Is working in Clinical Trials a good idea?

[Saffro]

I've recently been rejected to a SURP I've really wanted to be in and I feel like one of the reasons may be because I have NO research experience at all. This summer I wanted to be at home to try to gain some research experience with 2 doctors I know, and hopefully, this will work out.

My dad told me he could get me a job at a lab, however, this would be clinical trials for drugs (phase 2 and 3). Is this valuable experience for a pre-med student, or is it kind of random and not that relevant?
I know it's not the typical lab work that you'd find in a university--but is it something worth doing for this summer as a pre-med student? Or should I look for different opportunities.

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[NeuroLAX]

Of course it is relevant! I don't work in a traditional lab but I work with clinical drug trials day-in and day-out at an academic institution. I love it. The patients I see are truly committed to finding different treatment options because some diseases have little to no options as far as being disease-specific. In fact, one drug trial that I am involved with is for a disease that has 0 approved drugs. The amount of pre-clinical R&D work in the laboratory that has gone into making this trial happen is incredible. Yet another trial that I will be hopefully working with soon is for another disease with 0 approved drugs. Again, pre-clinical R&D experiments are essential for making these trials possible.

Just a few things to think about 😎

 

[Catalystik]

My dad told me he could get me a job at a lab, however, this would be clinical trials for drugs (phase 2 and 3). Is this valuable experience for a pre-med student, or is it kind of random and not that relevant?
I know it's not the typical lab work that you'd find in a university--but is it something worth doing for this summer as a pre-med student?

It sounds like a great opportunity. If you get paid, even better.

 

[ABQ9988]

I've recently been rejected to a SURP I've really wanted to be in and I feel like one of the reasons may be because I have NO research experience at all. This summer I wanted to be at home to try to gain some research experience with 2 doctors I know, and hopefully, this will work out.

My dad told me he could get me a job at a lab, however, this would be clinical trials for drugs (phase 2 and 3). Is this valuable experience for a pre-med student, or is it kind of random and not that relevant?
I know it's not the typical lab work that you'd find in a university--but is it something worth doing for this summer as a pre-med student? Or should I look for different opportunities.

Absolutely. Would the position be a clinical research coordinator? If so, you be able to interact with the research team (PI, sub-Investigators, Research Pharmacists, Nurses, etc) and the study patients. For the last 2 years, I have been a coordinator running endocrine clinical trials with studies focusing on T!DM, T2DM, Cushing's Disease, thyroid nodules, and growth hormone deficiency. I was able to develop close relationships with both the PIs and my study patients....and it led to some amazing LORs.

 

[Keepitclassy]

Considering you have nothing else lined up this sounds like a great opportunity. You might be put off since the doors were pushed open by your father, but be humble and take what you can get. This will definitely look good on your CV/resume next time you apply for a SURP or university undergraduate research position.