Clinical Research Experience

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yankeelifesaver

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Hi-- I'm graduating this year and applying for med school admission for Fall of 2009. In my year off I would very much like to work in a hospital doing clinical research. I'm looking to be in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, or D.C..

I don't know how to go about looking for position openings. I'd appreciate any advice people have.

I'm graduating with a B.S. in Neuroscience and have taken a medical terminology course and volunteered in a hospital during high school. I could work in any field, but I'd be most interested in neurology, psychiatry, and surgery.

Which websites can best direct my inquiries? When should I apply/pursue this further-- is it too early now to start looking for jobs in June?

If you have any experience in this job hunt, please respond! Thanks!

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many will disagree with me, but i would advise against clinical research.

a student's role in clinical research is VERY limited and you will be doing MOSTLY paperwork and phone-calling. This is mainly because the companies that hold clinical trials have EXTREMELY strict guidelines on who can touch the patient.

this may vary depending on the hospital you are at, but just make sure to ask directly how much patient contact you will have before committing.
 
many will disagree with me, but i would advise against clinical research.

a student's role in clinical research is VERY limited and you will be doing MOSTLY paperwork and phone-calling. This is mainly because the companies that hold clinical trials have EXTREMELY strict guidelines on who can touch the patient.

this may vary depending on the hospital you are at, but just make sure to ask directly how much patient contact you will have before committing.

yes, you should definitely be careful and know what you're getting into. clinical research could potentially be a bunch of paperwork, just as bench research could potentially be washing glassware all day.

however, i found an excellent clinical research mentor who wrote an outstanding letter of rec for me, taught me a lot, and let me play a major role in the research, which resulted in a couple co-authored papers that i was able to talk about enthusiastically at medical school interviews. if you can find an exciting atmosphere and friendly and supportive PI at a medical school or hospital, it could be a worthwhile experience.

it will be easiest to find a position at a med school or hospital. cancer research probably has the most positions. if you're interested, you could send your resume to various PIs at dana-farber, memorial sloan kettering, etc. and see what happens.

also check out clinicaltrials.gov, look for project or PIs that interest you, and then contact the PI (e-mail is probably best).
 
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I agree with enigma. Cancer research is huge, and a lot of so-called "clinical research" involves taking biopsies from patients (which you obviously can't do), and then doing a bunch of basic science on the samples. That is a very fruitful area that you can easily get involved in (I did my thesis that way), and I would highly recommend it. Sloan-Kettering is great for this, obviously, but med schools in cities you might be interested in will have PIs who are associate/assistant professors; these guys are still in practice and working their way up the ladder. They will have a lot going on in terms of the amalgam of lab work and patient contact.
 
I am currently a clinical researcher at Stanford, and I can tell you that there definately can be patient contact doing clinical trials. As the trial coordinator, I pretty much run the visit, as well as take histories, record adverse events, etc.

I got my job by emailing my PI. I suggest finding out what their area of expertise is, i.e. working with a specific disease/condition.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, and good luck with your search! :)
 
I've had a similar experience to gobears - I think it's worthwhile if you can find a supportive PI who is open to letting you get really involved. I take histories, consent patients, shadow my PI on interesting cases, and do some regulatory paperwork. I get to travel because I'm working on an international, multi-site study and I have learned a lot about Endocrinology and Diabetes which is the division I work in.

Engima made a great point about searching at a med school or university hospital where there is a lot of interesting work going on. You will also have a number of students working in various aspects of research at such a site, so a lot of the PIs and staff are familiar with a student's schedule. My PI is very flexible about me leaving early for class or taking a half day to study for an exam.

I would suggest just searching for PIs online in fields/hospitals you are interested in working at and asking them if they need help. Also for large, university hospitals, check out the university website and see if they have anything online that posts jobs or at least ideas on how to get one. PM me if you need any other help or advice!
 
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