Describe what *research* entails??

[Ross434]

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Everyone always hears about research. Im talking about undergrad, or med school, either/both. Does this mean like, having a bunch of original, inspired ideas and trying to discover something new? (this idea seems really daunting to me given that you dont really know much compared to other people in the field at the time you're required to do the research) . Or is it like, just analyzing some part of someone else's research? Finding patterns in microscope slides?? Is it difficult to get opportunities to do research?? Do you guys find that you need really detailed plans before hand?? Do ideas/topics just sort of come along to you during the course of your education? Do you need connections with some famous academic to get into a lab or to understand what you are supposed to do? Is publication insanely difficult and holy grail, -- is it icing on the cake, or do you actually need to be published for the research to count?

Thanks for your help in dispelling any fears and in enlightening fellow board members. Sorry if this has been asked before, i'm trying to get it collected in one thread

 

[stoic]

Your research experience will vary based on your level of interest/effort and your PI's confidence level in you. I know people who do "research" that consist of pouring plates and I know other (myself included) who have worked on independent projects for professors.

Generally speaking, you'll start out by approaching a professor and asking if you can come do some research with them. It helps if you've had lab courses that go over pertainent techniques (micro lab, cell bio lab, biochem lab, etc), but it's not absolutely vital. You'll probably start out doing mundane tasks around the lab (washing dishes, pouring plates) and learning about what the lab is investigating and what the techniques vital to this investiation are (running gels, subcloning, protein expression, tissue culture, whatever). You'd then likely get a chance to learn some of these techniques and do some experiments under close supervision. Eventually if you have the interest and the PI is comfortable with you, you can get as involved as you want - even to the point of conducting independent research in the field.

Best of luck,
S

 

[jh12]

Whoa, that's a lot of questions. I think you might be slightly stressing out about the whole research question. There are an infinite number of ways to get involved in research. As an undergrad who likes research, I've found it easy just to approach my science professors about their research and to ask if they needed any help. From volunteering, I went on to apply and participate in summer research programs and then was recruited to join a neuroscience research group.

Especially if it's just undergraduate volunteer work, you usually don't have to know a single thing beforehand. The PI or the grad students in a lab will be perfectly willing to teach you what you need to know (so they can use you as manual labor!). Many summer research programs don't require any previous experience, although it can help.

What kind of research you do depends on the lab you're in and frankly, what you enjoy doing. It obviously varies tremendously from lab to lab because there are all kinds of research going on. The labs you check out and the PI there will help you focus on what your project will be.

As for getting published, it's certainly an icing on the cake but not required. Just because you weren't published doesn't mean your project was a waste.

Some links you might consider for summer research:
NSF REU: http://www.nsf.gov/home/crssprgm/reu/start.htm
NIH: http://www.training.nih.gov/student/internship/internship.asp
Baylor SMART: http://www.bcm.edu/smart/index.htm
Look up SURE programs; Heck, you can even just search for the state you want to spend the summer in.

 

[45408]

It doesn't just have to be a biology lab either, which is what a lot of people don't realize. There are plenty of other pertinent fields to study. I'm in a neuroscience lab that offers a lot more autonomy than some labs I've heard described.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

research sucks 🙁

 

[cardsurgguy]

I agree, I can't stand research-utterly hate it

don't do research just to get into med school, only do it if you enjoy it, not worth making yourself miserable over

but if you'd rather do clinical work, then by all means do that, since clinical experience is the more important of the two and if you had to have just one, it should definitely be clinical experience

 

[Haybrant]

basic sci research may not be important to some, but it is the most important thing to humanity, espcially since we are in the dawn of the age that we can apply our knowledge of genetics to improving mankind. You should try it out to see if you like it; everyone going to med should at least try it out; the field can't afford to lose good minds b.c a few have had negative experiences

 

[Sundarban1]

basic sci research may not be important to some, but it is the most important thing to humanity, espcially since we are in the dawn of the age that we can apply our knowledge of genetics to improving mankind.

Agreed. I work as a coordinator in ob/gyn oncology at Yale and was amazed how integrated the physicians were with the laboratory work as far as the study of cancer, etc.

 

[neuropower]

Ross434,
don't listen to people who say research sucks...they probably were just doing something they weren't interested in. the first thing to do is check out your schools' science department websites and see what the professors are studying. if your school has a medical school, look at their research faculty as well. if something grabs your interest, then write them an email and see if you can volunteer in their lab or if they need a research assistant ($$!)
personally, i found clinical neuro/psych research to be really fun and challenging and a great way to get patient exposure since a lot of the studies administer behavioral testing/questionnaires which you can give to the patients yourself! most of my work in research was spent analyzing other people's data, but there's a lot of creativity and originality that you can bring to work that was not originally your idea.

 

[Mathilda]

I think that everyone equates research with being in a lab - that is a misconception. I perform clinical research at an academic institution, meaning that I work directly with patients every day on projects ranging from drug trials to evaluation of effective treatment interventions (non-drug).

For me this process is much more exciting than laboratory work because it is on a macroscopic scale and you can see how people directly benefit from the work you are doing.

I highly recommend clinical research as an EC also because I was not aware of this as a possibility as an undergrad and I had been completely turned off by lab research after a semester of work study.

Also clinical research is a great opportunity for publishing, I have 8 abstracts and 2 papers in 1.5 years, have attended many meetings to present results, and got into med school this year.

 

[CarleneM]

i spent a summer doing bench work (electron microscopy,etc for a marine biologist who was absolutely obsessed with horseshoe crabs). while "hate" is a strong word, i certainly did not "love" it and it made me more certain of a desire to work with people. luckily, like mathilda, i have found a job doing clinical research that is absolutely wonderful. i just got back from meeting with a patient and his guardian for a medication study for bipolar disorder and did an ecg on him. i also do vitals and diagnostic interviewing for the study (and as coordinator, interact a lot with the IRB and the sponsor). as part of the job, i also do retrospective chart reviews that turn into posters and papers pretty quickly. so, its a great blend of research and clinical exposure. we have two undergrad volunteers working for us so there are definitely ways to get involved in this type of work as an undergrad. a previous volunteer is now a first year at harvard med. more importantly than building a cv, the job has definitely convinced me that clinical research/academic medicine is the path for me because you get to help patients on an individual level but are also helping future patients and other doctors by seeing patients through well designed studies. so, if bench research just isn't you, maybe clinical research would be a better fit.