clinical undergrad research question

[kneesurgeon17]

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Hi all,

I am a current biology freshman at a T5 Public school. Regarding research, which I know to be an extremely important component to med school apps, I had a few questions. After researching online and talking to fellow students I learned about the various types of research that can be done. The most common being wet lab, basic science research. However, I was also informed about clinical and translational research (which from my understanding is the more prevalent form of research that is done in med schools?) Anyhow, I was really interested in participating in clinical research, thus last month I had a meeting with a rad onc who works at my schools affiliated hospitals. I was offered the opportunity to recruit, collect data from patients, write manuscripts and contribute to longitudinal papers. I am wondering if clinical research as a whole, and this opportunity specifically is beneficial from a med school admissions pov, to me it seems to be an extremely interesting opporitoutny, however, as I am not well versed in the world of academic research and admissions I am curious as to how clinical vs wet lab research is regarded in the eyes of admission committees as well as any potential drawbacks or positives. Additionally, does clinical research count as "research" or "clinical experience" on applications. Any advice, tips, guidance is welcome.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Read

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[pazzer2]

Research of any type is valued for medical school and residency applications. Working in a translational or lab environment can yield publications, but it will generally take at least a year for anything meaningful, plus another 6 months to 1 year to get it published. Clinical research also takes time, especially if you are working on a clinical trial (roughly 2-3 years). But there are other types of clinical research that can be done more rapidly (retrospective analyses, chart reviews, etc).

It sounds like the rad onc that you met would be willing to have you work on the project. Overall it sounds like a great opportunity. Drawbacks include the fact that you may not find anything worth publishing, so time-sunk. But this applies to all types of research, not necessarily clinical research.

Being first author on a publication is seen as the most prestigious, but as you can imagine also involves the most work. The last author is typically the senior author, or the person who provides the lab funding. Those in between are authors who participated in the work. You should inquire with your PI on whether he/she might consider authorship for your contribution, or if you would solely be acknowledged. For med school apps, any type of authorship would be valued.