Research Help

[futurebonedr]

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I am an incoming MS1, starting at RFUCMS this upcoming fall! I have absolutely zero research experience, with my only lab experience being from undergrad coursework. (reasoning: I went to a state school for undergrad with no research that I was interested in, and my premed advisor told me not to do research for the sake of having it if I was not interested. I followed this advice and explored other passions) I am interested in a particularly competitive specialty (dermatology), so research is now a major aspect in future matching.

I know that Rosalind Franklin has a decent amount of research opportunities, however they aren't exactly known for it. How should I go about getting involved, when I have little to no experience in research at all?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Mazeltov! Check the website

Student Research Programs

Information about research opportunities can be found on InSite here. Guidance for Students Interested in Conducting Human Research (PDF) Summer Research Fellows

www.rosalindfranklin.edu

 

[polymerization]

(dermatology)

How the turns have tabled, future bone doctor...

 

[futurebonedr]

How the turns have tabled, future bone doctor..

🤣funnily enough? I am interested in ortho and derm. I used to be WAYYY more set on ortho than derm, but I shadowed and fell in love with derm even more

 

[polymerization]

🤣funnily enough? I am interested in ortho and derm. I used to be more set on ortho than derm, but I shadowed and fell in love with derm even more than ortho

I can relate. I worked as a Mohs tech for about a year and a half and made a move to hand/upper extremity surgery for a little over a year after that. Both extremely high-throughput specialties. I would see maybe 45-50 patients a day in derm clinic on nonsurgical days, but ortho was really something else: it wasn't weird for us to have 75-patient days. Those schedules were packed!

 

[deleted1241220]

I am an incoming MS1, starting at RFUCMS this upcoming fall! I have absolutely zero research experience, with my only lab experience being from undergrad coursework. (reasoning: I went to a state school for undergrad with no research that I was interested in, and my premed advisor told me not to do research for the sake of having it if I was not interested. I followed this advice and explored other passions) I am interested in a particularly competitive specialty (dermatology), so research is now a major aspect in future matching.

I know that Rosalind Franklin has a decent amount of research opportunities, however they aren't exactly known for it. How should I go about getting involved, when I have little to no experience in research at all?

First off, you’re definitely not alone. A lot of people enter med school with little to no formal research experience, and it doesn’t mean you’re already behind beyond repair. The biggest thing is to start early, be intentional, and make it as easy as possible for faculty to say yes.

For dermatology specifically, I’d recommend starting by identifying faculty at RFU, nearby institutions, and affiliated hospitals who are publishing in derm, cutaneous oncology, psoriasis, eczema, health disparities in dermatology, dermatopathology, cosmetic derm, or whatever area you’re most interested in. Then send short, personalized emails that show you actually looked at their work. Something like: “I saw your recent paper on ___ and was especially interested in ___ because ___. I’m an incoming MS1 at RFUCMS hoping to get involved in dermatology research, and I’d be grateful for the opportunity to help with chart review, data extraction, literature review, case reports, or any ongoing projects.”

The hard part is that doing this manually takes forever: finding faculty, checking PubMed, reading abstracts, and writing personalized emails one by one. That’s actually why I’m currently building an AI tool called **PitchLab**. The idea is that a student can enter their background, the specialty they’re targeting, the institution/location they want, and how many professors they want to reach out to. Then PitchLab helps identify relevant faculty and generate personalized outreach emails based on their publications, instead of sending generic cold emails.

It’s still in development, but this exact situation is basically the problem I’m trying to solve: students who are motivated but don’t know where to start or don’t have research connections yet. I’d love feedback from you or anyone else reading this. Would a tool like this be useful for someone trying to break into research early in med school? And if anyone wants to test it out for free when it’s ready, I’d be happy to have early users.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

First off, you’re definitely not alone. A lot of people enter med school with little to no formal research experience, and it doesn’t mean you’re already behind beyond repair. The biggest thing is to start early, be intentional, and make it as easy as possible for faculty to say yes.

For dermatology specifically, I’d recommend starting by identifying faculty at RFU, nearby institutions, and affiliated hospitals who are publishing in derm, cutaneous oncology, psoriasis, eczema, health disparities in dermatology, dermatopathology, cosmetic derm, or whatever area you’re most interested in. Then send short, personalized emails that show you actually looked at their work. Something like: “I saw your recent paper on ___ and was especially interested in ___ because ___. I’m an incoming MS1 at RFUCMS hoping to get involved in dermatology research, and I’d be grateful for the opportunity to help with chart review, data extraction, literature review, case reports, or any ongoing projects.”

The hard part is that doing this manually takes forever: finding faculty, checking PubMed, reading abstracts, and writing personalized emails one by one. That’s actually why I’m currently building an AI tool called **PitchLab**. The idea is that a student can enter their background, the specialty they’re targeting, the institution/location they want, and how many professors they want to reach out to. Then PitchLab helps identify relevant faculty and generate personalized outreach emails based on their publications, instead of sending generic cold emails.

It’s still in development, but this exact situation is basically the problem I’m trying to solve: students who are motivated but don’t know where to start or don’t have research connections yet. I’d love feedback from you or anyone else reading this. Would a tool like this be useful for someone trying to break into research early in med school? And if anyone wants to test it out for free when it’s ready, I’d be happy to have early users.

... Or you could just meet students and join specialty interest groups. If you need AI to help you network with your peers and your faculty... make sure you name the program "Cyrano" to help you woo Roxanne...

Dermatology Interest Group

https://www.instagram.com/dig.rfums/