Question about research experience

[BeancheBlanco]

So i've spent a year and a summer in two different research labs but I never did any actual research. I just helped out in the lab and performed lab techniques that needed to be done. I don't have any papers published or presentations or any of my own projects. My question is if this is worth anything. Should I even bother putting it on my application? Would it even count as research experience?

Thanks

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[Application Doc]

Yes, yes, you should absolutely include this information! Here is why:
1. In the screening process for interviews and then in the final score for applicants, many schools use a rubric system that includes "research." Even if you haven't conducted research yourself, you have been sufficiently exposed to the process and wouldn't want to miss out on getting "credit" where it's due. Your familiarity with laboratory technique, the frustrations of attempting to get manuscripts published, etc. are fodder for interview conversations.
2. Admissions committees are interested to know how you spend your time (extracurriculars, hobbies, work, etc.). If you were in lab, then you weren't doing something else that might have otherwise bolstered your application. You want your time (and hard work!) to be accounted for.
3. Admissions committees value commitment. You have demonstrated commitment to your lab given the amount of time you've been there. If at all possible, in your description try to demonstrate advancement, ie taking on more responsibility, managing other people, etc.

 

[BeancheBlanco]

I guess it would be helpful to put on my application but would med schools classify it as research experience?

 

[Morsetlis]

I guess it would be helpful to put on my application but would med schools classify it as research experience?

Yes.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

The first time I worked in a research lab, all I did was flip vials of Drosophila. The next one involved me watering plants in a greenhouse for a biofuels project. It wasn't until my senior year that I actually got to contribute. I fully intend to include all these labs as legitimate research experience on my app. Don't sell yourself short.

 

[BiopsychStudent]

You have to start somewhere. Especially if you're only doing research for a few hours a week you can't expect to be curing cancer and writing abstracts; most students who do have poster presentations and publications either have generous PI's or devote an enormous amount of time and effort to those pursuits.

My advice is to do some reading up on whatever your current lab is doing: Try and develop a project of your own and see if your PI is interested in it. Now that you know the laboratory techniques, and how the lab works, it should be that much easier to run it on your own. And congratulations, you've just piloted a study.

 

[ShockDoctrine]

make sure you can explain the research though.

 

[frosted_flake]

When I took a botany class my sophomore year, I identified and isolated 3 mRNA sequences from ragweed pollen (big project that a professor at my school has been doing for years) If my name and the sequence were both published in the GenBank, is that acceptable for me to put on my application and my CV if I only did that one portion, but did not go back to help the professor with the project after that?
Thanks for the advice!

Edit: After reading the above posts, my question has changed a bit- is it appropriate to say that I am published? This is the only research experience I have this far (so I am pretty lost on the issue) - but I do have good ECs otherwise, a lot of clinical time among other things.