If you are a medical student considering a research-focused career, your time in medical school is going to offer many inflection points.
Now a sixth-year neurosurgery resident in Chicago, James Mossner, MD, MS, entered medical school with a strong research background and a desire to make it part of his career in some capacity. For medical students in similar circumstances, these five questions—drawn from Dr. Mossner’s experience—can help clarify what kind of research role, if any, makes sense long term.
How much do you value patient interaction?
Having spent years working in a research laboratory between college and the beginning of his undergraduate medical education, Dr. Mossner entered medical school with extensive research experience and an idea that he wanted to pursue a career in surgery.
Surgery aligned with both his personality and his desire to apply science directly to patient care. Early exposure to the operating room made that clear.
“I just loved procedural-based things, so I knew I wanted to do something surgical,” said Dr. Mossner, an AMA member who serves as an alternate delegate for the AMA Resident and Fellow Section.
Even as someone who genuinely enjoyed research, he was drawn to work where results felt more immediate and tangible.
“I really loved being at the bench, but I was going to miss that application of scientific discovery to patient care,” he said. “I ultimately wanted to work at that interface.”
Should you pursue medical research training?
Dr. Mossner knew he had a passion for medical research entering medical school and he was considering the possibility of an MD-PhD path. He first wanted to get exposure to the practice of medicine.
“Having not done the clinical side of it, I wanted to kind of see how I felt about research once I got into med school,” he said, noting an option to pivot to an MD-PhD track was available to him.
Rather than committing to a PhD, Mossner chose a one-year master’s degree in clinical research during medical school. It helped him expand his skills to focus on more clinical research and kept his options open for residency and beyond.
“Many physicians who complete MD-PhD training go on to careers as physician-scientists, where a majority of their time is devoted to research, with more limited clinical responsibilities,” he said.
Can your medical research, clinical passions align?
Before medical school, Dr. Mossner worked in a neuroscience lab that used optogenetics to study and manipulate neural circuits, an experience that showed him how basic science could translate into direct clinical intervention.
“I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” he said, adding that it “it influenced me to go down the clinical trajectory that I did by wanting to choose a clinical specialty that involved modulating neural circuits.”
For medical students considering their specialty and residency options, finding areas in which your research and clinical interest can be a key to finding the right specialty fit.
Does a specialty allow room for medical research?
As medical students think about career paths, it’s important to consider if a specialty values research—most of those considered highly competitive emphasize research experiences in residency selection—and if it’s sustainable or even possible to conduct research in addition to the demands of being a resident physician.
“In many clinically intensive specialties, especially procedural ones, balancing research with patient care can be challenging because of the time demands of the operating room,” Dr. Mossner said. “That often shapes the kinds of research projects trainees pursue.”
Dr. Mossner noted that certain specialties and programs might build research time into clinical rotations, including neurosurgery.
Because of the demands of a surgical specialty, Dr. Mossner focused on clinical and translational research projects that could coexist with long days in the operating room, rather than full-time bench work.
Should research goals inform residency applications?
While medical students don’t need to have a clear idea of how research might be part of their career path on day one—or even day 500—of training, when it comes time to apply to residency, you should try to at least have early exposure to it.
To gain an understanding of what types of program settings might support his research goals, Dr. Mossner did away rotations at neurosurgery programs that differed from his home institution.
“I didn’t want to go to places that were going to affirm everything I already experienced,” said Dr. Mossner. “I wanted to go to institutions that were all very different from each other and [different from] my home program.”
His experiences shed light on the types of program settings that would allow him to focus on his research interest and desired fellowship path.
“I really wanted to be at more of an academic-type institution that did have opportunities for research, specifically in the subspecialty I was interested in,” said Dr. Mossner who will begin a fellowship in stereotactic and functional neurosurgery in Oregon in July 2027.
For medical students looking to hone their research skills, the AMA offers resources and programs that bring you from the basics all the way to the AMA Research Challenge where you can compete for a $10,000 prize.
