Clinical research

[sunshine02]

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I've heard from a couple of people that in clinical research, it is often easier to generate publications by undergrads. Is this true?

 

[Lya]

I am not sure about "easier" but I think you meant "quicker compared with basic science research." Medical students might answer that better for you, but from what I know, yes, it's "relatively" quicker to publish. But I don't want to say it's necessarily "easier" than basic science research, though. Just my opinion.

 

[imnamerican]

I am not sure about "easier" but I think you meant "quicker compared with basic science research." Medical students might answer that better for you, but from what I know, yes, it's "relatively" quicker to publish. But I don't want to say it's necessarily "easier" than basic science research, though. Just my opinion.

+1. I work in research with a department where residents are almost expected to finish with at least a few publications, and most of them choose to do clinical research because it's a more efficient use of their time in cranking out pubs.

I think overall, you're less likely in clinical research to have strange protocol-related drawbacks (mice aren't cooperating, antibody isn't binding optimally, etc) that suck up so much of your time like in basic science research.

 

[sunshine02]

Is a clinical research publication "less impressive" than a purely hard-core wetlab-research publication? I understand that both are very very hard to get, but was just curious after some people mentioned that clinical research tends to churn out pubs faster.

 

[imnamerican]

Is a clinical research publication "less impressive" than a purely hard-core wetlab-research publication? I understand that both are very very hard to get, but was just curious after some people mentioned that clinical research tends to churn out pubs faster.

If you ask PhD's in microbiology, yes. At the level of med school admissions, any difference is insignificant, especially if you can fit your clinical research into your "story" about your interests in medicine.

 

[911 Turbo]

please dont do something you dont care about ffs

 

[nysegop]

I wouldn't say it's easier to get published.

 

[jemstone]

I posted this elsewhere, but in my experience in clinical research, yes there is a greater volume of publications from the lab/clinic itself, but the involvement of an undergraduate is so insignificant most of the time, and SO MANY people are involved in some clinical research studies that the list of authors on some publications can be so long as to be obsolete. You will often be listed in the "study team" in an appendix. In rare cases, as has been presented to me, there will be a much smaller study being conducted, and your PI will trust you to take a larger role (data analysis, etc.) and will include you as a second author or something. But just as with other publications, it's about being in the right place at the right time. So it's really not an "easier" thing to do.

 

[mmmcdowe]

It's faster but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is easier for a pre-med to get published because the fact of the matter is your skill level makes you highly replaceable and often less reliable than medical student/resident effort. Because of that, you may not be placed on every publication that you put effort into the data collection. Technically, data collection alone is not enough for authorship, even though in many situations it is given for just that. In other words, you have to get luck on who you work with.If you can come up with your own idea, that often increases your publishing chances.

 

[Aerus]

I've heard from a couple of people that in clinical research, it is often easier to generate publications by undergrads. Is this true?

Many pre-meds who do clinical research don't get published because there are very few skills to develop.

If you wants to publish on clinical papers, you'll have to get to know the doctor running the experiment. If he decides to personally add you to his "team", then your chances go up. Otherwise, there's just too many replaceable premeds out there to do the grunt work, unlike bench research where these skills and knowledge take longer to hone and develop.

 

[beethousand]

This might sound like a stupid question but does getting listed on the team in a publication count as having a publication? That is, when most premeds get "published," is this what they are referring to?

 

[jemstone]

This might sound like a stupid question but does getting listed on the team in a publication count as having a publication? That is, when most premeds get "published," is this what they are referring to?

When you're on a study team, usually your name is listed in an appendix, and you can technically list this in your CV/application, but this isn't what people are referring to when they say "published". Published means your name is in the list of authors whether you're first, second, or somewhere in between author.

 

[phunky]

It really depends on the research. I'm about to start working on a project that will follow 700 post-op patients in recovery. That most certainly will not be a quick publication and a lot can go wrong. Another project I'm working on involves computer modeling, which will be a hell of a lot faster than keeping track of 700 people.

 

[ventulus18]

Undergrads approach me frequently for "clinical research opportunities." It's not impossible, but getting access to patient records isn't very straightforward at our hospital. I usually try to get them started on a case report. Getting a first author case report is a great way to get a publication out, get something done quickly, and learn some basic writing skills (endnote, literature search, etc.) With a case report under your belt, review articles could be the next step. Ambition, interest, quality of work, and timeliness go a long way.

One of the things that will help you move past the case report / review article stage is a good biostats course, even those on Coursera. Don't let your efforts get scooped just because you are an undergrad or medical student. Have conversations up front about "wanting a leadership position" on the project or something along those lines. You don't want to be playing a star role in the acknowledgements section if you did most of the work. Seek out mentors that have track records of working with undergrads/med students and publish frequently (do a little detective work on pubmed/googlescholar ).