Pre Med? Research?

[ATB Pre Med]

What are a few topics that's good for research?

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[Dulcina]

What are a few topics that's good for research?

I'm not totally sure what you're asking, but if youre asking for appropriate topics to do research in as a premed, my first advice is to choose anything that personally interests you. If it is medically related, even more appropriate, but anything will do.

 

[jtimmer1]

Do what interests you.

 

[silverlining1]

As others have said, there are endless topics that would be suitable. Think about what area you want to do research in, whether it be ancient Greek military history, developmental psychology, plant biology, or inorganic chemistry. Look up what the faculty at your school are doing, and contact those whose interests jive with yours. I believe that it's more important to commit to your research for a decent amount of time and really learn/contribute. There's no "short list" of appropriate topics.

 

[beachblonde]

Do what you find interesting.

I promise you, no medical school is going to say, "Well, Joe did research on tumor cells, and Susie did research on worms. Clearly, Susie is worthless and not a viable candidate for our medical school."

One of my friends in college did research on deep-sea tube worms. Does it have anything to do with medicine, even tangentially? Nope. Did it matter? Vandy didn't seem to think so.

 

[cyclin M]

Do what you find interesting.

I promise you, no medical school is going to say, "Well, Joe did research on tumor cells, and Susie did research on worms. Clearly, Susie is worthless and not a viable candidate for our medical school."

One of my friends in college did research on deep-sea tube worms. Does it have anything to do with medicine, even tangentially? Nope. Did it matter? Vandy didn't seem to think so.

C elegans = worms --> RNAi --> Nobel prize

Don't diss the worms.

 

[beachblonde]

C elegans = worms --> RNAi --> Nobel prize

Don't diss the worms.

C. elegans are a wee bit different than these giant tube worm thingies my friend worked on, looking at CO2 or something.

My point was more about doing something you like, not something you think med schools will like. And certainly not worrying about getting a Nobel prize.

 

[cyclin M]

C. elegans are a wee bit different than these giant tube worm thingies my friend worked on, looking at CO2 or something.

My point was more about doing something you like, not something you think med schools will like. And certainly not worrying about getting a Nobel prize.

I'm just giving you a hard time. I remember reading about some guy who did tomato plant research but he was so enthusiastic about it the adcoms were impressed.

 

[Rabbit36]

While the options are limitless, they aren't limitless in your school, so look at the websites of various professors and make a list of some of the most interesting labs. You can think of the best project ever, but if there isn't a lab where you can do it it's not going to happen. Find a lab you think is cool, read some papers coming out of it and see if you'd like to be around some of that stuff. Don't approach it thinking "what will really impress adcoms" but instead use it as a chance to see where the science you're studying in classes actually comes from.

Also ask yourself if you want to do research beyond undergrad, something that's kind of hard to answer until you've done research for a little while, but if so find a lab where you can learn valuable skills like PCR/In-situ hybridization/histology etc etc. Nothing is more valuable to future labs than not having to train you in these. You can ask the PI what some interesting topics are and they'll have a whole list of things the post-docs or grad students can't be bothered with but that might be fulfilling for you. Since you're new to research, I'd recommend starting at a smaller lab instead of a big Nobel-winner's lab where you'll never interact with the PI. In the smaller lab you'll probably be given more responsibility and freedom to choose your project, so you probably won't be turned off from research forever like you might pipetting all day in a big deal lab.

 

[Dissected]

I'm just giving you a hard time. I remember reading about some guy who did tomato plant research but he was so enthusiastic about it the adcoms were impressed.

I guess thats what matters...great story!

 

[Lukkie]

i hear that cancer thing is here to stay