Lab Experience without Publications/Presentations?

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almostnever

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I'm applying to med schools next cycle and have a couple questions about lab experience.

1) Is it bad to end a year long lab experience without any publications or presentations? I will have a strong LOR and my name on a couple papers down the road, but those papers will not likely even be under review when I apply. If I do stay in my lab through next app cycle, I will have multiple presentations at large conferences in the summer and following spring. Would that make much of a difference?

My boss at my clinical job has informed me that they will likely be increasing my hours in the spring, and I would like to resign from my research position at that point. I did have research experience in undergrad, in a different field, and left with multiple LOR's and acknowledgements on two papers. I wanted to gain more lab experience in a research field I preferred so I began working in my current lab, but I've realized I no longer wish to pursue a career in research.

2) As long as I can speak intelligently about all projects I worked on and what I got out of the lab, would it hurt me as an applicant to focus just on my other job and EC's while applying?

Yes, I know people to apply to med school without any research experience, but I ask these questions because I am already involved in research.


Thanks for any advice!

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1) No, it is common for people's research to end in a poster presentation but not any sort of pub.
2) No, adcoms understand if you focus on a job with all your spare hours, and a year of research with a good amount to talk about should have that box checked and then some.
 
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I did research for multiple years without any pubs or poster presentation. Never had to elaborate on research at all during my interviews but I guess it depends on who your interviewer is.
 
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As long as I can speak intelligently about all projects I worked on and what I got out of the lab, would it hurt me as an applicant to focus just on my other job and EC's while applying?
No, it won't hurt you. Between the two research gigs, you will have above-average research involvement to list on your application.
 
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