How To Prepare For Summer Medical Research Project

[hsperson]

Hi everyone. So I'll be doing a research opp at a med school this summer. But, I just learned what I would be doing my research in and realized, "I don't know much about this!" I don't want to go there and have to be taught everything. On a sidenote, it's actually my first-choice med school right now and people who do the internship have a good track record for getting in, so I really want to make a good impression. This is my first time doing science research. How do I get familiar with, not just the field itself, but also current research in the field? How I can take that and work my way into it. Thanks.

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[SeventhSon]

Hi everyone. So I'll be doing a research opp at a med school this summer. But, I just learned what I would be doing my research in and realized, "I don't know much about this!" I don't want to go there and have to be taught everything. On a sidenote, it's actually my first-choice med school right now and people who do the internship have a good track record for getting in, so I really want to make a good impression. This is my first time doing science research. How do I get familiar with, not just the field itself, but also current research in the field? How I can take that and work my way into it. Thanks.

don't worry, you're never expected to know anything. just read papers as much as you can, and make sure you re-read them too. At first everything makes no sense but you make baby steps each time, and eventually you get pretty comfortable with it.

 

[Bust-A-rhyme]

don't worry, you're never expected to know anything. just read papers as much as you can, and make sure you re-read them too. At first everything makes no sense but you make baby steps each time, and eventually you get pretty comfortable with it.

i agree!
also, if u are really worried it might be useful to read their papers and look up the techniques that they use. ie: it would be useful if you understood what PCR, western blot, immunocytochemistry are before you go to the lab if these are techniquest that they often use. You DON"T have to do this, but it makes it easier for you to understand what they're teaching you...

 

[LJDHC05]

Pub Med Abstracts are a quick way to find out a little bit.

 

[shantster]

Pub Med Abstracts are a quick way to find out a little bit.

Review articles (if any) in the subject area are great. They give you a good review of the field, and if there's anything that you want to look at more indepthly, just go to the articles that they reference.

 

[coco11]

good advice. i'm in a similar situation, and i simply searched on PubMed for articles written by the PI I'll be working for, that way I'm not clueless once I get started. Best of luck!

 

[hsperson]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Does Pubmed post entire articles or just abstracts?