I am an older non-trad doing a DIY Post Bacc at a state university. I am taking the MCAT this summer and applying to medical schools as well. I have a PT job working in a research lab at the medical school where the PI is a Full Professor at the SOM and director of Clinical and Translational Research Program. His lab director, a PhD research scientist, is my boss. He is also an Assoc Professor at the SOM. Both will be writing letters for me for medical school applications.
I learned today from the director of the lab that he submitted a paper last week to a journal that discusses the molecular mechanism of x, y and z in what we are investigating. He told me he included my name on it. I completely froze. It took me aback. We had a long conversation about it, he said I was a member of the team, that I have worked very hard, have thrown myself into the research work and since he asked me to read the paper after he wrote it to edit errors, and I did quite a bit of the rewrites, he decided to add my name at the end of the paper without telling me. So it is not in the mast head or authors section, but it is somewhere at the end. It will be published this summer. He said he knows it will help me for medical school applications. Will it? I thought one’s name had to be in the authors area with the other authors for it to be noteworthy. Im not sure. Will this hold any sway in my medical school applications?