Advice on finding a research project

[Chlorophyll Oracle]

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I'd love some tips on finding research to do as a medical student. My university has a department to go through that will help you find a project, but that hasn't been able to find me anything (prior to virus breakout). If you did research, I'm wondering what you did to find a project. How you found people doing research and how to reach out to them. I appreciate any advice!

 

[neriticzone]

Whatever field(s) you’re interested in, find the faculty who are publishing and send them your CV/email expresssing interest. Every research opportunity I’ve had was from cold calling.

 

[plshelpvanxious]

I just emailed people directly. It's good to be clear about your specific goals if you have any.
I find people by looking up a directory for whatever department I'm most interested in, randomly picking, and putting their name and institution into google scholar to see what they've been researching lately.

 

[AlteredScale]

I'd love some tips on finding research to do as a medical student. My university has a department to go through that will help you find a project, but that hasn't been able to find me anything (prior to virus breakout). If you did research, I'm wondering what you did to find a project. How you found people doing research and how to reach out to them. I appreciate any advice!

Email faculty directly with an attached CV. But don’t just email them blindly, do some digging, read their research interests and some of their abstracts, see if they’ve been publishing and if they have funding (if looking into basic science work). Then email once you find people who’s research interests you and you can gauge that the experience will be productive in your 4 short years of medical school.


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[neriticzone]

if they have funding

a lot of clinical faculty who are active in research/publishing don't have external funding. more of an indicator for basic research productivity

 

[AlteredScale]

a lot of clinical faculty who are active in research/publishing don't have external funding. more of an indicator for basic research productivity

Good point, edited my above post to address this.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

If you’re interested in clinical research, ask faculty or residents if there is something in the works that you can help with that could lead to a potential authorship. Don’t forget about residents! They can often be the ones with the boots on the ground who know what needs to be done for projects. Sometimes faculty assume a more supervisory role.

If you prove yourself useful, projects almost always beget more projects.

 

[VaultArmitage]

All the research projects I've had the chance to work on came about because I reached out to the PI directly. I would highly recommend not only using an online application because that won't set you apart. Send them an email with your CV and make sure to talk about why exactly YOU want to work on that project. I would also encourage highlighting specific skills that are on your CV that you can contribute to the project (like experience with Python/R, wet lab techniques you're great at, etc).

Once you find a PI to work with, ask them to refer you to other people that are doing research that fall within your expertise.

 

[vkarp]

If you’re interested in clinical research, ask faculty or residents if there is something in the works that you can help with that could lead to a potential authorship. Don’t forget about residents! They can often be the ones with the boots on the ground who know what needs to be done for projects. Sometimes faculty assume a more supervisory role.

If you prove yourself useful, projects almost always beget more projects.

How can you know which residents are doing research and how to contact them? As some hospitals show the residents’ names without any contact and/or some hospitals do not even release any info about their residents

 

[Frogger27]

If the department has a research coordinator that may be the best person to start with

 

[FistLength]

I just emailed people directly. It's good to be clear about your specific goals if you have any.
I find people by looking up a directory for whatever department I'm most interested in, randomly picking, and putting their name and institution into google scholar to see what they've been researching lately.

Email faculty directly with an attached CV. But don’t just email them blindly, do some digging, read their research interests and some of their abstracts, see if they’ve been publishing and if they have funding (if looking into basic science work). Then email once you find people who’s research interests you and you can gauge that the experience will be productive in your 4 short years of medical school.

Pretty much this. What is important, and can be intimidating as a medical student, is clearly outlining the role of authorship expectations. As a resident engaged in research, I talk about this with attendings before starting a project. People do not want to broach this topic but its better to be honest and clear from the beginning to avoid problems later on. You can evaluate if the project is worth it or not. You are working for free, you should get authorship out of it.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

How can you know which residents are doing research and how to contact them? As some hospitals show the residents’ names without any contact and/or some hospitals do not even release any info about their residents

I’ll admit it’s harder if you’re not around the hospital. Asking in person is better, if you’re on a certain service or interact with residents frequently.

If you’re going to email, it would be better reaching out to faculty since you can look at their CV and screen their research experience before reaching out. Emailing residents may not work out unless you get a recommended name of a resident who is active in research.