5 reasons to showcase your work in the AMA Research Challenge

The AMA Research Challenge—the largest event of its kind—offers medical students, residents, fellows, and IMGs the opportunity to showcase their scholarly pursuits in front of some of the brightest minds in medicine. The call for abstracts opened recently.

For those considering participating in the largest national, multispecialty research event for physician trainees, the final deadline to submit abstracts is July 24. Here are some key reasons you should join the event, according to past research challenge finalists.

The research challenge is a poster board competition at heart. Getting recognized as a semifinalist or finalist can be a solid bullet point on your resume or CV as you enter practice or apply for residency or fellowship positions.

A 2022 graduate of Harvard Medical School and current pediatric resident, Priya Shah, MD, was a finalist in the 2021 AMA Research Challenge for her research on trauma-informed care education. The work came up often during residency program interviews.

“People were really interested in this topic. I was able to create a novel curriculum that was student-run,” said Shah, who is in the pediatrics residency program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

If you progress far enough in the AMA Research Challenge, you have the potential to present to some of the leading researchers in medicine during the final round. This year’s final round will take place virtually.

Shah found those interactions invaluable.

“One of the best parts of taking part in research is sharing your ideas, designs and outcomes with others,” Shah said. “And hearing their feedback—what they liked and what they thought could be improved upon—that is a really valuable part of the process.”

The AMA Research Challenge takes place in a poster-presentation format, but projects can evolve. Shah found medical students and faculty members interested in continuing the curriculum and research project at Harvard after she left.

Since the AMA Research Challenge, “I’ve been able to consolidate that whole process to be able to write up my project and share about my experience,” she said. “The goal of that is to be able to share the materials with a wider group so that hopefully this curriculum can be implemented at other institutions as well.” 

At every level of the AMA Research Challenge, participants are required to make a brief video that goes along with their poster. That allows participants to hone their presentation skills in a way that could be useful down the road in a format such as grand rounds.

“Being able to present my project was a great exercise,” Shah said. “I had to think about how to present the work in a succinct way. It makes you look at the different aspects of your project and talk about them together cohesively so others who are less familiar with the topic can easily understand the entire process.”

The winning project in the 2023 AMA Research Challenge will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize, sponsored by Laurel Road. Learn more about last year’s winner, Leelabati Biswas, an MD/PhD candidate, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and her prize-winning research.