Continuous research in one place or a variety?

[connieyayy]

I'm currently a sophomore doing my first semester of research. This summer I wanted to go to another state (personal/financial reasons) and hopefully find research to do there, as well as study for my MCAT . However, I am also planning on studying abroad the fall semester of my junior year. I will be doing research that semester as well, but obviously not with the same professors.

My goals are to try and get something published around the time I'm applying for med school, which would be 2017.

That would give me 2 sophomore semesters and 1 spring junior year semester with my current PI, as well as a summer and 1 semester at other labs. Does this seem too.... frivolous? Like, would it be better for me to stay with the same lab this summer instead of going somewhere else? I will be trying my hardest to make sure the topic I'm researching stays constant of course, but it may not be exactly the same.

Do adcoms prefer that you stick with one lab your entire career? How necessary is it to get something published?

I'd really like some outside advice about this!

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[Doudline]

Certain people get published after a semester or two of 10h/week, and others don't get published at all after 4 years of 30h/week. It's a huge crapshoot.

If you want to maximize your chances, aim for a lab that publishes a lot. When I started looking for research positions, I noticed that some of the PI hadn't published in two or three years, whereas others published 15 papers a year! Your odds of getting a publication in the first case are pretty abysmal, no matter how hard you work.

That being said, getting published is a non-necessity. Only a tiny minority of accepted students have publications. You want to develop research skills first. If a publication comes too, great! If it doesn't, you haven't lost anything.

 

[Slave to the Game]

The summer plan of MCAT/research job in another state seems odd, since most summer stints are for programs designated to last for 1 summer. Not sure how you would go about finding a job to work for 3 months in the summer anyhow, most employers probably want more commitment than that.

Not really necessary to get something published, but it definitely helps. Moving labs is fine as long as you have a reason for it, and like I said above, the summer of going away for personal reasons sounds unusual to me, unless this other state happens to be home.

 

[deleted702880]

While it's fun to research in multiple fields, I can tell you from experience that it doesn't really matter so long as you get a publication from at least one of them. Know your publication well, even if you're just a dish washer.

I did multiple fields but multiple labs should be a similar result. You might be asked something like "what's your interest in this field, however"

 

[connieyayy]

Certain people get published after a semester or two of 10h/week, and others don't get published at all after 4 years of 30h/week. It's a huge crapshoot.

If you want to maximize your chances, aim for a lab that publishes a lot. When I started looking for research positions, I noticed that some of the PI hadn't published in two or three years, whereas others published 15 papers a year! Your odds of getting a publication in the first case are pretty abysmal, no matter how hard you work.

That being said, getting published is a non-necessity. Only a tiny minority of accepted students have publications. You want to develop research skills first. If a publication comes too, great! If it doesn't, you haven't lost anything.

I will be doing research on neuro ish things - currently parkinsons.

Haha it just freaks me out because I have a friend who says its basically critical to have a publication in order to get into med school.

Thanks for your answer

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Haha it just freaks me out because I have a friend who says its basically critical to have a publication in order to get into med school.

Not even remotely close to being slightly true. Slap your friend in the face for me.

 

[connieyayy]

The summer plan of MCAT/research job in another state seems odd, since most summer stints are for programs designated to last for 1 summer. Not sure how you would go about finding a job to work for 3 months in the summer anyhow, most employers probably want more commitment than that.

Not really necessary to get something published, but it definitely helps. Moving labs is fine as long as you have a reason for it, and like I said above, the summer of going away for personal reasons sounds unusual to me, unless this other state happens to be home.

Well I didn't want to go home over the summer because it's really difficult for me to study in my house (no libraries close by) and also I wouldn't have any research opportunities. I could stay over at my current university, but its just that I would be able to stay at this other place for free (and it would be much more fun lol).

It wouldn't necessarily have to be a job? I'm willing to do volunteer research and the like. The money is not the huge issue here.
Thanks for your help!

 

[connieyayy]

While it's fun to research in multiple fields, I can tell you from experience that it doesn't really matter so long as you get a publication from at least one of them. Know your publication well, even if you're just a dish washer.

I did multiple fields but multiple labs should be a similar result. You might be asked something like "what's your interest in this field, however"

I'm just worried because it seems like some people work in a lab for sooo long and still don't get a publication! I'd really really prefer to go to this other state over the summer, but if it increases my chance of getting a publication, maybe I should just stay at my current university?

 

[Lucca]

I'm just worried because it seems like some people work in a lab for sooo long and still don't get a publication! I'd really really prefer to go to this other state over the summer, but if it increases my chance of getting a publication, maybe I should just stay at my current university?

Okay, time to get real with you.

Time in lab does not correlate with productivity. Science is messy and weird and difficult and some times very chancey. The more basic the research, the more you are walking around in the dark. I could join a lab on day 1 and be told to write the introduction by a grad student who doesn't want to do it because they already defended their PhD and are busy looking for jobs. BOOM I have a publication. Does this look nice on paper? Ya, sure. Does this prove that I am a better scientist or somehow a more productive and effective worker than someone who spent 2 years grinding on a complicated and protracted project they started from scratch? No.

Involvement in research is a metric medical schools use to see if you are capable of understanding how hypothesis driven science is done. It is not a faculty position. Publications are a single, simple but often incomplete measurement of this quality and will not substitute the ability to coherently talk about what you did, why you did it and why it was important.


To answer your question however, it will be easier to be productive in a lab you have already joined. However, there are many summer research experiences out there that are excellent and pay very well. It is not clear to me which would be better for you but your productivity would suffer by having to train in some new methods.

 

[Shirafune]

Okay, time to get real with you.

Time in lab does not correlate with productivity. Science is messy and weird and difficult and some times very chancey. The more basic the research, the more you are walking around in the dark. I could join a lab on day 1 and be told to write the introduction by a grad student who doesn't want to do it because they already defended their PhD and are busy looking for jobs. BOOM I have a publication. Does this look nice on paper? Ya, sure. Does this prove that I am a better scientist or somehow a more productive and effective worker than someone who spent 2 years grinding on a complicated and protracted project they started from scratch? No.

Involvement in research is a metric medical schools use to see if you are capable of understanding how hypothesis driven science is done. It is not a faculty position. Publications are a single, simple but often incomplete measurement of this quality and will not substitute the ability to coherently talk about what you did, why you did it and why it was important.


To answer your question however, it will be easier to be productive in a lab you have already joined. However, there are many summer research experiences out there that are excellent and pay very well. It is not clear to me which would be better for you but your productivity would suffer by having to train in some new methods.

Everything in bold. Give up on trying to get published unless you have sufficient research experience to warrant it and focus on understanding your work. By the time you do, you'll probably realize that publications as an undergrad don't mean as much as you think they will. If your question is how to put yourself into a situation that lets you get involved, grow academically, and produce publication worthy data, here are some suggestions.

1) Look for assistant professors or other new faculty in a tenure track position. Smaller labs in general. From experience, they are more open to having undergrads actively participate and conduct research versus a monkey that does qPCR over and over. They are less likely to boot undergrads off a paper, even if the undergrad contributed to the project in a way that warrants authorship.

2) Stick to one lab if you can. Depth is more important than breadth. Being able to deal with the intricacies of your field is a valuable demonstration of critical thinking. As a physician, you may encounter difficult clinical cases or research topics.

3) Participate in journal club and lab meeting. Scientific communication is important, as you can imagine.

4) When you realize all the nitty-gritty in science, not to mention politics, you'll be over getting that "coveted" authorship.

Don't try to get a 1st authorship unless you have a long time until you apply and can juggle everything else you have going on while still spending a lot of time in lab.