NIH IRTA - what are my chances of getting in?

[braves3k1]

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Hello, I'm graduating next spring and have decided to spend a year doing research prior to going to medical school. I applied to the IRTA program in October (all my recommendations were in by late Oct.). I was wondering if anyone knows when I should expect to hear back from a lab. I know they technically don't reject anyone in the sense that your application stays on file, but I'm not sure if my chances are that great since I don't have any research experience. I've taken quite a few labs in college and am even a TA for a bio lab, but I feel like my application will not be looked at favorably because of the lack of research experience. I have a 3.95 cumulative GPA (3.95 science GPA as well) and 34Q on the mcat. I explained my reasons for not doing research (graduating one year early, worked many jobs in college that took up most of my time). Do you think I'll get into the program? Any help/info from current IRTA participants would be greatly appreciated!

 

[diosa428]

You should contact labs you'd be interested in working in directly. Also, know that some labs prefer a 2 year commitment.

 

[braves3k1]

How do I contact labs? Is there a list with contact info somewhere? Thanks for the help.

 

[diosa428]

You basically have to search through the various institutes' webpages. Just go to www.nih.gov and start looking.

 

[beachblonde]

Contact the labs you're interested in. Otherwise, your resume will be floating out there alongside a million other ones and the likelihood that anybody will notice it is very, very small (unless you have certain, specific qualifications like knowing how to do difficult techniques, computer programming, etc).

Also, my suggestion: find a lab that has published recently. My friend's lab hadn't published anything in a long time, and the last year of her IRTA was spent watching the lab slowly lose all of its funding and resources. Good thing she already got into grad school, huh?

 

[Nishtar]

It wouldnt be a bad idea to take up a research project at ur undergraduate institution so you can talk about it when you contact different labs.

 

[Bibbed]

Do what the previous poster said. Look through some of the research being done and e-mail the PI for the lab talking about how it's interesting to you, etc.

The labs really don't care about your research experience or GPA or MCAT as far as I know. Not to be a dick, but there are absolute ****** IRTAs in my lab that can't speak well, have bad grades/MCAT and no research exp. Half the IRTAs I've met don't even have the credentials to sniff medical school, so I wouldn't worry about your qualifications. Just e-mail and get your foot in the door for an interview.

There's a ton of labs in NCI, I'd start there.

 

[braves3k1]

Hey, thanks a lot for all the help. I've started sending some letters already. What do you think about the experience?

 

[Nishtar]

I think the experiene varies from one lab to another. I love it because i have a great post-doc as my mentor. As Bibbed said, you may have to encounter some people in your lab who you may not like, but that is true of life in general. That being said, NIH is huge and there is a lot of medically relevant stuff to do.

I would recommend it if you are a research-oriented person.

 

[shevie]

I think alot of it is about being proactive. If you want to get in, contact the labs yourself. the best place to look (before contacting the PIs themselves) is http://intramural.nih.gov/search/index.tml. type in, like diabetes (if youre interested in diabetes- i was), and youll end up with a list of hundreds of PIs in all the various institutes. you can read about their research and see if what they are doing is up your alley. your GPA and MCAT score are wonderful, but being that this isnt med school, I think what matters to them most, is past experience (if you dont know your baisc way around the lab, how can they give you any independence or ask you to get anything done). I think the exception to this rule is if you are fortunate enough to find a clinical research position, but from what I heard when I was trying to find a lab, those are harder to come by. So if you want to boost your app, why dont you try to get your hands wet by volunteering in a lab at a local hospital or med school? just so that if and when you go on interviews at the NIH, you wont be totally clueless?

All in all it was an amazing experience. Although I learned alot, and got a few publications out of my time spent at the NIH, more than anything, it helped me learn that a CAREER (post med school) in research is absolutely not for me. if you have any particular questions or need help finding a lab or just general advice about the NIH feel free to PM me.

 

[ducksfly]

the lab that i worked for at NIDA never asked about gpa, test scores, or anything of that nature. as has already been said, acceptance to a NIH program almost entirely depends on, in my experience, having a personal contact at the lab where you want to work. the vast majority of students/post-bacs who you will find in NIH labs know someone, and like bibbed said, you'd be surprised at how many of them have no business being there. also, my PI did not really care about previous lab experience, though a general understanding of biotech techniques is extremely helpful and will allow you to be much more independent (higher possibility of publication).

 

[beachblonde]

Like a lot of people have said, having prior research experience is the biggest help in getting a spot at NIH because, first and foremost, the PIs want to make sure that you aren't a blithering idiot who screws up everything. I'm serious. But if you have held a job, one where you at to be reasonably functional in order to not get fired, that will go a long way to helping your cause.

I know from my own experiences working at NIH, and those of my many friends who had gigs there, that a lot of PIs will occasionally hire somebody due to GPA or test scores and then will seriously regret it when that person needs his/her hand held the whole time.

And also, (and you know this already) do not lie on your resume. My friend's lab hired a student who claimed to be proficient in several computer languages/programs and most definitely wasn't. The PI seethed at this person for the two or three months he was there. That was a seriously bad idea on the part of this person. No LOR for him!

 

[pazan]

I second what everyone else said about gaining prior research experience. Research fields are small circles of well-connected scientists, whether they're competitors or collaborators. If you work for a PI at your undergrad, he/she'll likely know of someone in the same field at the NIH. I was able to "name-drop" and show I had previous experience working in my PI's field, and, when I initially contacted him about an IRTA position, I emphasized my desire to continue learning about and working in a field that interests me.

Good luck and if you need any other advice feel free to PM me.

 

[Peperenpe]

I think alot of it is about being proactive. If you want to get in, contact the labs yourself. the best place to look (before contacting the PIs themselves) is http://intramural.nih.gov/search/index.tml. type in, like diabetes (if youre interested in diabetes- i was), and youll end up with a list of hundreds of PIs in all the various institutes. you can read about their research and see if what they are doing is up your alley. your GPA and MCAT score are wonderful, but being that this isnt med school, I think what matters to them most, is past experience (if you dont know your baisc way around the lab, how can they give you any independence or ask you to get anything done). I think the exception to this rule is if you are fortunate enough to find a clinical research position, but from what I heard when I was trying to find a lab, those are harder to come by. So if you want to boost your app, why dont you try to get your hands wet by volunteering in a lab at a local hospital or med school? just so that if and when you go on interviews at the NIH, you wont be totally clueless?

All in all it was an amazing experience. Although I learned alot, and got a few publications out of my time spent at the NIH, more than anything, it helped me learn that a CAREER (post med school) in research is absolutely not for me. if you have any particular questions or need help finding a lab or just general advice about the NIH feel free to PM me.

Hi! I know that it's been a while since you posted this, but I just came across your post. Do you mind listing me some of the labs that you looked into and the one that you worked in while at the NIH(If you still remember them). I am interested in diabetes as well. It just makes it easier for me to know the PIs that are actually searching for students and what you experience was with them.

 

[mistafab]

Will say this - I never sent in letters.

My PI said he looked up a few keywords that were related to his work - mine was the only one that contained those keywords in the letter of interest.

If you watch that video on the website about writing vaguely, but specifically, then folks in labs who have 5 minutes can type their keywords and find your application.


hope this helps - if it doesnt it doesnt matter cause it worked for me.