clinical versus basic science

[cluelesspremed]

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Hey all...

I'm going to be a first year medical student and was wondering...

are you (current program students) doing projects that involve clinical research or does everyone do basic science research?


All of my research experience has been in the basic sciences...and I guess I'm also wondering what exactly "clinical research" entails..

I've heard a lot of fellow interviewees talking about it but never knew what exactly them meant and didn't wanna look ******ed 🙄

Thanks guys!!

 

[oasis786]

Clinical research generally entails studying some aspect of a patient population or something that directly relates to patients. For example, this could be running clinical trials regarding outcomes of a new drug (whereas drug design itself would be considered "translational-basic" or something), correlating the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood to carviovascular disease outcomes, designing a new procedure in a surgical subspecialty...basically things that immediately relate to patients. Epidemoiology usually falls into the category of clinical research. Clinical research can also definitely involve a "bench" - that is to say that you could be doing PCR on patient samples to find where they have a mutation in a certain gene, and this would still not be considered "basic"...I guess what I'm trying to say there is that bench doesn't mean basic.

Basic research then refers to the study of things that don't immediately relate to patients. The "goal" for MSTP trainees is to be able to identify and work on projects that are basic but relevant to the clinic, which may sound easy, but you'd be surprised how many PhDs *think* they are working on something relevant to human disease compared to how many actually are...

Anyways,on a personal note, my recent Epi experiences in med school just made me realize how much more the right decision for me was to choose basic over clinical. I too had little idea of what clinical research actually was. Man, there are just so many confounding factors it's hard to believe the results of most clinical studies! It really made me appreciate mice...

 

[cluelesspremed]

Clinical research generally entails studying some aspect of a patient population or something that directly relates to patients. For example, this could be running clinical trials regarding outcomes of a new drug (whereas drug design itself would be considered "translational-basic" or something), correlating the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood to carviovascular disease outcomes, designing a new procedure in a surgical subspecialty...basically things that immediately relate to patients. Epidemoiology usually falls into the category of clinical research. Clinical research can also definitely involve a "bench" - that is to say that you could be doing PCR on patient samples to find where they have a mutation in a certain gene, and this would still not be considered "basic"...I guess what I'm trying to say there is that bench doesn't mean basic.

Basic research then refers to the study of things that don't immediately relate to patients. The "goal" for MSTP trainees is to be able to identify and work on projects that are basic but relevant to the clinic, which may sound easy, but you'd be surprised how many PhDs *think* they are working on something relevant to human disease compared to how many actually are...

Anyways,on a personal note, my recent Epi experiences in med school just made me realize how much more the right decision for me was to choose basic over clinical. I too had little idea of what clinical research actually was. Man, there are just so many confounding factors it's hard to believe the results of most clinical studies! It really made me appreciate mice...

THANKS!!

While my experiences are in basic research (very clinically related) clinical research is starting to spark my interest too...

would an md/phd program be beneficial for pursuing a career in acadmics if someone plans on doing clinical research like you talked about above (ie. w/ the surgery?)

Is there anywhere I can read up on this kind of stuff?

THANKS!!

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Clinical research and basic science research are both important. You should do whatever interests you the most at your stage in life. Regardless, the most important thing is you must learn how to do good science...and this is easier said than done!

 

[Vader]

THANKS!!

While my experiences are in basic research (very clinically related) clinical research is starting to spark my interest too...

would an md/phd program be beneficial for pursuing a career in acadmics if someone plans on doing clinical research like you talked about above (ie. w/ the surgery?)

Is there anywhere I can read up on this kind of stuff?

THANKS!!

The vast majority of MD/PhD programs (especially MSTPs) are designed for students interested in basic science research.

If you are interested in an academic clinical career doing purely clinical research, I would say that an MD is sufficient. Of course there are exceptions (i.e. epidemiology) in which you might benefit from a PhD. It really depends on what your specific interests are.