Is this the right type of research?

[Mopsd]

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My position as a Research Assistant (actual title given to me) mainly involves collecting and organizing data from survey questions I distribute. The data gets analyzed (not by me) for a paper that gets published yearly. It isn't science-based or in a lab, more so public health related. It is tied to two of my state's medical schools.

Is this the right type of research that med schools are looking for in an application?

 

[lull]

There isn't really a right or wrong type of research. If it's hypothesis-driven and you're picking up meaningful skills, I don't see why it wouldn't count. That being said, research is ranked of medium-importance to medical schools compared to activities such as volunteering, which are of high-importance, so top-notch clinical research is not going to be a deal breaker in the way that lack of volunteering and leadership skills would.

 

[Mopsd]

I have been told that volunteering > research in terms of a med school app. For this reason I have considered quitting...I feel as though I'm not making the most of my summer by volunteering 20+ hours a week stuck at a desk doing such repetitive work. I have only been in this position for a month and I don't see myself picking up anything meaningful anytime soon. Would it look bad to quit so soon, especially considering the ties to the two medical schools I'll be applying to in a couple years?

 

[lull]

If you really are interested in that specific research lab, I would talk to your PI and see if there's any prospect of you getting involved in other ways. You might start out in a lab doing very menial work, but if you put in that initial effort and you show active interest in the projects in the lab, the PI might be more willing to allow you to work on these projects in other ways or potentially even start your own project. I wouldn't stick with the lab just because of the ties it has to the medical schools because there are so many other ways to stand out to medical schools. Also, I doubt quitting the lab would affect your chances of getting into medical school, but sticking with the lab, listing it on your application, and not being able to explain how it was meaningful to you will definitely affect your chances.

TL;DR: Be patient, communicate with your PI, and you might be able to do other things in the lab. If you really don't like it, just quit and find more meaningful opportunities.

 

[Catalystik]

My position as a Research Assistant (actual title given to me) mainly involves collecting and organizing data from survey questions I distribute. The data gets analyzed (not by me) for a paper that gets published yearly. It isn't science-based or in a lab, more so public health related. It is tied to two of my state's medical schools.

Is this the right type of research that med schools are looking for in an application?

Are you engaged in a scholarly project meant to result in new, generalizable knowledge? Do you know the hypothesis it started with? Did you ask for and read the original grant proposal/IRB application (to get an overall understanding of what the endeavor entails and is meant to accomplish)? It need not be science-based or in a lab.

 

[Unlimited Apps]

As someone that has dedicated many hours into research but isn't applying to top 20 schools much I have realized that unless you can get significant outcomes, it might not be worth the crazy time in the context of medical school applications (unless obviously you enjoy it so much that you don't care about the time commitment as much).

See if you can get involved in the manuscripts or posters/presentations that come out of the work. If you can get published that will stay with you for life and could even help come residency time.