Research before medical school?

[Redpancreas]

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Ok, so I am pretty confident about the school I will be attending this fall this fall (barring any significant OOS scholarships). Therefore, I would love to start some research early on before medical school as I have not done anything in undergrad, but plan on looking for an IM residency that will at least require some. This school is in my local area and before any of you say that one should go explore the world, enjoy, and not do any work before medical school, be aware that I've already graduated early so I've spent this semester relaxing and I've been abroad for a month and plan to do more soon. Given all that though, I still have from mid-June to early August off so I have some questions:


1. What research should I be looking for if my interests are broad and I am generally open-minded, but I haven't really participated in meaningful research thus far?

2. IMPORTANT. When is the optimal time to start research in medical school? I've heard from some medical school students during the tour that medical schools discourage research right off the back, but then I've heard from many who've landed themselves in competitive residencies that starting research early so you can get published is critical.

3. Which department would I be more likely to make a meaningful contribution in research-wise given that I have very little research experience (I don't want to waste anyone's time)? Clinical research or basic science? I'm good with computers and plan on polishing up Python. Also, I'm pretty hard-working and even if I don't know the answer, I usually take the steps to find it. I would prefer paid research but beggars (no research experience) can't be choosers so all I really want is some experience that I could continue in medical school.


Thanks in advance!

 

[cs24]

1.Do you want to subspecialize in IM or be a internist? I would look for research in the field you think you want to go into. Sure, you will probably change your mind, but when you do you will already have a background in clinical research that will potentially get you an extra publication and allow you to hit the ground running/pick the most ideal project once you do decide what you want to do.

2. I don't know about starting the summer before, but I started when I started M1 and it has been fine. It helps that I have very understanding physician PIs who make sure I prioritize school over research, but are also very responsive to my drafts/revisions, etc. Actually, this applies to what sort of research you choose. Mentor >>> specialty when it comes to choosing a project. Especially if you want to go into a field like IM (as opposed to derm, plastics, ortho) that encompasses a wide variety of medicine, just getting published in anything shows a commitment to research and experience in designing/implementing/publishing projects and you can talk about how you can apply that experience to your specialty of choice. You want a mentor who publishes frequently (look them up on pubmed, as CVs on websites are rarely updated), who is happy to take on a student, and is relatively responsive to your inquiries (so you can hope that they will give you feedback and revisions in a timely manner when you need them).

As far as going with bigwig famous faculty vs a current no name, at this stage in the game it may be better to go with a motivated, younger PI who has something to prove and will gain as far as career advancement goes by publishing with you. You can always try to switch to a bigwig lab when you finalize your specialty and want big name letters.

Back to when you should start- it really depends on what you can handle. Make sure you are getting good grades before you devote to much time to research, and having a flexible PI who understands the demands you are under is a must.

3. I always recommend clinical research, especially if you are already accepted. Much easier to do (in much less time), shorter timeline than basic science (unless you are on some huge, long-term clinical trial), and more applicable to your future in medicine unless you plan on doing PhD type research in your field (IMO). You will learn more about medicine that applies to clinicians, rather than obscure basic science pathways as well.

DON'T focus too much on getting paid research. Most PIs view giving the med student research opportunity as a payment of sorts, and/or don't have money to pay you. You will be able to apply for fellowships for the summer after your first year which will get you a bit of research money, but overall you are going to go into so much debt anyway, it isn't really a big deal whether or not you get $10/hr for your research during the school year. It could also entice you to spend too much time doing research to make a little bit more money when you should be focusing on classes. Most importantly though, it limits your options as to PIs you could do research for, may make you settle for a project that isn't a good fit, and as far as my personal experience goes, basic science positions are much more likely to be paid than clinical research positions, and I have already given my reasons recommending against basic science.

As far as what kinds of studies you should try to participate in, the low time commitment ones that are easiest to do during the school year would be things like case reports/case series, lit reviews/systemic reviews/meta-analyses, or database research if you can find people with database access. In reality though, meet with people who's research interests you find interesting, and ask them what their project ideas are and choose one that sounds fun to you.

Finally, and most people already know this, email a ton of potential PIs, just like we all had to do in undergrad when you looked for research. You will get a higher response rate being a medical student, but still having a lot of different options allows you to select a project/mentor that you really like, rather than just going with the only person who actually emailed you back.

Take everything I say with a grain of salt, as I am just an M1, but I am involved in a few research projects and have been on the good and bad ends of past research projects and this is just what makes the most sense for me. Feel free to ask any/all follow up questions.

 

[hmockingbird]

I second a lot of the above, just have a few things to add. I'm an MS2 currently doing clinical research. I designed the project myself and am the PI.

Timing - I started getting involved second semester of first year and this was a good time for me. I had already figured out (for the most part) how to study and manage my time. (Also, this is school-specific, but our first class was anatomy, and we had very little free time with all the labs in addition to class, so I feel like it would've been hard to even schedule meetings with a research mentor.) I imagine maybe if you started research in the summer, you'd kind-of have a similar but opposite effect, in that you'd have an idea of how much time your project requires going into school. Still, I would not be afraid to take some time off for the first class or two, or maybe get the preliminaries set up (finding a mentor and deciding on a project) but not starting right away at the start of school just to give yourself some time to adjust. ETA: I did want to start early because I want to get published. I know some people who do case reports third year, but I didn't want to hedge all my bets on finding an interesting case, and I didn't want to wait until 4th year because I didn't know if I'd be published in time for residency apps.

My school has a person who is in charge of coordinating med student research. You might want to check into if your school has someone similar. I found he was very helpful in finding a mentor with the qualities cs24 describes, because he knows all the docs and students who do research and their track records/histories. If not, you could try to find students who have done research at your school, and ask them for advice as a starting point on who to contact.

I definitely agree about clinical research (less time) and the only thing I would add is that it's really easy to do a study that involves a survey, that's very popular at my school in addition to the others cs24 listed. You might also want to see if you can find someone who will let you create/direct your own study. It might not be as grand as something ongoing that's directed by your mentor, or in your field of interest if that department is small at your school, but that's what I ended up doing and I really like having the experience with the whole research process, the independence, and the chance for first-authorship. (Plus, it means I can put in as much or little time as I want as my schedule allows, and I'm not really holding anyone back but myself.)

ETA Again: Money: I don't know anyone in my class who has a paid research position (outside of summer fellowships) BUT we have a lot of people apply for (and receive) grants, and that can cover things like going to conferences to present your work. My grant proposal now includes conference trip costs, stipend for an undergrad assistant, and software/apps for me so I can do more of the stats work. It's not spending money but there are ways to get rid of some of the extra costs.