If you clear it ahead of time, you can often have your summer research count towards fulfilling these requirements. D. program and your Faculty Advisor can help you. You don't want to wait until the National Boards Exam Part I is staring you in the face to start thinking about graduate school. With coursework taking up the first 12-18 months of grad school, you ll want to pick an advisor and get working on a good project as soon as possible in order to finish in a timely fashion. D. students during the second year of medical school.
Some students choose to continue doing research, others focus completely on medical school.
Whatever you do, you should once again plan to do research during the summer. Be sure to make your arrangements early in the year. One reason for this is that other graduate students in your department will also be looking for summer lab spots - by Spring most of the better labs could be filled. D. student move along through graduate school. So set up your summer research plans early while there are more opportunities and fewer distractions.