Can someone look over this email I'm sending to a professor I would like to do research with?

[didyouknow96]

Hello Professor Walsh,

My name is ------ and I am an undergraduate student at Boston University studying Behavior and Health. I am in my junior year and am looking to gain research experience this summer studying my foremost interest in psychology. that being the prodromal phase of schizophrenia. I am fascinated by psychosis and would like to investigate both the chemical changes in the brain that occur prior to the first episode, and the observable changes in personality. My goal is to write my senior thesis on the best options for treatment during the prodromal phase, and the best methods to help identity if an individual is in this phase (be it EEG, PET, CBT, a combination of those, etc.).

I discovered PRIME’s website about a week ago and have been exploring it since. Having the opportunity to work at PRIME this summer would be incredibly valuable for me. I currently have one semester of research experience, and by this summer I will have been an RA for two semesters. I am currently studying abroad and interning at a mental health outpatient facility, where I am able to interact with patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders on a daily basis. I also assist with therapy. This position has only begun recently and I am excited to see what other roles I will be given.

I have taken courses in developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, statistics, research methods, and human anatomy and physiology. I feel I have a strong understanding of the anatomy and functions of the brain. Next semester, in the lab I will be working at, I will be studying social and language development in children with autism. I will have the opportunity to perform EEGs as well.

I am not sure if PRIME accepts summer interns, but if you would be willing to discuss this further with me, I would be happy to send over my resume and LinkedIn.

Thank you,
-----

Does it sound professional? Any recommended changes?

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[PsychPhDone]

Hello Professor Walsh,

My name is ------ and I am an undergraduate student at Boston University studying Behavior and Health. I am in my junior year and am looking to gain research experience this summer studying my foremost interest in psychology. that being the prodromal phase of schizophrenia. I am fascinated by psychosis and would like to investigate both the chemical changes in the brain that occur prior to the first episode, and the observable changes in personality. My goal is to write my senior thesis on the best options for treatment during the prodromal phase, and the best methods to help identity if an individual is in this phase (be it EEG, PET, CBT, a combination of those, etc.).

I discovered PRIME’s website about a week ago and have been exploring it since. Having the opportunity to work at PRIME this summer would be incredibly valuable for me. I currently have one semester of research experience, and by this summer I will have been an RA for two semesters. I am currently studying abroad and interning at a mental health outpatient facility, where I am able to interact with patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders on a daily basis. I also assist with therapy. This position has only begun recently and I am excited to see what other roles I will be given.

I have taken courses in developmental psychology, abnormal psychology, statistics, research methods, and human anatomy and physiology. I feel I have a strong understanding of the anatomy and functions of the brain. Next semester, in the lab I will be working at, I will be studying social and language development in children with autism. I will have the opportunity to perform EEGs as well.

I am not sure if PRIME accepts summer interns, but if you would be willing to discuss this further with me, I would be happy to send over my resume and LinkedIn.

Thank you,
-----

Does it sound professional? Any recommended changes?

It's a lovely email but too lengthy for a first contact in my experience. I'd cut it in half and attach a CV.

 

[PsyDr]

1) "I am a student at Boston University. Do you have any volunteer positions at PRIME for the summer?". They don't have time to read what you wrote. If they have a position, they will ask more about you. If they don't they'll either say no or not respond. Include something about paid/unpaid, because they need to figure out if this is a slam dunk or if budget needs to be tweaked. Attaching a CV is a good idea.

2) Do not put you will perform EEGs. Big ethical problems there. There are professional requirements for who attaches the leads, and professional requirements for who interprets the data. EEG has a lot of quacks in the field, which can be problematic.

3) also consider including something about how you renounce the Red Sox.

 

[erg923]

3) also consider including something about how you renounce the Red Sox.

This is wicked bad advice.....

 

[Ollie123]

Advice above is generally good.

I do have to disagree with Psydr on one point. No issue at all with mentioning you perform EEGs. Tons of folks do this type of work. I don't know what professional standards he is referencing, the leading EEG researchers aren't even clinicians let alone credentialed in anything. I could train a monkey to apply a cap in an hour...maybe less depending on the equipment. Anyone "interpreting" EEG for research purposes is already a crap scientist in my view...pull it into Matlab and analyze it the way everyone else has been for 20 years now.

Basically, I think if they care whether or not you have some sort of EEG tech credential, they probably aren't very good at what they do anyways. Only folks I know who would are the weird QEEG "I can diagnose your ADHD through the magic of this random number generator I patented...trust me" people. We are years away (at best) from it actually being clinically useful for most psychopathology anyways, so I'd stay away from anyone saying otherwise.

 

[WisNeuro]

Well, I think the distinction applies to clinical vs research use of EEGs. The 10-20 system isn't hard to learn at all and labs have grads and undergrads set them up for research across the country. I did EEG/ERP work in grad school. We had undergrads who set up the cap. I set up all of mine for my dissertation, but that's more of a control issue on my part. Clinically is a different story. As in, on a long-term monitoring unit where you are looking for the presence and possible better localization of seizures, placement and technique matters. most of my after doctoral experience with eeg has been in epilepsy, where there are clear clinical uses. But yeah, qEEG is pure garbage at the moment. There may be something there, but I fear it may be tainted or quite some time due to Amen.

 

[Ollie123]

Well, I think the distinction applies to clinical vs research use of EEGs. The 10-20 system isn't hard to learn at all and labs have grads and undergrads set them up for research across the country. I did EEG/ERP work in grad school. We had undergrads who set up the cap. I set up all of mine for my dissertation, but that's more of a control issue on my part. Clinically is a different story. As in, on a long-term monitoring unit where you are looking for the presence and possible better localization of seizures, placement and technique matters. most of my after doctoral experience with eeg has been in epilepsy, where there are clear clinical uses. But yeah, qEEG is pure garbage at the moment. There may be something there, but I fear it may be tainted or quite some time due to Amen.

Yeah, seizure disorders are obviously a whole other ballgame - there it has legitimately been used clinically for decades. OP mentioned schizophrenia. If you look at the leaders in that area (Cannon, Anticevic, Frank, etc.), we're talking research settings. Which at this stage in the research, is 100% what it needs to be. Don't think I know a single person in the field who would raise eyebrows at an undergrad running EEG sessions. And these are my people, so I know a lot of them