Cold emailing physicians at other medical schools?

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croez

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Hi all, current M1 here. As my summer approaches, I've been looking into how I can get more involved with research while also networking a little bit. Is it strange for a student to just cold email physicians at other medical schools?

Also, the schools I'd like to email are T20s- one of which is my undergrad, where I would love to be able to attend for residency, and another is just the closest university to where my family lives- essentially, the two places I would rank the highest. I attend a mid-tier med school, so would it be worth it? I have pretty extensive research experience as well.

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Do it, I had barely any research experience and I cold emailed a prof at a T5 hospital near my house. I've got ~5 projects from my PI currently, 1 papers under review now and am writing another one to submit to a top tier medical journal. Both 1st/2nd author. The PI also was kind enough to write me a LOR. Onboarding process takes a while, but its certainly worth it IMO.

In terms of networking, I've got the cell phone numbers of about ~10 docs at the institution. It is certainly worth it and I'd totally recommend reaching out. Also look on Scopus or PubMed first to see which ones publish.
 
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Hi all, current M1 here. As my summer approaches, I've been looking into how I can get more involved with research while also networking a little bit. Is it strange for a student to just cold email physicians at other medical schools?

Also, the schools I'd like to email are T20s- one of which is my undergrad, where I would love to be able to attend for residency, and another is just the closest university to where my family lives- essentially, the two places I would rank the highest. I attend a mid-tier med school, so would it be worth it? I have pretty extensive research experience as well.
What's wrong with the research opportunities at your own school?
 
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Yeah not weird at all. I found a nice T32 funded program as an M1 just by cold calling people. Lots of people will say they don’t have anything for you, but for someone who does have a need and some funding, an eager medical student is a welcome message.
 
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What's wrong with the research opportunities at your own school?
We don't have a residency in my field of interest and our department is very small. I've been doing some work with one physician in our department, but since I'll have more time in the summer, I want to get involved in more projects. Also, networking.
 
We don't have a residency in my field of interest and our department is very small. I've been doing some work with one physician in our department, but since I'll have more time in the summer, I want to get involved in more projects. Also, networking.
IMO I think this is an even more good of a reason to reach out to somewhere else near your home. I'd try to find 10-20 docs, and email them all. Hopefully at least 1 will have something for you.
 
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IMO I think this is an even more good of a reason to reach out to somewhere else near your home. I'd try to find 10-20 docs, and email them all. Hopefully at least 1 will have something for you.

Thank you for the advice, I'll do just that!
 
Hi all, current M1 here. As my summer approaches, I've been looking into how I can get more involved with research while also networking a little bit. Is it strange for a student to just cold email physicians at other medical schools?

Also, the schools I'd like to email are T20s- one of which is my undergrad, where I would love to be able to attend for residency, and another is just the closest university to where my family lives- essentially, the two places I would rank the highest. I attend a mid-tier med school, so would it be worth it? I have pretty extensive research experience as well.
I'm generally a fan of being a go-getter. I think it pays off in life. Be forward but humble and concise.
 
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