesn't look like there's any specific programs like there are in some other fields.
I imagine the best thing would be to do a research year, and I don't mind that option at all, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. I'm legitimately interested in research, but I'm more interested in having a strong application, so I'd like to find fairly close-ended, productive clinical research work where I'd have contact with surgeons. However, I'm not really sure how to find a position like that, other than cold emailing people whose projects are interesting and saying I want to do research for a year until someone bites. Is that pretty much how to do it? It doesn't look like there's any specific programs like there are in some other fields.
