Publications and importance for intership

[erg923]

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I know we have discussed this in the past, but I have several specific questions. I am Ph.D student, am pretty clinically focused (neuro), and am in a pretty clncially focused program by Ph.D. stadards. When I go into intership, I will have a about 6 poster presentations, but only 2 pubs. I am not anywhere near first author on either, as its a very large study with six others on each pub (I think I'm 2nd to last on one and 2nd on the other). I had one first author paper shot down so we are making revisions and it possible it will be published before I have to submit applications for intership, but who knows.

What's the mean and mode number of pubs for Ph.D students going into internship? Is the mode for most Ph.D after internship really zero, as I have heard in the past?

1). Since internship year is full time clinical work (and thats the purpose of it), why do places care about your record of research productivity? Everyone keeps telling me to have alot fo clinical hours, but "make sure you have the research too." "Make sure you have the resesrch too" "You have to have the resesrch part!" If this is truly the case, how do Psy.Ds ever get interships at deceent places? I mean I know they do, but I would expect the "average" Psy.D applciant to maybe have a few posters at most. So how do they do it?

2.) Besides the obvious like WPIC and those in that league, what places care about your research record? All Academic med center type places?

 

[PsyDr]

-Internships regularly have a Research rotation. it is actually a search option in the appic databse. in that case, the benefits of having more research are pretty self explanatory.

but:

in my experience in neuro, research is a demonstration of how much actual neuro you understand.

-in academic med centers having a publication entitled somethign like, "observations on fast fourier transforms of co-acquired salivary cortisol and fmri hemodynamic responses in response to an emotional stroop task in a dorsolateral comprised sample" says you probably have a very in dept understanding of a few neuropsych things. (btw: it is not possible to do fft's on sailvary cortisol, i was just making something up that sounded fancy)

-sometimes that doens't count for much though.

 

[cmuhooligan]

Check out the APPIC survey from 2007 for data on the number of pubs and presentations:
http://www.appic.org/match/5_2_2_4_9a_match_about_statistics_surveys_2007a.htm

With two pubs you are at the 60th percentile or higher, so that's not bad at all. Unfortunately, these stats don't list what percent of said pubs are 1st authored, which surely would make a difference.

 

[Ollie123]

I think the mode for EVERYONE is zero, with the average probably being about 1 pub. I haven't seen a breakdown by degree though I would be interested in seeing one since it would probably give me a much better sense of what my competition would look like.

I'm nowhere near internship level so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I'll pass on what I've heard.

1) Some (most?) PsyDs will have some research experience too. I imagine the ones getting the best internships will at least have a couple publications. Of course, best is a somewhat relative term, so I guess more traditionally thought of as "prestigious" is more appropriate.

2) I can't imagine an academic medical center NOT caring about a pub record, though there probably are some clinically focused ones. Independent research institutions will care (duh). Some VAs care (i.e. Palo Alto), but many are more clinically focused.

Again, not really my place to comment, but it doesn't sound like you are in a BAD situation for someone clearly not on an academic path. Obviously, Brown is probably out of the question, but that would be the wrong place for you anyways. You're probably in the upper 50% for number of posters and presentations if that helps put things in perspective. For someone at the far "clinical" end of the spectrum, I'd think that would be pretty respectable.

 

[Cosmo75]

I'd think you're ok, unless you're targeting a research heavy internship site. My publication profile is similar to yours and I placed at a VA. It depends on where you're targeting to apply to. If it is VA hospitals, then from my experience it's nice to have some research but it's not their major focus. I think they like a well rounded applicant so having research is a plus but not what they're entirely focused on. An academic hospital would care more as was mentioned. I didn't apply to certain sites in the area because of how heavy of a research focus they had, because I knew a) being a PsyD and b) having only 1 pub and 7 posters wasn't going to cut the mustard by their standards.

So I guess my advice is do your homework on the sites and apply strategically. There's no harm in emailing the training director of the site if the info isn't readily available in their materials or on the APPIC site. From my experience, they were responsive to more specific questions.

Good luck with the application process 😀

 

[cmuhooligan]

I wanted to add that if you will have some manuscripts under review that will help as well. Granted it's not the same as "in press", but it does demonstrate research productivity.

 

[Sarahanne]

I have another question along the same lines. For those of you who are more research oriented, how many pubs do you shoot for per year?

 

[cmuhooligan]

I have another question along the same lines. For those of you who are more research oriented, how many pubs do you shoot for per year?

Personally, that's hard to answer, as I just finished my 3rd year, and only now am I at a point with my projects where they are being submitted. So in the last 6 months I have submitted 4 first-authored manuscripts. But that has been from work that began several years ago.

 

[parto123]

Im of the opinion (and have witnessed this anecdotally) that having 1 or 2 publications really doesn’t make any difference, and doesn’t put one at much advantage over those with 0. I think publications really only start to matter when you have a good amount of them.

For research heavy internships, having 1 or 2 publications most likely wouldn’t be enough. For most other places, having 1-2 pubs would be at best a distant tie breaker.

Anecdotally, the applicants I have seen do well are those who had good experience, lors, and essays. Having one or two pubs didn’t really seem to put applicants at any real advantage over those with none.