No research, am I cooked?

[DrAmadeus]

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Quick background story. Im planning to take the MCAt this month, FLs are looking okay but theres always room to improve. I did take a gap year and I spent it preparing for the MCAT and working part time as a pharmacy tech and scribe (clinical experience). I didn't scribe for too long though (3 months) and thats all the formal clinical experience I have. I know I need research to be a competitive applicant, but it feels like research is impossible to get especially for me. I have no research experience from undergrad and I no longer live in the state I went to college for so I cant use my alumni status to get research with my school.
So how do I get research at this stage? So I do a masters degree and go from there? Post bacc? Another option I have considered is cold emailing, but I cant even find research PI's to cold email. What am I doing wrong?

 

[morak]

Not sure if this post fits in WAMC, but to address your questions: you could try looking for research tech positions at universities that have not been affected by funding cuts and hiring freezes. Many university labs are completely closed to new applicants at the moment, so it makes sense that you've been having a hard time cold emailing PIs. For what it's worth, everything I've heard from advisors/adcoms at info sessions indicates that adcoms will be keeping the current research environment in mind when considering your research experience.

Depending on your location, you may also have private/nonprofit labs nearby (think Jax labs, Cold Spring Harbor, Salk Institute, etc) that may be more open for tech positions due to private/trust funding (though these positions tend to always be competitive). Lastly, you could also try applying for clinical research assistant positions. I know for sure that there are many available positions in major hospitals specifically designed for gap year premeds that offer training and potential for publication as long as you commit to at least a year and have some form of clinical exposure before applying.

 

[DrAmadeus]

Not sure if this post fits in WAMC, but to address your questions: you could try looking for research tech positions at universities that have not been affected by funding cuts and hiring freezes. Many university labs are completely closed to new applicants at the moment, so it makes sense that you've been having a hard time cold emailing PIs. For what it's worth, everything I've heard from advisors/adcoms at info sessions indicates that adcoms will be keeping the current research environment in mind when considering your research experience.

Depending on your location, you may also have private/nonprofit labs nearby (think Jax labs, Cold Spring Harbor, Salk Institute, etc) that may be more open for tech positions due to private/trust funding (though these positions tend to always be competitive). Lastly, you could also try applying for clinical research assistant positions. I know for sure that there are many available positions in major hospitals specifically designed for gap year premeds that offer training and potential for publication as long as you commit to at least a year and have some form of clinical exposure before applying.

Thank you so much for your insight. I honestly had no clue what to do beforehand but this definitely helps steer me in the right direction so I genuinely appreciate you sharing you thoughts 🙂

 

[stew_md]

Quick background story. Im planning to take the MCAt this month, FLs are looking okay but theres always room to improve. I did take a gap year and I spent it preparing for the MCAT and working part time as a pharmacy tech and scribe (clinical experience). I didn't scribe for too long though (3 months) and thats all the formal clinical experience I have. I know I need research to be a competitive applicant, but it feels like research is impossible to get especially for me. I have no research experience from undergrad and I no longer live in the state I went to college for so I cant use my alumni status to get research with my school.
So how do I get research at this stage? So I do a masters degree and go from there? Post bacc? Another option I have considered is cold emailing, but I cant even find research PI's to cold email. What am I doing wrong?

You aren’t cooked. With no research you will likely get screened out at schools that value research (ie. Case western, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, etc.) however there are many schools that don’t require research from their applicants (for example Creighton).

If you are unable to get a research position lean into other areas of your application more. Do a lot more volunteering, leadership work, or find a new clinical job.

 

[candbgirl]

Why don’t you complete a WAMC grid? It will give us a better idea of what else is lacking on your application and what is well covered.

Thread '*~*~*~*IMPORTANT: How to Format Your WAMC Thread for Optimal Results and More!!*~*~*~*'

Nov 19, 2015

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