Lab research and/or clinical research?

[MidwestLovin]

I will be doing clinical research because it's not that much of a time commitment, because my boss is very lenient and nice about it.

However, I've been trying to get into labs on campus (some experience) and I've had luck with a lab. The PI is popular and I am interested in it, but it will be a bigger time commitment (probably whatever time I have before 7pm or so each night). They told me that a letter from the PI means a lot in the "science world", not sure how much in the "medical world", but should I pursue both?

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[umbrellaapp]

You should pursue whatever interests you, not to fill up a slot in your application. What matters is that you can talk about everything you list with passion. Research is certainly important because it's what drives forward a lot of the advances in medicine, and shows you're intellectually curious. Unless you are not interested in the research you'll be doing, I don't see why you wouldn't want to at least try out that lab.

 

[hoihaie]

lab research is good

 

[Shazam243]

Lab research will be a great experience. Hopefully, it will teach and expose you to a lot of different techniques, so you can see how discoveries are actually made.

A letter from your PI will not mean that much more than any other letter you get--at least it shouldn't if all of your letters are good/great. It will hopefully emphasize a different aspect of your attributes just like your other letters should.

Edit: That is assuming you're not trying to convey the idea that you'll also be focusing on research in medical school/future career.

 

[URHere]

That depends…how much time do you have to contribute to the lab position?

Most people agree that 20 hours/week is the minimum for being useful to a wet lab. If you can put in that time (and you want to), then do it. If you can only devote a few hours a week, you'd probably be better off letting the position go.

 

[JuanPabloCastel]

That depends…how much time do you have to contribute to the lab position?

Most people agree that 20 hours/week is the minimum for being useful to a wet lab. If you can put in that time (and you want to), then do it. If you can only devote a few hours a week, you'd probably be better off letting the position go.

I don't know if 20 is the minimum. I've heard other people say 12-15 is a good goal to shoot for.
That being said, I worked in a lab for 15 hrs/wk and was certainly not very useful.

 

[aspirantmed]

That depends…how much time do you have to contribute to the lab position?

Most people agree that 20 hours/week is the minimum for being useful to a wet lab. If you can put in that time (and you want to), then do it. If you can only devote a few hours a week, you'd probably be better off letting the position go.

I'd say that's a pretty high figure; among all my pre-med friends, I can't say I know of too many (or really, anyone) who spent that kind of time in a lab during the academic year without getting paid as a part-time employee. Doing 10hrs/wk for 2 years, I was able to publish and present a few posters. Even the independent research course at my university requires 10hrs/week.

Now, if you put in 20 hours every week, you'll make a lot of progress and likely finish with a strong product to show for it, but to say that it's not worth pursuing if you're not able to do that is, in my opinion, a stretch.

 

[URHere]

I'd say that's a pretty high figure; among all my pre-med friends, I can't say I know of too many (or really, anyone) who spent that kind of time in a lab during the academic year without getting paid as a part-time employee.

I'm just speaking from my personal experience and the opinions of research PIs I have interacted with in the past. Granted, this does depend on the nature of the research but, as far as meaningful, independent projects are concerned, I know very few researchers who would take in students who could only dedicate 10 hours/week. I certainly wouldn't do it if it was my lab.

 

[aspirantmed]

I'm just speaking from my personal experience and the opinions of research PIs I have interacted with in the past. Granted, this does depend on the nature of the research but, as far as meaningful, independent projects are concerned, I know very few researchers who would take in students who could only dedicate 10 hours/week. I certainly wouldn't do it if it was my lab.

Please tell me that no professor in medical school is going to expect me to commit 20 hours per week to a research group .. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[MidwestLovin]

Yes, I can commit 20 hours, easily. I have a lot of gaps in my schedule with classes in the same building (next to lab) so it's actually perfect. It's not like I can go downtown to volunteer in a clinic in those 1-2 hour gaps.

 

[URHere]

Please tell me that no professor in medical school is going to expect me to commit 20 hours per week to a research group .. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Most medical students conduct clinical research or chart reviews. Those time commitments are generally short-term and (in the case of chart reviews) far more flexible. If you want to do bench research during medical school, you're either going to have to put in the time or accept the fact that you won't accomplish much in terms of publication.

For what it's worth, I only had one medical school classmate pursue bench research.

 

[masaraksh]

If you're doing this to check off a box and pad a med school app with 'research' and thats it, Clinical research will generally be the far far easier way of doing this. (My experiences are 1.5yrs clinical & 2yrs as an organic chemist in multiple groups).

Clinical research will be more paper pushing, entering data, often fairly simple data analysis, and coordinating research patients, etc. At the level of a pre-med it is just not that mentally challenging. The big pros are that it is generally kind of cushy. Not only that, but an advantage is that you work with patients OR (if not with patients) then with doctors and closer to a clinical setting. This means, easier to get some shadowing hours, see cool stuff.

Lab research - often more work, especially if you want to be useful. However, I'd say you learn more. You learn more basic science, techniques, you do experiments, etc.

As far as letters go, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. I think they are used to learn more about your character. I somehow doubt Ad Com members go 'oooh, this guy has a rec from the medical director at MGH', then look over at another app and go 'OMG. NO WAY! Does this guy really have a rec from XXX XXX. He is the pioneer of plasmid research (or enantioselective synthesis, or whatever)' and instantly accept you.

 

[masaraksh]

Most medical students conduct clinical research or chart reviews. Those time commitments are generally short-term and (in the case of chart reviews) far more flexible. If you want to do bench research during medical school, you're either going to have to put in the time or accept the fact that you won't accomplish much in terms of publication.

For what it's worth, I only had one medical school classmate pursue bench research.

What about the MD/PhDs?

 

[URHere]

What about the MD/PhDs?

I consider them MD/PhD classmates, not medical school classmates. 🙂

Most MD/PhD students will pursue bench research (some at my program focus on bioinformatics or mathematical modeling instead), but we have full years of research time. It's hard to compare what we generally do to what an MD-only student can feasibly accomplish unless they plan to take some time off for research purposes.

 

[MidwestLovin]

If you're doing this to check off a box and pad a med school app with 'research' and thats it, Clinical research will generally be the far far easier way of doing this. (My experiences are 1.5yrs clinical & 2yrs as an organic chemist in multiple groups).

Clinical research will be more paper pushing, entering data, often fairly simple data analysis, and coordinating research patients, etc. At the level of a pre-med it is just not that mentally challenging. The big pros are that it is generally kind of cushy. Not only that, but an advantage is that you work with patients OR (if not with patients) then with doctors and closer to a clinical setting. This means, easier to get some shadowing hours, see cool stuff.

Lab research - often more work, especially if you want to be useful. However, I'd say you learn more. You learn more basic science, techniques, you do experiments, etc.

As far as letters go, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. I think they are used to learn more about your character. I somehow doubt Ad Com members go 'oooh, this guy has a rec from the medical director at MGH', then look over at another app and go 'OMG. NO WAY! Does this guy really have a rec from XXX XXX. He is the pioneer of plasmid research (or enantioselective synthesis, or whatever)' and instantly accept you.

This is a very hard decision. Both seem like great opportunities. And doing lab work means I will have to get my GPA up (or essentially write a long thesis for nothing which is not an option for me) and graduate with honors. It seems very personally rewarding.

 

[Dwan]

Either bench or clinical research can look impressive if you are successful at it. So, pursue the option that you will enjoy the most and do well. You do not need both, and while more research is always helpful, be careful not to have your application saturated with research and lacking in other aspects.