Research advice

[taylor5479]

Hello,

I am planning on applying to medical school this summer and I could really use some advice about my path in research. I am currently doing research with a professor in the medical physiology department at my university, which is right where I wanted to be in my preparation for medical school, however I am not getting the experience that I had hoped for in the process. I often put myself out there for more responsibilities but have only been given minor tasks around the lab and nothing to show for my two semesters so far. I am looking for a research experience that will allow me to have some responsibility and possibly to have my own project so that I have something to show for my work. My problem is that there are not many other research opportunities related to human medicine at my university, but there are a lot of them in the biology (various areas) and veterinary medicine departments that I would find interesting. Would research in the biology or veterinary medicine departments look worse on my med school application than research in human medicine? Like any premed, I want to be the best applicant that I can be and I want the best research experience that I can possibly get. I would greatly appreciate any advice on the matter. Thank you!

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[aldol16]

What's important about research as an undergraduate is to learn about hypothesis-driven research and to understand the scientific method/process. Less important is what your research is on, as long as you can take ownership of it and situate it within the larger context, as well as describe the role(s) you had. Nobody is going to care that your research was in a basic science instead of a clinical science as a pre-med, as long as you also have clinical exposure.

However, more concerning is the fact that you've been there two semesters and haven't been able to become a part of any project yet. You should talk to your PI about that directly. You should at least be working with a graduate student at first - at least to learn the techniques and until you can read up on the current literature in the field. Then, you will be in a position to bring project proposals/ideas to your PI (that scores you brownie points too).