How to make myself valuable/sought after for biomedical research?

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Gauss44

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I have wanted to gain experience in biomedical research for years now. Embarrassingly, I have been unsuccessful. (Granted, I was not a science major and am in a city filled with science majors. Lots of the hospitals screen applicants with the question, "Do you have a BS in biology or a related field?" There are many universities in the area with biomedical labs as well.) With a few exceptions, I have only taken intro level science classes.

What are some of the most important things I can do to begin to make myself useful (and sought after for lab assistant positions) in biomedical laboratories? If part of the answer is to take classes, which classes are likely to be the most beneficial?
 
With no experience, this is going to be hard to do. Perhaps look for places that are looking for people to do animal colony work, media prep, or autoclaving/dishwashing. Then network into some type of research position.
 
As others have alluded to, if you're not a science major with no prior experience, then you probably have very little to offer a productive lab doing bench work. Expand your idea of research, and maybe then you'll find some opportunities (clinical research, public health research, psychology, etc). I know plenty of people who majored in English or clinical psych or anthropology get jobs as clinical research assistants, and they ended up with posters and pubs. What did you major in?
 
Cadavers are always sought after, you could try that. (I couldnt resist)

Can I suggest something? stop trying to do something that you dont have the skillset or background under the (probable) belief that you need this is order to apply to medical school. Perhaps do something with the background you have that can be non-bench research, in or out of the medical arena

I've wanted to do biomedical research for what seems like forever and want to make it part of my career. The difficulty is getting started. I've done everything it seems and nothing works. I applied literally for hundreds of research assistant jobs, got nothing. I took science classes, put those on my resume, still no lab position. The closest I've come to a research position was emailing my physics professor, but then he gave me a project that required calculus which I haven't taken. So I told him and thanked him, and will be taking calculus this year. Ideally, I want to be involved in A LOT of research, different labs, and learn as much as possible about research, but am having a terrible start (or lack of start despite effort).
 
As others have alluded to, if you're not a science major with no prior experience, then you probably have very little to offer a productive lab doing bench work. Expand your idea of research, and maybe then you'll find some opportunities (clinical research, public health research, psychology, etc). I know plenty of people who majored in English or clinical psych or anthropology get jobs as clinical research assistants, and they ended up with posters and pubs. What did you major in?

I have had very bad luck with applying to clinical research jobs, but keep applying anyway. I want to do biomedical research and will try to take whatever classes or do whatever is necessary to get there (within reason of course). I will be meeting with instructors from spring semester 2017 and asking them how to make myself into someone that they would want in their lab, experience-wise or otherwise.
 
Ideally, I want to be involved in A LOT of research, different labs, and learn as much as possible about research, but am having a terrible start (or lack of start despite effort).
This might be your problem. Maybe you shouldn't be approaching this with the mindset of "I want to do a ton of different kinds of research." I can't imagine that's attractive for PIs. Especially when you have little experience, you shouldn't be saying "I really wanna join your lab, do some stuff, and move on." You should be trying to convince people that you have a strong base of understanding in the science being applied, you're a diligent learner, and you are committed to staying put and being as helpful to the lab as possible over a long period of time.

I know it seems like it would be great to be involved with a bunch of different labs and learn a ton of different techniques, but its a at this point it's a seller's market (you're the buyer in this situation); beggars can't be choosers. Honestly I dunno man, I also had zero luck with basic research when I was in UG, despite having a bunch of research experience in high school, so I feel you.
 
Once you start medical school it will be easy to get involved in any lab at your school.
 
Ask a PI if you can volunteer in their lab for a day a week or something. Free labor is always attractive and then once you have that on your app you'll be more competitive for real paid positions

I was able to be a volunteer at an ivy med school one summer. This helped me land a spot in a selective research internship that lead to a first author pub. That lead to me becoming a current lab manager at a top 3 hospital/med school.

You just need to get your foot in the door somehow even if its free labor. If you want it bad enough you won't mind it at all

Also, every position I've had revolved around the same "organ system" per se. I didn't waste my time applying for positions I had no experience in. If you take a lot of neuro classes apply to neuro labs, don't apply to cancer research if you have no experience at all even with classes
 
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Ideally, I want to be involved in A LOT of research, different labs, and learn as much as possible about research, but am having a terrible start (or lack of start despite effort).
Consistency in a single lab >>>>> number of labs you can put on your resume. If you really want to make your research amount to something like a publication, you really need to focus on one very specific area of research. Be good at one thing, and own it.
 
I'm assuming that you're in your last year or two of your undergraduate education, if this is correct, it'll be a little harder to find an opportunity with bench-work since you'll need to be trained, only to leave soon after.

I'd recommend searching for research groups that favor unpaid volunteers (often times this can be many psychology labs) and no extensive training is required. That or apply for some summer research programs that span 8-9 weeks of intense research.
 
Ask a PI if you can volunteer in their lab for a day a week or something. Free labor is always attractive and then once you have that on your app you'll be more competitive for real paid positions

I was able to be a volunteer at an ivy med school one summer. This helped me land a spot in a selective research internship that lead to a first author pub. That lead to me becoming a current lab manager at a top 3 hospital/med school.

You just need to get your foot in the door somehow even if its free labor. If you want it bad enough you won't mind it at all

Also, every position I've had revolved around the same "organ system" per se. I didn't waste my time applying for positions I had no experience in. If you take a lot of neuro classes apply to neuro labs, don't apply to cancer research if you have no experience at all even with classes

What sort of things did you do as an unpaid volunteer?
 
I'm assuming that you're in your last year or two of your undergraduate education, if this is correct, it'll be a little harder to find an opportunity with bench-work since you'll need to be trained, only to leave soon after.

I'd recommend searching for research groups that favor unpaid volunteers (often times this can be many psychology labs) and no extensive training is required. That or apply for some summer research programs that span 8-9 weeks of intense research.

I think you're right about not wanting to train someone who they think will leave soon after. Would you PM me the names of some summer research programs? I will also start writing to psychology labs asking to volunteer for free and cite my experience (which isn't much, but coupled with interest, maybe someone will tolerate me).
 
I think you're right about not wanting to train someone who they think will leave soon after. Would you PM me the names of some summer research programs? I will also start writing to psychology labs asking to volunteer for free and cite my experience (which isn't much, but coupled with interest, maybe someone will tolerate me).

Theres tons of summer research programs out there.

www.aamc.org/members/great/61052/great_summerlinks.html

people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm

www.naahp.org/StudentResources/SummerOpportunities.aspx
 
What sort of things did you do as an unpaid volunteer?

The lab I was in was probably at least 10 people so I did a lot of genotyping for the members of the lab, which they appreciated a lot. I thought it was cool at the time but now that I work full time in research I hate genotyping haha and wish someone would do it for me.
I also did a lot of imaging and sectioning of brains. I'm not sure how common this is in terms of being able to do this much but once you prove to the lab members you can do stuff the should give you more responsibility


Do you know anyone at all who is an MD or a researcher or even a PhD student who has connections to labs somewhere near you. A lot of getting your foot in the door is about knowing people also. My current summer student is here because their parent knows someone high up at the hospital
 
I think you're right about not wanting to train someone who they think will leave soon after. Would you PM me the names of some summer research programs? I will also start writing to psychology labs asking to volunteer for free and cite my experience (which isn't much, but coupled with interest, maybe someone will tolerate me).

In most psych labs, as a volunteer research assistant, you'll end up doing most of the data collection, input and checking. You might have to screen participants and do a run through of the study purpose and informed consent with them. Answering participant calls and checking up on them. There's a lot of work in psych labs (that doesn't require a lot of training) and so that's why they take on lots of students.
 
Do you know anyone at all who is an MD or a researcher or even a PhD student who has connections to labs somewhere near you. A lot of getting your foot in the door is about knowing people also. My current summer student is here because their parent knows someone high up at the hospital

I second this. Connections are huge pluses to getting research opps!!
 
The lab I was in was probably at least 10 people so I did a lot of genotyping for the members of the lab, which they appreciated a lot. I thought it was cool at the time but now that I work full time in research I hate genotyping haha and wish someone would do it for me.
I also did a lot of imaging and sectioning of brains. I'm not sure how common this is in terms of being able to do this much but once you prove to the lab members you can do stuff the should give you more responsibility


Do you know anyone at all who is an MD or a researcher or even a PhD student who has connections to labs somewhere near you. A lot of getting your foot in the door is about knowing people also. My current summer student is here because their parent knows someone high up at the hospital

Yeah, I just took biology and physics, so I guess I could approach my instructors. I'm really bad at asking for things like this. This is an extension of a lifelong problem that I'm diligently working on with having trouble asking for help and asking others for things I need. If you have a suggestion about what to say or how to approach one of my instructors, I would really appreciate that. Practicing asking in a way that leads to a good reaction or response, even if not a "yes," would be good for me. (I'm having the same problem with asking for LoRs, so suggestions for that are equally welcome.) To be fair, since I wasn't a science major and was from an under-educated town the middle of nowhere, I had few role models or examples to follow. Again, I'm working hard on self improvement.
 
Maybe email PI's directly and ask if you can join a project. Learning some coding or R might make you a more attractive candidate too, though this is lab dependent.

I second the coding part. I have a decent amount of coding experience and I've never been rejected to a lab I applied to because most of them like someone that can set up data analysis through R or Matlab or simple simulations. It might mean that you're stuck behind a desk chomping numbers 90% of the time rather than getting wet lab experience.
 
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