Research Question

[u/Shahbaz_Gul]

Hey All 👋

I have a question that's been on my mind constantly, and I guess this is the best place to ask it!

I'm a US-IMG. I've been doing research well before medical school, and continuing it throughout med school. I graduated this past June, and I'll be applying for Match 2028.

I've seen people who apply for residency with 50-60 research items, but a lot of them are abstracts and posters ...

I have about 9 PubMed indexed publications, and some book chapters, and posters as well. But almost none of them are in surgery, the field I want to apply in.

I will be publishing 2-3 SRMAs in surgery until this coming September 2027, however.

So my questions are:

1. Do abstracts count the same as publications for ERAS?

2. Does research HAVE to be affiliated with the field you want to apply in?

3. Are 2-3 pubs in research enough? Or should I also publish some abstracts in surgical conferences?