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Med School Insiders
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You should work in the lab where you'll be doing the most intellectual work, I.e the closest thing to real research as possible. If a publication comes out of it, bonus points, if not, that's totally fine. It's not an expectation at all.
 
Yea like Juan said, just make sure it's interesting enough for you to really know the research they do in depth so when it comes up during interviews, you know exactly what you're talking about, and they know that you know what you're talking about.
 
Publications are nice, but not necessary for med school admission. Heck, a lot of people here in SDN (and a lot of students I know) have been admitted to med school with little to no research experience.

Like the others have said, it's all about how you can learn something from this experience, such as a possible topic of interest during an interview or even just a general understanding of how research works, the mind set you need to have to conduct research, and if it is something you want to pursue in the future or not.

But if you really want to get some publications and you are in a fairly large research heavy undergrad, I find that a lot of organic chemistry undergrads can get published pretty easily, because the synthetic organic chemistry field is just a really big race between dozens of labs to synthesize a specific kind of molecule and so PIs push students to get a lot of results in a short amount of time.
 
If you just want your name on something, go to a lab where they will tack your name onto a paper just for doing sample prep or some rote data analysis.

Or get lucky and get a project that gives you positive data for every experiment you do. That's the road to a quick publication.
 
In my opinion, the only reason you should find a new lab is if you genuinely dislike your current research and have some well-defined interests that can guide you in choosing a new lab. There's no guarantee that you will enjoy the new lab you choose, even if their research summary seems interesting.
For even the most research-intensive medical schools, your ability to articulate what you learned from your research (in the interview, personal statement, etc.) and the strength of your PI's recommendation are much more important than whether or not your name is in the nth spot on some publication. It is certainly a plus to have a publication, but not at the expense of the former two. Also, many large labs that publish frequently may not afford undergraduates the close mentoring relationships that often lead to better letters and a more enriching learning experience.
Ultimately I think your decision on whether to switch labs should come down to whether or not (a) your PI is a a good mentor; (b) you find the research interesting, even if slightly (c) you will be given the opportunity to become deeply involved in the research, from formulating hypotheses to planning and conducting experiments; and (d) you enjoy the lab environment and the company of your lab mates. If a publication materializes, bonus for you. If not, you are not at any disadvantage. Good luck!
 
DrHart said:
It's sounds like you aren't exactly doing research for the right reasons. My impression is that your goal for getting your name on a pub is more important than the experience itself. I wouldn't stay if this is the case. Just my two cents
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Most premed and med students do research to put this on their CVs and possibly get published.

I don't really care about the whole experience because it's not like I will be doing full time research as a physician. This whole experience talk is what PI's use to lure you to their lab and they can get some free or discounted labor.
 
futuredoc520 said:
Hey everyone,

I'm a first-year undergran, and I've been volunteering in a neuroscience research lab since October. I find the research slightly interesting, and I do try to make the most of my time while I'm in the lab. However, my concern is that I won't be able to get my name in a paper before application time. There is a senior in the lab currently who might get his name in this year on a paper, even though he's been in the lab for three years.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out here. Should I find a new lab that is more interesting and possibly has more publications? If so, which department would you recommend?
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A lab that has more pubs doesn't mean you'll necessarily get you name published on them. It depends on what phase the lab you are in is currently in. If they're collecting data, you're not going to get published immediately. But you possibly can in the future.

In order to get published, your PI needs to see that you not just perform manual labor like a donkey in the lab. Anyone with decent hands can do that. You need to be able to contribute, plan, interpret, analyze, and produce alternative ideas for the experiments and data that are collected. In essence, you need to be making an active contribution to the scientific method.

The good news is that you can do all of this in the current "data collecting "phase of a lab because you have the time to play around with stuff. So I recommend you pop a squat on your lab's bench and make me some buffer solutions and wash dishes! Your dedication will land you a project soon enough. Have faith. You're a freshman. Good job for getting in on this early
 
Lysinee said:
Most premed and med students do research to put this on their CVs and possibly get published.

I don't really care about the whole experience because it's not like I will be doing full time research as a physician. This whole experience talk is what PI's use to lure you to their lab and they can get some free or discounted labor.
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The skills, lessons, and maturity you gain can be applied to much more than direct participation in any kind of research as a physician. PIs are investing a lot by providing undergrads with the resources, time, and manpower to train you to do anything.
 
MaxPlancker said:
The skills, lessons, and maturity you gain can be applied to much more than direct participation in any kind of research as a physician. PIs are investing a lot by providing undergrads with the resources, time, and manpower to train you to do anything.
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Eh, depends on the lab. Some PIs go the extra mile for undergrad students. Most pawn them off to a postdoc or grad student.
 
Reckoner said:
Eh, depends on the lab. Some PIs go the extra mile for undergrad students. Most pawn them off to a postdoc or grad student.
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I would only join a PI who has a track record of working with students and I would check his pubs and see if any students get authorship. I care more about the PI than the area of research s/he is doing.
 
Reckoner said:
Eh, depends on the lab. Some PIs go the extra mile for undergrad students. Most pawn them off to a postdoc or grad student.
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True but if you go into the lab not valuing the experience beyond putting it on the CV, you certainly won't come off as the kind of student the PI wants to mentor at a high level.
 
Reckoner said:
Eh, depends on the lab. Some PIs go the extra mile for undergrad students. Most pawn them off to a postdoc or grad student.
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It can still be a valuable experience even if you are not working directly under a PI. It will depend on the project, your role, your level of skill, and how much the PI and grad student care about this project. I would say a good measure would be how "hungry" the grad student or post doc is. Getting pawned off doesn't have to be a bad thing. However, the end goal should be to work on your own independent project within the lab and be treated like a young grad student might be treated - provided you actually care about research.

P.S haven't seen you in a while Reckoner.
P.P.S I appreciate the new Confederacy of Dunces reference, or maybe I never noticed it before

If the goal is to get published well...that really depends on the field, the lab, the project, your skill set, your level of involvement and will, and a ton of luck. I'm on a project right now that will either result in a publication or just more work in three months depending on the results of a few experiments and calculations. Sure there's a hypothesis but if science was certain then this job would be boring and non-existent.

My advice: If you have tried out research and enjoy it then continue, if not just quit. I think everyone should try research but a lot of it is VERY TEDIOUS, boring, arbitrary, and incredibly confusing for very amateur scientists, as most premeds are, myself included. If your goal is just to get published to put it on your resume then it really isn't worth it. Your time is best spent somewhere else. Research isn't even listed by the AAMC in their report about what adcoms think is most important for acceptance into medical school. Research is key at only a few institutions in this country and if research isn't for you then these schools are most likely not for you (not necessarily, but you get the point). Thinking like a scientist, understanding the process, developing curiously and a capacity for original thought should be your primary goals as an undergraduate researcher. Secondary goals, provided you wish to continue with research as a career, is to familiarize yourself with the politics of academia, gain enough lab skills so that you can work in a variety of labs in the future and can be an asset in said labs. Publishing is the icing on the cake. "Publish or die" applies only to PhD students.
 
Lucca said:
It can still be a valuable experience even if you are not working directly under a PI. It will depend on the project, your role, your level of skill, and how much the PI and grad student care about this project. I would say a good measure would be how "hungry" the grad student or post doc is. Getting pawned off doesn't have to be a bad thing. However, the end goal should be to work on your own independent project within the lab and be treated like a young grad student might be treated - provided you actually care about research.

P.S haven't seen you in a while Reckoner.
P.P.S I appreciate the new Confederacy of Dunces reference, or maybe I never noticed it before
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👍 Haven't been around for a minute. Lab and school and such. I agree with you - experiences are variable and the ideal student would be fully committed to research. I do think there's room for the relatively disinterested student in many labs, though, as long as those students continue to exist. Unless training them is sucking up lots of time or money, the lab gets cheap labor, the student gets a shiny CV, and maybe they discover a genuine interest in science.

But yeah, OP, as long as you like the people in your lab I say stick with it. 4 years working in the same place is going to look plenty impressive to adcoms regardless of publication record, if that's what you care about.
 
DrHart said:
It's sounds like you aren't exactly doing research for the right reasons. My impression is that your goal for getting your name on a pub is more important than the experience itself. I wouldn't stay if this is the case. Just my two cents
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THIS.
 
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