Research Help!

[bwonger06]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

 

[armybound]

clinical research is clinical research. they don't know what you specifically did until they interview you. having it on your resume is what's important.

as far as what I do for research.. I work in a lab that is trying to use plants to express foreign protein to be used as vaccines.

 

[bwonger06]

clinical research is clinical research. they don't know what you specifically did until they interview you. having it on your resume is what's important.

as far as what I do for research.. I work in a lab that is trying to use plants to express foreign protein to be used as vaccines.

what do actually do? (ie clean dishes, record data)

 

[armybound]

what do actually do? (ie clean dishes, record data)

clean dishes, prepare competent cells, electroporate cells, agroinfiltrate plants, run gels, do PCR, and making any supplies/restocking stuff they need. nothing exciting

 

[anteater14]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

I did something similar, data input. It seems kind of boring just talking about it, but I learned a lot clinically from it, and it has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of residents and medical students.

When I started I was a sophomore without any clinically relevant knowledge

I think you try it, and see if you like it!

 

[DocJMengele]

I have performed surgeries on the brains of some smaller birds to record neuron regenesis and such then analyzed them using behavior learning tests and then collected and analyzed the steroids in question responsible for the regrowth. But then again you may not be shooting to be first author of a published journal article.

 

[DocBR]

I prepare extracts, do PCR and subsequent analysis for the tree of life project.
It is absolutely, in no way at all related to medicine - but being published is being published - plus I enjoy it.

 

[gary5]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

Actually, this sounds like a good project! That's a good way to get started and it sounds impressive, "Alzheimers research".

 

[ADeadLois]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

This is a pretty common starting point for someone with no experience. If you stick with it, you might be able to do more hands-on stuff down the road.

 

[kevster2001]

clean dishes, prepare competent cells, electroporate cells, agroinfiltrate plants, run gels, do PCR, and making any supplies/restocking stuff they need. nothing exciting

That sounds more like workstudy than research. I thought actual researchers dont make the buffers/stock supplies.

As for OP, this kind of research is easy and can possibly net you a publication if the numbers add up to something interesting. My roommate started out w/ a project just crunching numbers but now he's doing some pretty sweet actual clinic work involving dissecting eyes and what not

 

[armybound]

That sounds more like workstudy than research. I thought actual researchers dont make the buffers/stock supplies.

As for OP, this kind of research is easy and can possibly net you a publication if the numbers add up to something interesting. My roommate started out w/ a project just crunching numbers but now he's doing some pretty sweet actual clinic work involving dissecting eyes and what not

maybe in some labs, but they all make the supplies they need here. all the gels they need and broth/growth medium and what not. even the PI does it. but he's cheap. most people buy competent cells, he grows them himself.

I appreciate the attempted belittlement though 🙂

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

The PET scans and the alzheimers part sounds interesting, and you may learn some interesting clinical infromation, however the data entry part sounds abysmal. I am actually doing this for the year before I start medical school and it is mind numbingly boring, BUT because I am in a hospital, I am close proximity to things that ARE interesting, i.e. shadowing surgery, so the experience has opened some doors and I may (hopefully) get published. For you, even if you are doing alot of data entry, you should probably take the job (becuase you do need research on your CV, even if you do not get published) and feel it out. If it is really terrible, you can look for a new project, but for one summer you should be able to gut it out.

If I could go back in time and do it all again, I would do this as far as research: For several summers and winter breaks I was a lab tech in a basic science stroke lab, and I did a lot of western blots, immunohistology, electron microspcope, etc, which was all tolerably interesting. However, inducing hte strokes in the model animal (the rat) and then removing the brain after the animal was sacrificed required surgery. If I had expressed an interest and aggresively pursued that aspect, they probably would have let me help in these procedures, which would have made the job really cool. AND I would have been more aggressive about having my own project (be it a small one), because that can make the experience much more interesting if you are personally invested in what you are doing.

 

[CCLCMer]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

Are you interested in clinical research? If you are, or if you don't know, try it for a semester and see. You can always quit next semester if you decide it's not for you.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Just wondering what most of you guys do for research?

I looked around, and this Doctor was willing to bring me on board. The problem is all i will be doing is recording numbers and inputing them into a computer and analysis once in a while. It involves PET scans and alzheimers... should i take the position.

I am a freshmen, and have not taken any biology classes or anything above ochem... and no stats either.

As a freshman, that's as good as you're gonna get. And it actually sounds pretty good.

 

[kevster2001]

maybe in some labs, but they all make the supplies they need here. all the gels they need and broth/growth medium and what not. even the PI does it. but he's cheap. most people buy competent cells, he grows them himself.

I appreciate the attempted belittlement though 🙂

i researched in a lab that grew their own competent cells also since its pretty cheap to make, except they got a work study student to do it for something like 2 bucks an hour. workstudy kids are like... modern day slave labor in the eyes of PIs which is kind of good for me since theres not a very high expectation since to them they're paying me so little

 

[Shpamme]

I happened to get a PI that allowed me, in time, to do a lot more hands on experiments--injecting the drug we were investigating into chick and mouse embryos, sectioning tissues, in situs to determine genetic pathways.

I agree with Ilovehedgehogs. I think a lot of the quality of your experience has to do with how proactive you are. I was in a lab with 6 other lab techs, and for some reason (at the risk of sounding conceited.. I really don't mean to, honest..please forgive me in advance) my PI seemed more impressed with me and gave me more responsibility than the others, which eventually led to coauthorship on a paper. Looking back, I think it was because I expressed more of an interest--I wasn't getting paid like the other lab techs and sought her out. I started presenting at journal club and lab meetings. And when I had ideas I wasn't afraid to tell her. I followed postdocs around when they were doing animal surgeries, and watched, and then asked if I could practice on the few remaining embryos that were going to be discarded.

My sister also has had good experience being proactive. She told the researcher upfront at her interview that while she was perfectly amenable to doing scutwork, she ALSO in addition wanted to have some responsibility, and be on a project that would eventually be published. She of coursed phrased it as politely as possible, but the PI was receptive. Then she started showing up at lab in her downtime even though they didn't have anything planned for her to do. In time, when she was there enough helping out on her own time, they gave her mini experiments, which led to larger and larger experiments.

Also, if you're still a freshman, there's plenty of time to get both clinical and basic molecular research experience. If at all possible, I'd try to get both by third year. The clinical data entry doesn't sound *too* time consuming, so maybe you could do a molecular project on the side. The best of both worlds would be to find a project that combined both---was molecular in terms of experiments etc, but has real clinical significance (e.g. has direct relevance to some sort of disease). Then you could tie it all together by going to shadow physicians in the hospital who treat people with that disease, and possibly find doctors who were doing clinical research on that disease. It's not necessary that they all relate, but it sure does make for a lot to talk about during interviews, and gives you a really cool, comprehensive perspective on a particular disease that not too many others will have.

 

[foofish]

This is a pretty common starting point for someone with no experience. If you stick with it, you might be able to do more hands-on stuff down the road.

Exactly. In our lab it's the same way--a student interested in research starts out with some of the more mundane aspects of the project, but once they prove that they're competent, reliable, and actually interested in the project, there's room for them to get much more involved.

Especially as a freshman, it's all about gaining a foothold into a lab...no one is going to entrust the work they normally have their postdocs doing to someone fresh out of high school with no experience that's just starting out at the lab.