Describing "past" research experience

[Datypicalpremed]

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I am currently writing my significant research essay for the upcoming MD/PhD cycle. Before working in my current lab, I spent a summer working in a lab where I was eventually co-authored in one of the papers. The reason my PI decided to co-author me was because I verified some of the results included in the paper (i.e. by doing repeats/modified repeats) and he thought that these contributions were worthy enough to have me co-authored in the paper.

However, I don't feel very familiar with the overall picture of the publication and research in general (mainly due to the short time frame of working in the lab). Keep in mind, I do understand the reasoning behind the experiments that I personally did (i.e. the specific pathways involved and the interpretations of the results), but these were such a small part of the overall paper that if the main topic were to be brought up in an interview I would not be very comfortable explaining it. I have worked MUCH longer in my current lab and I feel that I can confidently explain what my lab is doing (second author in a paper published), so I'm worried that including this past experience would detract from my stronger points and hurt me in the long run. But at the same time, I could at least mention that I was co-authored which might help me get to the interview stage...

So in short - should I mention this past research experience or not? At the moment, I plan to mention it only briefly, spending the bulk of the essay writing about my current research. Thanks.

 

[Reckoner]

Your plan sounds solid. I had a similar situation (no publication though), and spent four or five short sentences talking about the experience. Basically: "The lab studies A and my project focused on B. To test hypothesis B, I performed experiment C. My results indicated that the initial hypothesis was correct. I presented my findings at conference D." I wasn't asked about this experience at any of my interviews (I had another research experience that was much more substantial that I explained more thoroughly).

If you are worried about the accuracy of your essay, send whatever you write to your old PI for proofreading before you submit. You could also ask the PI if they would be willing to meet and discuss the project before any interviews to make sure you have all of the details straight.

 

[regeneration]

I would also note that anything you do mention in your application is fair game in interviews. I was in a similar situation, and mentioned the summer research in a single activity slot (not even in the research essay because I didn't want to emphasize it), but was still asked about it several times; in fact, in a couple of my interviews, it even became the focus of the conversation, simply because the interviewer was involved in similar research. Of course, I discussed my main research the vast majority of the time, but I would suggest that you become familiar enough with your summer research to be able to comfortably discuss the big-picture of the project and what you did.