Finding Clinical Research In Psychiatry for Experience?

[OMSWeebHours]

I am interested in getting involved in clinical research since it may be helpful when applying for residency as a DO. As a bonus, I believe it would also help me to confirm that the field is a good fit and something that I can be invested in long term, but I am not sure how to get my foot in the door. I have emailed a few places (and may consider cold calling tomorrow since almost everything is closed in the US at this time) but haven't gotten results as presumably they have other things to deal with or my responses go to spam.

I don't know psychiatrists in my area, but are there any resources I can utilize to get involved? I am kind of a sitting duck right now and feel the need to get more involved. Thanks!

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[pigsinacloth]

Just search throught the local university programs online and see which of the docs do research. Read the papers/projects that they have done in the past. If they seem interesting send that person or their lab an email telling them you're a med student interested in their research. attach your CV to the email.

 

[heartsink]

Talk to your schools psychiatry faculty advisor. They typically have resources for this, or can at least point you in the right direction.

 

[comp1]

I think this is going to be a challenge, I'll be frank. Most DO schools don't have research going on, nor are they particularly knowledgeable about local research at other nearby schools since it's just not a focus. Getting your foot in the door is often about networking more than cold calling and you aren't going to have much of a network to draw on. The good news is that this isn't particularly necessary for psychiatry residency, nor would it really give you a greater idea of what clinical psychiatry is like. Maybe consider more of a clinical volunteer option assuming this is like between MS1 and MS2? I'm not sure when else you could be doing this.