2 research options, what do you think?

[Mr. Beefy Lion]

Hi,

I am a student interested in rad onc. Currently choosing between 2 mentors that I would be doing research with.

Option 1, research is head in neck looking at outcomes in of various treatments based on mutational status. Sounds interesting to me, mentor is higher up in department, would that have implications for letters of rec and residency app?

Option 2, looking at outcomes of radiotherapy based on metabolic variables i.e obesity. Slightly more interesting to me, mentor not as high up in department.


I guess I have 2 questions. 1.) how much/if any does the tenure of your mentor influence the strength of letter of rec for residency applications?

2.) since radiation oncology is such a research and technology intensive field, does doing research based more on metabolic factors carry less weight?

Thanks

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[evilbooyaa]

Hi,

I am a student interested in rad onc. Currently choosing between 2 mentors that I would be doing research with.

Option 1, research is head in neck looking at outcomes in of various treatments based on mutational status. Sounds interesting to me, mentor is higher up in department, would that have implications for letters of rec and residency app?

Option 2, looking at outcomes of radiotherapy based on metabolic variables i.e obesity. Slightly more interesting to me, mentor not as high up in department.


I guess I have 2 questions. 1.) how much/if any does the tenure of your mentor influence the strength of letter of rec for residency applications?

2.) since radiation oncology is such a research and technology intensive field, does doing research based more on metabolic factors carry less weight?

Thanks

Look up the publication history of both. See what their volume is (assuming they've had medical students before), and see what authorship the medical student got on the paper (ideally within top 2 or 3 IMO).

Ask the PIs if other medical students have worked with them in the past, and reach out to those medical students for a review of how the research experience was.

To answer your questions - 1) The research itself won't necessarily matter who its with, that'll mostly depend on the quality of journal and which author you are. However, the LoR you get from your research PI (highly recommended) DOES matter on the name-recognition your mentor has. Not necessarily the tenure exactly, but name-recognition is important for sure.
2) Shouldn't really matter - if there is a differing effect of RT in patients with obesity, every Rad Onc in America would love to know given the significant overweight/obese population. I would personally see it as a very different research topic (although I would expect a negative study for the most part)

 

[Mr. Beefy Lion]

Look up the publication history of both. See what their volume is (assuming they've had medical students before), and see what authorship the medical student got on the paper (ideally within top 2 or 3 IMO).

Ask the PIs if other medical students have worked with them in the past, and reach out to those medical students for a review of how the research experience was.

To answer your questions - 1) The research itself won't necessarily matter who its with, that'll mostly depend on the quality of journal and which author you are. However, the LoR you get from your research PI (highly recommended) DOES matter on the name-recognition your mentor has. Not necessarily the tenure exactly, but name-recognition is important for sure.
2) Shouldn't really matter - if there is a differing effect of RT in patients with obesity, every Rad Onc in America would love to know given the significant overweight/obese population. I would personally see it as a very different research topic (although I would expect a negative study for the most part)

Hey thanks for the reply (love the avatar by the way, huge South Park fan). So is it accurate to say that studies showing no difference in treatment outcomes between, say, obese and lean individuals more difficult to publish? If so shouldn't I also consider this when deciding on a mentor?

 

[evilbooyaa]

Hey thanks for the reply (love the avatar by the way, huge South Park fan). So is it accurate to say that studies showing no difference in treatment outcomes between, say, obese and lean individuals more difficult to publish? If so shouldn't I also consider this when deciding on a mentor?

It's definitely harder to get negative studies published, in general. Especially a negative study about something that people haven't bothered or are interested in. For example, your study, if negative, isn't really interesting. A negative study showing that a widely accepted treatment modality is no better than a less aggressive therapy, that's interesting.

So yes, the first study is interesting regardless, given the interest of whether we should dose de-escalate in HPV+ H&N cancer patients. I think there has been some retrospective stuff done already, so I'd do a lit search on your planned topic so you're not doing something that has already been done excessively.