leptinghrelin
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- Joined
- Oct 12, 2024
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Hi everyone!
As the title suggests, I am having trouble deciding whether or not I should pursue a research or clinical position for the 2 gap years I am taking. I would really appreciate any and all advice!
Some quick background info about my stats:
1000+ research hours, with 1 pub and honors thesis
200+ hours as a dental assistant
400+ hours volunteering in EDs
I recently reached out to the office of admissions of a school I interested in applying ED, and they recommended I take a clinical position as my dental assistant hours were from 2020-2021, and not enough. However, I feel that I am in a bit of dilemma as my LOR for research is not in a good situation. I did not tell the admissions office this, but I essentially cut off ties with the last lab I worked at for two years, and did my honors thesis at (due to overworking and verbal/emotional abuse). I will not be asking for a LOR from them, but will be asking another PI that I had worked with over 2 years ago. While I believe that he will be able to write me a good letter, I know it's a bit of a red flag and was hoping to use my gap years to work at another lab where I could ask for a strong, more recent research LOR.
I was wondering if given this, I should still pursue a clinical position during my gap years, or find something more in between? (Like a clinical research coordinator - but I worry admissions will not see this as direct patient care). Thank you for your time!
Edit: Another reason why I was thinking about research is because I would like to do surgery, and heard that research during gap years is almost essential to ensure publications and a competitive application to surgery residencies.
As the title suggests, I am having trouble deciding whether or not I should pursue a research or clinical position for the 2 gap years I am taking. I would really appreciate any and all advice!
Some quick background info about my stats:
1000+ research hours, with 1 pub and honors thesis
200+ hours as a dental assistant
400+ hours volunteering in EDs
I recently reached out to the office of admissions of a school I interested in applying ED, and they recommended I take a clinical position as my dental assistant hours were from 2020-2021, and not enough. However, I feel that I am in a bit of dilemma as my LOR for research is not in a good situation. I did not tell the admissions office this, but I essentially cut off ties with the last lab I worked at for two years, and did my honors thesis at (due to overworking and verbal/emotional abuse). I will not be asking for a LOR from them, but will be asking another PI that I had worked with over 2 years ago. While I believe that he will be able to write me a good letter, I know it's a bit of a red flag and was hoping to use my gap years to work at another lab where I could ask for a strong, more recent research LOR.
I was wondering if given this, I should still pursue a clinical position during my gap years, or find something more in between? (Like a clinical research coordinator - but I worry admissions will not see this as direct patient care). Thank you for your time!
Edit: Another reason why I was thinking about research is because I would like to do surgery, and heard that research during gap years is almost essential to ensure publications and a competitive application to surgery residencies.
