Lab experience problem solved? Maybe?

[Charleston990]

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I'll admit that I'm a bit in the dark about lab experiences insomuch as what kind and how much. I'm a nursing major, so lab research isn't something we talk about very often. I think I have just gotten this problem in my application-building solved, but I would love some opinions on whether this is at least minimally sufficient!

To begin with, I'm a sophomore nursing major, I'm actually awaiting my acceptance letter into nursing school as we...type. But anyway, when I went to my old professor asking for a recommendation for nursing school some months ago, I took the opportunity to ask her briefly about lab work. It was more of a 'for curiosity and future consideration' conversation, but apparently she took me very seriously! I just recently got an email from her telling me and few other students that we had made it to the top of her list and were guaranteed a spot for independent biological research if we still wanted it. I'm still a bit dumbfounded at how I made it over other bio majors who specifically asked her for a spot and had much more experience, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

So its a Bio 399 course. My spot will mean she designs a 399 exclusively for me, and I will work only and directly with her as I learn the ropes, and then fairly on my own for the rest of the summer. In the fall, I'll finish up analysis and written reports. She's also suggested I apply for this research scholarship from my school that I know is fairly significant, so I'm hoping this implies it will be a slightly more meaningful and not just introductory play-at-research course? Does this this one course sound significant enough to cover the lab experience I need? Do I need more? Please help! Trying to gain enough/any lab experience has been a big stress for me! I really feel that as a nurse, this is something I need to be sure and cover well to help strengthen my non-trad application

 

[njbmd]

She's also suggested I apply for this research scholarship from my school that I know is fairly significant, so I'm hoping this implies it will be a slightly more meaningful and not just introductory play-at-research course? Does this this one course sound significant enough to cover the lab experience I need? Do I need more? Please help! Trying to gain enough/any lab experience has been a big stress for me! I really feel that as a nurse, this is something I need to be sure and cover well to help strengthen my non-trad application

If you are hoping that nursing research will cover or be a substitute for formal bench research for application to medical school, it will not. Nursing research is far different from medical research (even the clinical research). The two professions look at patients from different standpoints. This class might be great if you are going into graduate nursing however. It just depends on your professional goals.

 

[Charleston990]

No, this is not nursing research, this is a completely separate class from the nursing college. This is a biology research program that biology juniors and seniors sign up for.

 

[njbmd]

So its a Bio 399 course. My spot will mean she designs a 399 exclusively for me, and I will work only and directly with her as I learn the ropes, and then fairly on my own for the rest of the summer. In the fall, I'll finish up analysis and written reports. She's also suggested I apply for this research scholarship from my school that I know is fairly significant, so I'm hoping this implies it will be a slightly more meaningful and not just introductory play-at-research course? Does this this one course sound significant enough to cover the lab experience I need? Do I need more? Please help! Trying to gain enough/any lab experience has been a big stress for me! I really feel that as a nurse, this is something I need to be sure and cover well to help strengthen my non-trad application

No, this is not nursing research, this is a completely separate class from the nursing college. This is a biology research program that biology juniors and seniors sign up for.

I don't care what department lists the course, if the subject matter that you are studying is nursing (likely the case if a nurse is designing your project), then it's not going to fly for medical school. I have placed in bold the major problem that I see with your strategy. A great majority of the folks who are on admissions committees are physicians and non-nursing Ph.Ds who definitely know the difference between nursing and basic science research.

If you want to use this course for pre-med (and medical school admissions), you likely need a mentor in the Bio department who places you on a research project in biological science or even in another pre-clinical science department. If you aim is to do clinical research, then you need a mentor who is an MD or MD/Ph.D. Nursing research is not a substitute for the above no matter what the number of your course. It's the type of research that counts.

My bet is that the biology juniors and seniors are not doing nursing research and neither should you if you are trying to enter medical school. I also am willing to wager that a nursing instructor is not going to be designing a project that would be suitable for a pre-med student even if they are in a nursing program.

 

[dragonfly99]

OK, I agree a little bit that traditional premed research does not = a research project designed by a nurse for a nursing student. However, I thinkt he previous poster is being a little harsh. He has a point, but I think if you need this course for your major and you can't redesign it (to be mentored by an MD or MD/PhD type person) then just go with the course you have. It's definitely better than no research at all, and not every single person who enters med school, or applies to med school, has extensive research experience. The MCAT score, GPA, and health care related experience are more critical, as are the letters of recommendation. Keep in mind that you're going to need some letters of recommendation that are from people other than nursing professors, etc., so doing research with a medical school faculty member, such as an MD or an MD/PhD, would be a good way to get a letter. But if you can't switch your research project at this point, it's not like it's some disaster...it's still research and it's still in a health care related field. I don't think it's true that it wouldn't help your application at all...but agree it wouldn't be as helpful as more traditional types of research done by premeds.

 

[Charleston990]

lol no I REALLY mean what I said.

It is not in the nursing department
It is not designed by a nurse
The nursing department has nothing to do with this class
In fact, the nursing department does not even want me to take this class

 

[DrMidlife]

lol no I REALLY mean what I said.

It is not in the nursing department
It is not designed by a nurse
The nursing department has nothing to do with this class
In fact, the nursing department does not even want me to take this class

I recommend in the future that you not even mention nursing when you ask a non-nursing question. It wasn't relevant to the question, right? The majority of people here with the experience to offer you advice will always be mightily distracted by your choice to use nursing as a premed degree and will not be particularly nice about it. You can't assume that folks have read your post history, or that they've accepted your story.

As for your original non-nursing question, you should know that "lab experience" is not a requirement for med school. Nor is research. You will be asked on apps if you have research experience. The only impressive answer is to have published in a peer-reviewed journal. So if you're not getting published in this Bio 399 class, then it's no better or worse than other research experience. You can assume that you'll be asked to qualify any research experience you list, so make sure you can talk about it with some passion.

Lastly, it's entirely possible that the responses you've received here, where we can't tell that this class has nothing to do with nursing, are the same responses you'll get from adcoms when you list this class as a research experience. If you do it during your nursing studies (assuming you don't have a juicy published paper on the other side with "Ca++ channel" or "protein structure" in the title) you'll run into the same assumption again.

Best of luck to you.