Non-trads, where do you find research opportunities?

[skaran17]

I am active duty military, currently taking my science prerequisites at a CC as part of a DIY post bac. I have what I feel is a pretty solid plan to finish out all my prereqs, get clinical experience and shadowing over the next 4 years before my ETS. I've also started looking at the MSAR to make sure schools I'm interested in accept CC credit and to be realistic about my chances of acceptance. One thing I've noticed is a large percentage of accepted students have research experience. I have no idea how I would go about finding that. It seems like a lot of full-time students at proper 4-year research universities have the opportunity to participate in research, but is there any way to find research opportunities while also working full-time and studying at a community college?

Also interested in non-clinical volunteering ideas, as I think that's a weak spot for me.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

You don't need research to get into medschool. You are something that's highly desirable by lots of medschools, active military, and you can disassemble an AR-15, reassemble it, and make a kill shot from 300 yards out. (JK)

Those matriculants in medschool had 4 years of college where research opportunities were abundant. Don't compare yourself to them. Showcase your military uniqueness. Do research after you get into medschool.

Volunteer at a soup kitchen, homeless shelter, local library reading to kids, etc ...

 

[Bonne Nuit]

One thing I've noticed is a large percentage of accepted students have research experience. I have no idea how I would go about finding that. It seems like a lot of full-time students at proper 4-year research universities have the opportunity to participate in research, but is there any way to find research opportunities while also working full-time and studying at a community college?

I just want to offer you some peace of mind about these research stats you see. Yes, upwards of 90% of matriculants report “research experience” (I think it’s 96% at my school) but to put this in context, lots of STEM majors now include mandatory research experiences (capstone project, research course/elective). It’s pretty difficult to graduate as a traditional premed these days and have zero research exposure whatsoever. And the quality of these experiences varies a great deal from person to person - I have even seen an applicant’s final project for a lab class listed as research experience. It’s an extremely broad category that could include anything from a first author Nature pub to someone’s organic chemistry aspirin synthesis paper.

Anyway, this question comes up fairly often on this forum and I get why those stats look intimidating, but try not to stress too much. Lack of research won’t be a dealbreaker for you unless you have your heart set on MD/PhD. As @DV-T stated, you have a totally different set of skills to offer medical schools.

 

[skaran17]

Thank you all! I'm definitely just looking at MD/DO, not MD/PhD, so hopefully it will be fine.