How does a student get involved in research??

[johnpablo85]

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Hi OMS3 interested in Urology here, I got a 254 on Step 1 and I have a couple Urology elective rotations lined up in the future. However I have little research experience (a crummy poster presentation, undergrad stuff).

I know that research is a huge component of the application, and I want to do it, but it seems there just are not any opportunities at my school.

What is the best way to get started? Who do I contact? Do I just look up nearby Urologists producing research and cold email them?

Any advice would be really appreciated!

 

[cpants]

Hi. Does your medical school have a urology department and/or residency program. Most academic urologists are expected to produce some research and are happy to have you get involved (AKA doing the research for them!). Reach out to the program director and/or department head to set up a meeting to discuss your career goals. They can advise you on local urologists involved in research. Very important to get involved with some clinical projects ASAP to get something on your CV before next summer.

 

[cpants]

Very unusual for an academic medical center not to have urology. Are there no urologists working there? Ideally, you will have first contact with someone at your home institution. Even if they don't do research, they likely know every urologist in the state/region and will be able to advise you on who can help you. Urology is a very small community. It will be much easier for you to be introduced by a urologist from your hospital than for you to cold call urologists elsewhere.

It would be appropriate to talk to the urologists where you are rotating also. Also ok to reach out to nearby residencies, but again would ideally be introduced by your home urologist.