Relevant Research Experience?

[paymaant]

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Hello everyone,

I am currently a sophomore pre-dental student and I have been searching all over to find potential research opportunities at my university. From all the labs I have looked into, I finally found one that were looking for research assistants! They also said that I could earn semester credit for my research assistance (3hr/wk = 1 credit, 6hr/wk = 2 credit). The reason I am posting this is to know does it matter what the topic of research is? Does it have to be related to health, dentistry, neurobiology, etc? Because, the research project that I am planning to participate in is about sexual selection in bowerbirds. Here is a brief description: "We are interested in the evolution of mate choice and male display in nonresource-based mating systems such as occurs in lekking species. Most bowerbirds have a lek-like mating system and males have no role in parental care but they build intricate and often finely crafted stick structures associated with their display sites called bowers. We study bowerbirds as a model system for understanding the evolution of complex male sexual display and related processes like mate searching. Currently we are engaged in a long term study of Satin Bowerbirds in northern NSW, Australia but past studies have involved all other accessible species in this family". Anyways, do dental schools care if the research is about birds and their sexual habits? Or would they prefer more "relevant" topics? I really appreciate your help! Sorry for the long question!

 

[devz4lf]

Any kind of research is good but of course the more relevant the better. Take me for example, I did research in Microbiology, something that connects somewhat closely to Dentistry in the sense that you take micro in Dental school and also cause microbiologists need to have good manual dexterity skills(Dentistry!) in order to conduct experiments. It doesnt hurt if you do this research but try to find something that can actually teach you certain things that you can use as a dental student and a dentist.

 

[wired202808]

Research is not necessary for d-school admission. It can slightly improve your application, but it wont make or break you.

 

[devz4lf]

Yea research is something that can make you look better but wont be nearly the deciding factor, but do try to get involved in as many things as possible, schools like when students aren't just bookworms...but of course the two most important things are your GPA and DAT. Do well on those, get involved in some activities and you will be fine.

 

[DentalJedi]

All of my research was in wildlife biology, and I got in. So I don't think relevancy matters.

 

[r2thekesh]

If you want your research to be helpful, use the following guidelines. They are ordered in terms of importance.
1a. Pick a lab that interests you. 1b. Make sure the PI and grad students are nice people that are supportive and willing to guide you. 2. Look for labs that allow you to be eventually autonomous . 3. Well-funded and frequently publishing labs will help a lot. 4. Cleaning dishes is not research.

 

[paymaant]

I am getting mixed responses. I guess people here are not fans of evolutionary biology?

 

[r2thekesh]

People on SDN aren't fans of research. I am though. Any research will help your application.

 

[wired202808]

I am getting mixed responses. I guess people here are not fans of evolutionary biology?

You should have used the search function, there are tons and tons of threads on this. The ADEA publishes a survey in which it asks schools which components of an application are the most important. Research ranks extremely low on the list. So take it for it will. Do it if you're interested in it, if you think its gonna help you gain admission you will be disappointed.

 

[itsallabout18]

I am getting mixed responses. I guess people here are not fans of evolutionary biology?

You should do research that shows that you are capable of making conclusions based on experimental data. All they want is for you to understand the scientific method. Relevancy is probably up to you, though it couldn't hurt. Do something that interests you.

 

[DDSPhD]

Hello everyone,

I am currently a sophomore pre-dental student and I have been searching all over to find potential research opportunities at my university. From all the labs I have looked into, I finally found one that were looking for research assistants! They also said that I could earn semester credit for my research assistance (3hr/wk = 1 credit, 6hr/wk = 2 credit). The reason I am posting this is to know does it matter what the topic of research is? Does it have to be related to health, dentistry, neurobiology, etc? Because, the research project that I am planning to participate in is about sexual selection in bowerbirds. Here is a brief description: "We are interested in the evolution of mate choice and male display in nonresource-based mating systems such as occurs in lekking species. Most bowerbirds have a lek-like mating system and males have no role in parental care but they build intricate and often finely crafted stick structures associated with their display sites called bowers. We study bowerbirds as a model system for understanding the evolution of complex male sexual display and related processes like mate searching. Currently we are engaged in a long term study of Satin Bowerbirds in northern NSW, Australia but past studies have involved all other accessible species in this family". Anyways, do dental schools care if the research is about birds and their sexual habits? Or would they prefer more "relevant" topics? I really appreciate your help! Sorry for the long question!

I was involved in dental research as well as my own kinesiology studies in grad school. When asked about these experiences in my interviews, relevancy didn't seem to matter at all. They wanted to know that I could speak intelligibly about my research topics, and communite ideas. I think my research could have been in polka dot barbies, and as long as I could show that I was excited about it and could speak on the topics when asked to, the desirable impression was made.

 

[aquafoam]

Any kind of research is good, especially for schools that place emphasis on research. Even better if you get published multiple times with a famous lab/institution/PI.

I would believe that I got into schools due to my research experience and publications.

 

[Sunspear]

I was involved in dental research as well as my own kinesiology studies in grad school. When asked about these experiences in my interviews, relevancy didn't seem to matter at all. They wanted to know that I could speak intelligibly about my research topics, and communite ideas. I think my research could have been in polka dot barbies, and as long as I could show that I was excited about it and could speak on the topics when asked to, the desirable impression was made.

lolololol

 

[SupDanLOL]

People on SDN aren't fans of research. I am though. Any research will help your application.

+1

My research involved a lot of animal surgery... often involving a dental drill to produce a craniotomy. Schools ate that up.

 

[Adamsswag]

I'm doing research in psychology, and hoping to do a senior thesis on dental phobia 🙂 I'm pretty sure whatever research you do is fine, but if you have the chance to do some independent research under an adviser try to make it relevant to dentistry !