Clinical vs. lab based research?

[dakims]

I am currently working as a research assistant in a lab doing research with mice and such. I'm debating whether or not this is the best place for me. I'm stuck with a not so great mentor and I'm not really getting to do my own research. There is an opportunity for clinical research about literacy and written screening tools for patients at hospitals which I thought would be awesome (they teach you how to take a history, and let you observe surgeries!!!). Should I just quit the lab I'm in right now and give up on the lab based research and just try this out?

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[go lakers]

good part about clinical research is you get clinical experience/exposure as well. try both for a bit if you can and see which one you enjoy more.

 

[puchi]

I just go into a clinical research program!! Its a great experience, you get to see a lot. I say go for the clinical research.

 

[45408]

Get accepted into the clinical research program before you leave the one that you're doing now though. A bird in hand is better than two in the bush.

 

[SoxPatriots]

I think being an author on a basic science paper can carry more weight, but maybe not if your the 8th author.

However, as you probably can tell basic science papers take a lot more time, frustration, and may never work out.

If you get involved in clinical research you can potentially pump out more papers in less time and count it towards clinical exposure as already mentioned.

I would stay on your current project since youre already invested time if you think you'll be included in a publication. Once the project is wrapping up switch to clinical and you'll be in awesome shape.

 

[Rotinaj1985]

Definitely get the clinical experience! Adcoms see this as more relevant to your future as an MD compared to working at a bench.

 

[spilledmilk]

I've done and thoroughly enjoyed both. However, from my experience there's a lot more relevant clinical experience as well as a lot more opportunity to get published in clinical research. Plus, nothing beats scrubbing in on some surgeries! If you're unlucky your lab research will never go anywhere...or your hypothesis will be incorrect and provide entirely uninteresting results. At that point you have not gained any clinical experience or plumped your app with a publication. So unless you really enjoy your research or see potential publications ahead (or you're getting paid well) I'd go for the clinical.

 

[dakims]

Thanks for the input everyone! I have an interview with him to talk about plans for the summer. Sad thing is I just asked my PI I am currently with if I could work during the summer and he said possibly depending on his grants. I shouldn't have asked!!

Also, is "lab-based" the correct name or is there another technical name that I don't know of?

BTW here is a description:
Techniques used in this lab: Students will learn the most important skill in medicine: the art of taking a history. Students will also gain confidence in patient interaction while learn common and important urological measurements of BPH. Finally, students will be allowed to scrub into surgery where they will observe surgical techniques.
Additional Comments: Our research aims to address problems of critical importance through simple solutions. While cloning a gene may be exciting, equally important is mitigating the impact of depression or literacy on patient care. This research also happens to be 'soft-fail' research, meaning that even unintended results tend to be publishable. Students will have the opportunity to learn not only clinical techniques, but also the art of publishing scientific data during their summer.

 

[Contentablue]

I'd advise you to be aware at what type of clinical research you go into. If you go into the biological aspects of clinical research, you'll have plenty of opportunity to do what others have said (ie, scrub into surgeries, do basic questioning to patients, basic physicals, take histories, etc). If you go into a psychosocial type of clinical research program, you'll likely get less clinical contact. Also, be aware (for clinical research in general) that you'll probably be quite involved with the IRB and a bunch of administrative mumbo jumbo . Good experience all around though!

 

[Law2Doc]

Definitely get the clinical experience! Adcoms see this as more relevant to your future as an MD compared to working at a bench.

Careful with this. Many adcoms consider clinical research to be research, NOT clinical experience (regardless of the degree of patient contact). I know of several people now who were saddened to learn (from interviewers/adcoms) that their clinical research didn't count as clinical exposure and that their ECs were lacking. If you are going to do clinical research I would still get volunteering experience on top of this. And in terms of research, adcoms aren't going to care if it's bench or clinical.

 

[BigRedPremed]

For me, bench research is a little more interesting and I get a greater feeling of accomplishment when I finally get results. However, there is no doubt that clinical research is much much easier to do and much easier to publish. In med school, I may sell out and do clinical research to get 1-2 pubs for residency applications.

 

[etf]

i work in "translational research", so i get the best of both worlds!