Hello everyone. This is my first post on SDN, and I have some concerns in regards to where I should be as a premed student. I am far from a traditional pre-med student, with being back in school is a relatively new thing. I returned to college just two years ago, and despite doing terrible in high school, and doing equally bad in community college thereafter; Since I have returned some years later I have managed to get straight A’s, do well in school and was able to transfer to a university. My concerns arise with things like research and the ability to read a medical journal. Since transferring I have (attempted) to start reading medical journals, and I understand almost none of it. And I read posts on here and people act as though it is a very normal thing. Secondly research, I’m concerned in my lack of ability to produce a unique undergrad research idea, which is also a popular topic on here. Ultimately I’m just concerned, that although I’m smart enough to pass a class with an A, I may not be intelligent enough to be a physician. How do I know? Sorry for the lengthy post, thanks to anyone who reads and replies.
First Post, Where should I be as a premed student
- Thread starter M1i
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Don’t worry. Most attendings don’t actually know how to interpret the studies in journals correctly.
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If SND gold exist like reddit, I would’ve given you one.
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Yea, most of it is learned over time. When I entered as a Freshman, I had no idea how to read scientific literature, but as I learned more concepts and get more exposure, I find that I read them relatively easily now.
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You're in excellent company. Enjoy:
http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/01/how-read-scientific-paper
Choice quote: "Do you know what you’d call a magazine article that required intellectual scrutiny and uninterrupted neural commitment to figure out what it’s even trying to say? You’d call it a badly written article."
http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/01/how-read-scientific-paper
Choice quote: "Do you know what you’d call a magazine article that required intellectual scrutiny and uninterrupted neural commitment to figure out what it’s even trying to say? You’d call it a badly written article."
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Focus on keeping you GPA good, getting a solid MCAT score, and doing ANY research (whether unique or not). Get your ECs up by volunteering and showing you can be a selfless individual. I've accepted that i'll never understand medical journals lol. All admissions committees care about is upward trends (which you've shown in increasing your GPA although you will have to explain any gaps) and they also care about if you are capable of having empathy. Solid grades and volunteer activities show both of these things so I think you'll be fine!
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It’s difficult to understand medical journal articles with 0 background into the study topic. Don’t worry!
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It's the norm for one organic chemist from lab to understand nothing of the organic chemists in a different lab.
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You're going to be fine. You have age and wisdom, which is a great part of the battle imo.
I had a class in which we just picked apart journals and articles. My teacher would grind those papers into our head. One of the most helpful and best quotes given was, "always assume an article is wrong, and let them work to prove it right to you". Every sentence, every chart: assume they're garbage and work to understand what they're doing to trick you, or be biased about. Why'd they mention this? That? Screen every sentence. I suggest that in order to practice, read older, famous papers that have withstood the test of time. Watson and Crick comes to mind first. Tear apart that paper with the knowledge you have today; it'll be easier and allow practice.
And like others said, research is usually an offshoot of those above you. I'll never forget going to my "PI" in undergrad and telling him all about my theory and next steps. Really down to Earth guy and not one to be biting ever, he said, "I like that idea. That is a good idea. Now, if you had this idea as an undergrad, I can almost guarantee someone else out there has too. And we have to work here and now, knowing that." And thus, my ideas were stopped then and there, only to be a memory. Good times. Good times.
Good luck!
I had a class in which we just picked apart journals and articles. My teacher would grind those papers into our head. One of the most helpful and best quotes given was, "always assume an article is wrong, and let them work to prove it right to you". Every sentence, every chart: assume they're garbage and work to understand what they're doing to trick you, or be biased about. Why'd they mention this? That? Screen every sentence. I suggest that in order to practice, read older, famous papers that have withstood the test of time. Watson and Crick comes to mind first. Tear apart that paper with the knowledge you have today; it'll be easier and allow practice.
And like others said, research is usually an offshoot of those above you. I'll never forget going to my "PI" in undergrad and telling him all about my theory and next steps. Really down to Earth guy and not one to be biting ever, he said, "I like that idea. That is a good idea. Now, if you had this idea as an undergrad, I can almost guarantee someone else out there has too. And we have to work here and now, knowing that." And thus, my ideas were stopped then and there, only to be a memory. Good times. Good times.
Good luck!
