Extent of Research Experience

[Pipacus]

I was wondering what extent of research experience adcoms will be looking for. Publishing a paper is often a difficult path for even professionals.
So will simply working as a lab assistant make a difference? what about those summer research positions offered by many universities? or prestenting at undergrad student seminars?

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[DropkickMurphy]

Publishing a paper is often a difficult path for even professionals.

It's not nearly as hard as you think it is.

 

[DrBowtie]

It's not nearly as hard as you think it is.

In basic science and in a decent journal it is.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

In basic science and in a decent journal it is.

Eh, true to a certain extent, but no one is expecting an undergrad premed to have been first author on an article in Nature or something along those lines. Do clinical research (which is more interesting than messing around with cells anyhow) by looking for docs who specialize in what you are interested in or otherwise just find a professor or doc and tell them you want to be a co-author on their research in exchange for assisting with it. That's what I did, and I did such a good job the doc I'm working with gave me first author status on the paper and is allowing me to present the findings at a conference.

 

[maddscientist]

It really isn't that difficult to get published as an undergrad, but a lot of it depends on how you position yourself. If you work for a well-respected PI and put in a decent amount of time (~2 years), you should be able to publish. The key as an undergraduate is to work under a post-doctoral fellow who is just as keen on getting a paper out as you are. I was lucky as an undergrad and made it out with 2(and yes, one of them was in nature).

 

[jonathon]

You claim to have a Nature publication. In what aspect did you contribute to the research? It's one thing to have your name on the author list with little contribution, compared to having your name on the author list and having contributed to the research design. I suspect you were probaly just an experiment lab rat and begged to have your name on the paper. So for varification, post the link to the Nature article that you have your name on the author list.

 

[R.P. McMurphy]

you don't need to publish anything to get into med school