Research Experience vs A Publication?

[Zod]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey,

So I was published for my first year of clinical research experience as a second author but my next two years in a different lab which was a basic science/bench research-- I was not able to publish anything (I only worked on a minor part of a major project which is not going to be completed anytime soon). I was wondering how my last two years will be viewed by medical school... I feel like I should have achieved more than and would be thought of as a disappointment, the fact that I spent two years and only got minor results (basically led me to a dead end, meaning the only result was that "well they aren't on those chromosomes...". I learned a lot of techniques and whatnot, so I guess that's a plus though.

I ended up not working in the research lab anymore since I became really busy with school and some other things in my life. So I am taking my senior year without research commitments as I am involved in several other executive boards of clubs and I am also a dancer/choreographer.
Just looking for advice on how I should be conveying my last two years of research.
I actually want to go into clinical practice mainly, not research, if that helps my case. I was only looking for exposure to research.

 

[kyamh]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not publishing. Just as far from all medical students apply in June, and far from everyone has a 3.6+ 33+, far from all pre-meds have even one publication. Beware SDN glasses!!! Don't make excuses for the last two years. You should be grateful and very proud of your early accomplishment and talk about all the great things you learned during the other project and research in general. No one is going to say, hey, this person failed to publish as a sophomore AND as a junior - they must be an incompetent researcher.

The reality is that some projects take longer than others. The research I am a part of takes years to get to a single publication - even for post-docs working full time. You worked hard and got lucky to begin with and got a bit of a more common taste of research in the two years that followed.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not publishing. Just as far from all medical students apply in June, and far from everyone has a 3.6+ 33+, far from all pre-meds have even one publication. Beware SDN glasses!!! Don't make excuses for the last two years. You should be grateful and very proud of your early accomplishment and talk about all the great things you learned during the other project and research in general. No one is going to say, hey, this person failed to publish as a sophomore AND as a junior - they must be an incompetent researcher.

The reality is that some projects take longer than others. The research I am a part of takes years to get to a single publication - even for post-docs working full time. You worked hard and got lucky to begin with and got a bit of a more common taste of research in the two years that followed.

Agree completely.

 

[487806]

Hey,

So I was published for my first year of clinical research experience as a second author but my next two years in a different lab which was a basic science/bench research-- I was not able to publish anything (I only worked on a minor part of a major project which is not going to be completed anytime soon). I was wondering how my last two years will be viewed by medical school... I feel like I should have achieved more than and would be thought of as a disappointment, the fact that I spent two years and only got minor results (basically led me to a dead end, meaning the only result was that "well they aren't on those chromosomes...". I learned a lot of techniques and whatnot, so I guess that's a plus though.

I ended up not working in the research lab anymore since I became really busy with school and some other things in my life. So I am taking my senior year without research commitments as I am involved in several other executive boards of clubs and I am also a dancer/choreographer.
Just looking for advice on how I should be conveying my last two years of research.
I actually want to go into clinical practice mainly, not research, if that helps my case. I was only looking for exposure to research.

You're fine. Research experience is crucial, not publications. As long as you're able to convey what you did, you're all set. This also applies for MSTP.

 

[Goro]

STRONGLY concur. It's hard enough for post-docs and grad students to get publications (I had a girl friend who was a student in a lab of the of the gods of Molecular Biology, and she graduated without a publication!) so for a pre-med to actually get one is really great.

So don't sweat it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not publishing. Just as far from all medical students apply in June, and far from everyone has a 3.6+ 33+, far from all pre-meds have even one publication. Beware SDN glasses!!! Don't make excuses for the last two years. You should be grateful and very proud of your early accomplishment and talk about all the great things you learned during the other project and research in general. No one is going to say, hey, this person failed to publish as a sophomore AND as a junior - they must be an incompetent researcher.

The reality is that some projects take longer than others. The research I am a part of takes years to get to a single publication - even for post-docs working full time. You worked hard and got lucky to begin with and got a bit of a more common taste of research in the two years that followed.