How is Your Summer Research Coming Along?

[coffeeluver]

I'm not getting much results. I feel like 2 months is too short to find any significant results. Was this a waste of my summer vacation? How is your summer research going?

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[Law2Doc]

I'm not getting much results. I feel like 2 months is too short to find any significant results. Was this a waste of my summer vacation? How is your summer research going?

Some research doesn't lend itself to fast results, and you can't make the significant results happen -- they either do or not. If you can get a recomendation letter from someone when the time comes, and have research to put on your CV, it wasn't a total waste. But obviously an abstract or publication would be nice.

 

[braluk]

lol i actually wrote about repetitive research in my personal statement, it went like this

"Though the potential benefits of researching for a safer and better anticoagulant are staggering, researching at the Mayo often became repetitive, and often without result. I knew that many would simply give up, citing that the risks of spending a life conducting such research with no guarantee of success are too great. My experience in college, however, battling my personal demons and performing on stage has taught me that persistence and stubbornness are necessary to take such risks in a world that desires immediate results."

 

[Law2Doc]

lol i actually wrote about repetitive research in my personal statement, it went like this

"Though the potential benefits of researching for a safer and better anticoagulant are staggering, researching at the Mayo often became repetitive, and often without result. I knew that many would simply give up, citing that the risks of spending a life conducting such research with no guarantee of success are too great. My experience in college, however, battling my personal demons and performing on stage has taught me that persistence and stubbornness are necessary to take such risks in a world that desires immediate results."

Your reference to personal demons would be much more humorous if they could see your avatar.

 

[thesauce]

I'm not getting much results. I feel like 2 months is too short to find any significant results. Was this a waste of my summer vacation? How is your summer research going?

My feelings exactly.

 

[velo]

Stick with it, you never know what may happen. I did research last year during the post-MS1 summer. I started out working on a clinical project that, while interesting, wasn't going to be anywhere near completion by the end of summer. So I took on a side project in my PIs lab (actually working on one of her husband's projects) and at the end of month 1 I had a breakthrough. Suddenly things progressed quickly and I ended up getting (co) 1st authorship on a paper out of it. You never know what will happen--either way it will not be a waste of time. Residency directors understand what a crap-shoot summer research can be with regards to results I think.

 

[PoorMD]

My feelings exactly.

I don't want to be the guy who is perceived as the one upper, but I will share my experience this summer. I have been researching with cardiovascular surgeons. Some of my time is spent in the OR on major CPB cases, but most of my time is spent with medical records, sorting out the cohort of patients, and doing statistics on those.

SO far we have examined roughly 200 patients (takes forever to extract all the data on each patient) and the PI wants to do propensity matching on another 400 or so. The results look pretty good, and we might have a significant finding on our hands. My only advice to those of you without firm results is to create a smooth transition for project handoff so the work can be continued. In a few years someone will call you asking for your manuscript so the paper can be edited/published, might be just in time for residency matching . Good luck

 

[SugarDaddy]

Oh my I thought I was the only one. Man I feel like I am blind wandering through the wilderness lost and no one to guide me out. This is so frustrating. Sad when I can't wait to get back to school, where things are less murky, or at least a new kind of murky.
Good luck to all, who knows hopefully it all comes together in the last month......

 

[DrA]

Opps...wrong thread.

 

[UCSFnerd]

MY research is going soooo well. In just 8 weeks, I'm getting two publications, made some great discoveries, and will be presenting at a huge national conference next week. NOT!!!! Research is slow as usual. Nothing works they it should. blah!

 

[gaikokujin]

mine's going slow. but i'll be happy if i just make connections with it.

 

[Pewl]

BAHAHAHA "summer research??"

I did all the research that I ever care to do in grad school. The summer is for relaxing. =P

 

[Medbound786]

Hey guys;

I know the pain of getting slow results all too well !! Out of curiosity, are you guys doing clincial studies or basic sciences? I hear that clinical projects complete faster and have greater chances of giving a publication.

 

[vtucci]

I am doing a literature review and hope to have it published. They are generally considered clinical. A lit review can definitely be done in a week or less.

 

[beefballs]

badly- I want to commit hari-kari

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hey guys;

I know the pain of getting slow results all too well !! Out of curiosity, are you guys doing clincial studies or basic sciences? I hear that clinical projects complete faster and have greater chances of giving a publication.

Yeah...clinical studies are more challenging at the front end (IRB approval needed, subject recruitment issues, sample analysis) than basic reseach. Basic research is much harder in the middle (collecting data in the lab usually requires folds more contact time) and at the back end (publication usually only after several revisions, requiring more experiements). I did six years of basic research and two years of clinical research before med school so I decided to do translational research this summer.

 

[Acherona]

ugh, if it makes you feel any better my "research" consists of entering blood and urine lab values into an excel spreadsheet for some really lame retrospective clinical study on bone density. Never believe PIs about what "your project" will be. They woo you with some sexy-sounding study and then stick you with an unrelated boring menial task they could pay a smart chimpanzee 6 bucks an hour to complete.

 

[Law2Doc]

then stick you with an unrelated boring menial task they could pay a smart chimpanzee 6 bucks an hour to complete.

They tried that but the chimp kept eating the pipette tips. Med students are more respectful of lab property.

 

[jocg27]

ugh, if it makes you feel any better my "research" consists of entering blood and urine lab values into an excel spreadsheet for some really lame retrospective clinical study on bone density. Never believe PIs about what "your project" will be. They woo you with some sexy-sounding study and then stick you with an unrelated boring menial task they could pay a smart chimpanzee 6 bucks an hour to complete.

Ha -- my stuff is almost all typing into excel too...gets old fast huh?

 

[SugarDaddy]

So at long last, my summer research project appears to be over. Thank the maker!!! I am freaking ecstatic, almost giddy. Turned in the manuscipt to my PI today and we are editing it and getting it ready to send out. So to everyone out there, keep on trucking, once you get out of the wilderness it's a beautiful site.

 

[SwineLake98]

Every summer I am reminded that 10 weeks ins't long enough to accomplish much of anything...just lay down groundwork for someone else to come finish, really.
This summer I learned that all those horror stories about cloning are true. I have a week and a half before first year orientation starts; I am determine to get one of my darn constructs to ligate into the vector!
I miss my immunology assays...

 

[Pinkertinkle]

10 weeks! try the 6 weeks we got.

 

[SwineLake98]

10 weeks! try the 6 weeks we got.

Hey, I'm only an incoming first year...and many people have asked my why I'm spending one of my last "long" summers in a lab!

 

[Nick6742]

Research is like that, My entire first year of grad school was spent doing constant work and accomplishing nothing. I finally had to switch labs to have any chance of actually finishing. People interested in summer research should avoid cloning like the plague!