Don't Just Do It

Many medical school applicants ask me if they have to do things they don't want - like bench research - to get into med school. While having reasonable academic numbers and some clinical experience is critical, candidates can succeed while lacking traditional aspects of the application, like research.

Now, having a strong research project (especially a publication) under one's belt will almost invariably help propel an applicant's candidacy forward, but finding very strong alternatives is a reasonable option.