Humanities Majors and Research for T20 Medical Schools

[numbersloth]

This might be a dumb/obvious question, but since the elite medical schools tend to place a lot more value on research, how do humanities/non-science students get accepted?

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[greenturtle22]

You can do research in the humanities/non-science fields. It may not be traditional "experimental" research, but it's valuable inquiry just the same and showcases valuable research skills.

 

[GnothiSeauton]

Most majors require a core of 8-10 classes. Over the course of an undergraduate degree that is 1-1.25 classes for your major per semester. There is plenty of time leftover to fulfill whatever requirements you need for admission to wherever you want to go.

 

[numbersloth]

You can do research in the humanities/non-science fields. It may not be traditional "experimental" research, but it's valuable inquiry just the same and carries weight.

Could you maybe provide some examples? Would this be the kind of work students put out when they take "independent study" type courses in the humanities? What come to mind is maybe a bioethics paper on a particular topic.

 

[numbersloth]

Most majors require a core of 8-10 classes. Over the course of an undergraduate degree that is 1-1.25 classes for your major per semester. There is plenty of time leftover to fulfill whatever requirements you need for admission to wherever you want to go.

No I understand how to fulfill the pre-reqs, just not how to fulfill the pretty hefty research that top schools seem to expect.

 

[anonymoose1640]

There are quite a few humanities majors in my class (I go to a research oriented T20 program). So, yes, it's possible to get in being a humanities major. You can do research that's not basic science - clinical research is just as great. Schools want to see that you can independently think, develop hypotheses, create protocols, follow them, troubleshoot problems, and reason through and understand results. You don't have to pipette in order to develop those skills, you can get those skills doing anthropology research or history research as well.

 

[GnothiSeauton]

No I understand how to fulfill the pre-reqs, just not how to fulfill the pretty hefty research that top schools seem to expect.

The research available to you as a premed is extracurricular, for the most part, especially clinical research. You ask around your department or apply for volunteer positions the same as a science major would.

 

[numbersloth]

There are quite a few humanities majors in my class (I go to a research oriented T20 program). So, yes, it's possible to get in being a humanities major. You can do research that's not basic science - clinical research is just as great. Schools want to see that you can independently think, develop hypotheses, create protocols, follow them, troubleshoot problems, and reason through and understand results. You don't have to pipette in order to develop those skills, you can get those skills doing anthropology research or history research as well.

I go to a liberal arts college -- how can I go about finding clinical research positions at nearby hospitals?

 

[greenturtle22]

Could you maybe provide some examples? Would this be the kind of work students put out when they take "independent study" type courses in the humanities? What come to mind is maybe a bioethics paper on a particular topic.

Write a history thesis (history), critique an author's work using sources (English), investigate/compare/contrast different cultural perspectives on mental illness and write about them (anthropology), investigate economic inequality under different systems or across different nations, etc., etc.

 

[numbersloth]

Write a history thesis (history), critique an author's work using sources (English), investigate/compare/contrast different cultural perspectives on mental illness and write about them (anthropology), investigate economic inequality under different systems or across different nations, etc., etc.

I'm assuming that these should be somewhat medically relevant though, no? Like maybe a history of medicine paper of looking at Keat's views on illness and metaphor.

 

[greenturtle22]

I go to a liberal arts college -- how can I go about finding clinical research positions at nearby hospitals?

Find a PI you like/a lab you're interested in and email the PI (or some other similarly ranking lab personnel) with some sort of cover letter + your CV . Worked for me.

 

[numbersloth]

Find a PI you like/a lab you're interested in and email the PI with some sort of cover letter + your CV (or some other similarly ranking lab personnel). Worked for me.

There is a listing for a clinical research position, but it seems to be mostly recruiting patients, preparing research visits, and inputting data. I personally don't mind starting out with this kind of work, but is this was medical schools are looking for?

 

[greenturtle22]

I'm assuming that these should be somewhat medically relevant though, no? Like maybe a history of medicine paper of looking at Keat's views on illness and metaphor.

They can be (and often are), though this isn't strictly necessary. What's generally more important is evidence of you developing research skills and exhibiting those skills; the actual research subject itself is still important but IMO matters less. I have friends who go to T20 med schools who did non-medically-related research in economics and history; they did just fine. I'd advise not getting stuck in the "science over everything else" mindset and go with what you're interested in. Research on a subject you're passionate about will usually work out better.

 

[GnothiSeauton]

I go to a liberal arts college -- how can I go about finding clinical research positions at nearby hospitals?

If there are really no research opportunities at your college or a local medical center, there are summer fellowship programs. You can also plan for a gap year working in research full-time, as many interviewees at top-20 schools do.

 

[greenturtle22]

There is a listing for a clinical research position, but it seems to be mostly recruiting patients, preparing research visits, and inputting data. I personally don't mind starting out with this kind of work, but is this was medical schools are looking for?

Most people start out with this kind of thing, but I'd make sure there's potential for you to grow beyond this and work on research design/analysis/etc. You can usually suss this out when you meet with the PI before joining his or her lab. Just busy work doesn't really count as full-fledged "research" IMO, but it's fine to start off with.

 

[GnothiSeauton]

There is a listing for a clinical research position, but it seems to be mostly recruiting patients, preparing research visits, and inputting data. I personally don't mind starting out with this kind of work, but is this was medical schools are looking for?

That is indeed. It gives you clinical experience (patient contact) and research all in one. Be forewarned that the work will be menial, and you probably won't feel like a researcher, but that's what it's like at the bottom of the totem pole.

 

[Staphylococcus Aureus]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_philosophy

 

[LizzyM]

If you are taking the pre-reqs for medical school you have the lab skills necessary to get your foot in the door either at a summer research experience or during the school year or during a gap year. Clinical research is not, IMHO, as valuable, as you seldom have the opportunity to develop and test a hypothesis.
Getting your hands dirty in a wet lab for 8 weeks in the summer or 15 weeks during the school year would be idea.
A hypothesis driven paper on health policy, bioethics or the history of medicine that breaks new ground would be "different" and might get you some attention at some schools. It requires analysis and not mere reporting of facts or the reporting of others' analyses.

 

[numbersloth]

If you are taking the pre-reqs for medical school you have the lab skills necessary to get your foot in the door either at a summer research experience or during the school year or during a gap year. Clinical research is not, IMHO, as valuable, as you seldom have the opportunity to develop and test a hypothesis.
Getting your hands dirty in a wet lab for 8 weeks in the summer or 15 weeks during the school year would be idea.
A hypothesis driven paper on health policy, bioethics or the history of medicine that breaks new ground would be "different" and might get you some attention at some schools. It requires analysis and not mere reporting of facts or the reporting of others' analyses.

Thanks so much for the advice. You specifically mention wetlab research--would ecology fieldwork and data analysis on infectious disease pathogens be similar enough, or are adcoms looking specifically for more biomedical bench research experiences? (which I understand, since molecular bench research is the basis of modern biomedicine!)

Also, how do adcoms look upon undergrad theses that are primarily literature reviews?

 

[Goro]

I ignore them.

Also, how do adcoms look upon undergrad theses that are primarily literature reviews?

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks so much for the advice. You specifically mention wetlab research--would ecology fieldwork and data analysis on infectious disease pathogens be similar enough, or are adcoms looking specifically for more biomedical bench research experiences? (which I understand, since molecular bench research is the basis of modern biomedicine!)

Also, how do adcoms look upon undergrad theses that are primarily literature reviews?

Yes, something along the lines of collecting ticks or mosquitos in the field and analyzing data about them with regard to infectious disease would be reasonable.

Literature review is preliminary to research and one usually opens a paper on a research study (or a grant proposal) with a review of the literature that leads one to the question to be answered in this paper) but a lit review on its own isn't highly valued.

 

[numbersloth]

I ignore them.

Theses in general or literary review in particular?

 

[Goro]

For UG work? Both

Theses in general or literary review in particular?

 

[WedgeDawg]

For UG work? Both

Just to offer an alternate perspective, on the interview trail, I was asked about my undergraduate thesis work (basic science wet lab work) at most interviews (other than MMIs). The thesis was not nearly near publication readiness at that point but still piqued the interest of several interviewers. YMMV, but I don't think they're totally useless.

Additionally, to answer the OP question, you can get involved in scientific research even if you aren't majoring in the sciences. As @LizzyM said, premed coursework will give you the necessary skills to get yourself into research, and then your research experience can back you up for later opportunities.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

You can get into medically-related research even if you have a non-science major. You can also do non-science research, but I don't think it would be given the same weight. I have a poster presentation on a clinical research project, a paper I'm finishing on a mathematical biology topic that I hope to publish, and a sole author pub in a law review on immigration law. Of those three (assuming the math bio paper gets published), I just assume the law review article will be given the least weight, likely not much more than the short fiction I've published.

But it's still going on my app because it's something a little different. Don't be afraid to do something non-trad just because it doesn't fit the cookie cutter mold. That's not always a bad thing.

 

[efgih]

I did ethics research, but did some orgo research for about a year...I think it'd be ideal if you had SOME science research, but I don't think it's necessarily a dealbreaker if you don't have extensive science or clinical research (except for research oriented schools like Stanford). As LizzyM said, it wasn't really hard for me to find research as a humanities major, I just contacted a professor I had for gen chem lab about it. Have not had any problems this cycle with interviews at top schools, so hope that helps!

 

[Ampharos]

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[Goro]

Somebody who does research in the classics is such a zebra that I think med schools would be falling all over themselves to interview them just for the refreshing novelty!

This is my experience so take it with a grain of salt. Also, probably going to out myself to all the adcoms...

I do a lot of clinical research (conferences, papers, and the whole shebang) and classics research (think Aristotle). I've interviewed at most of the "top 10" schools and my classics research has been the focal point of most if not all my interviews -- even though my clinical research has been much more productive (it takes soooo long to publish anything in classics). A few of my interviewers commented that my classics research was "refreshing" and was very different. Even at highly selective basic science schools like those mentioned above, they reacted positively to my humanities research.

Point is, I think finding something you're super interested in/passionate about and pursing some type of inquiry or advancement of knowledge in the field is very valuable and appreciated. Not sure if this contradicts or corroborates what @LizzyM @WedgeDawg @Goro have stated above. Nevertheless, good luck and follow what you love!

 

[Ampharos]

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[Staphylococcus Aureus]

This goes for essentially everything in the pre-med journey, but do what you're passionate about, do it well, and it will be viewed favorably by adcoms. Even if they give a minute favor to basic science research, is it really worth it if you're miserable? Undergrad is your chance to have intellectual pursuits outside of biomedical science. N=1 but I did medical and also philosophy research, and the philosophy project was always the one that got more astonishment and intrigue during interviews.