Research Involvement

[elephino]

I have a question for those of you who have done research--
What is the level of involvement that is expected for a pre-med student? In other words, what kind of work did you do? What was your "title"?
Are these paid research tech. positions, or something you do voluntarily?
Is it a few hours a week, or like an intenxive summer position? HELP! I'm so confused as to what to expect or what to apply for?

I know all cases are different, any ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks!

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[osar92]

well, in my case, i just got involved in research at the beginning of the 2002 - 2003 school year, so i havent been able to get heavily involved
basically i am a "student research assisstant"
i get paid and work about 10 hrs a week so its not that bad
i have a whole range of responsibilities from washing glassware and running the autoclave, to actually extracting dna and running gels and pcrs and the such
its not my own project so its nice that i get to be involved but dont have too much pressure or have to worry about deadlines
but thats just my experience- many other students actually may set up their own research projects and conduct/design everything themselves

 

[phar]

I will probably get "heat" for saying this. I lied to the schools i applied that i had so much research experience and even printed two articles with a professor(i made up a name). Luckly, they never contacted them to verify and at one of my interviews, they raised what i did and i just bull****ted. I am in and i guess i am lucky. Remember, if you do what i did...you are taking a risk.
They are summer research programs for pre-med students and there is thread for it.

good luck

 

[Neuronix]

Originally posted by phar
I will probably get "heat" for saying this. I lied to the schools i applied that i had so much research experience and even printed two articles with a professor(i made up a name). Luckly, they never contacted them to verify and at one of my interviews, they raised what i did and i just bull****ted. I am in and i guess i am lucky. Remember, if you do what i did...you are taking a risk.
They are summer research programs for pre-med students and there is thread for it.

good luck

That is both funny and disgusting at the same time. I think I'm gonna laugh and hurl.

Anyways, you will probably need to start in a lab as an unpaid technician for a number of hours per week. Over time if you stay and increase hours over summers and winters, you should start getting some money from somewhere. You will learn by helping the more advanced people in the lab, but if you're there long enough you can get your own project. That's the most ideal when it comes to applying.

That's the best route to take in my opinion. You can also do summer research oppertunities, but I don't think they're as good as a constant long-term lab experience close to home.

If you consider MD/PhD, you will probably need 2 or 3 summers or a few years of research. The more the better.

 

[Meridian]

I have a question for those of you who have done research--
What is the level of involvement that is expected for a pre-med student? In other words, what kind of work did you do? What was your "title"?

hey befreedman, from what i hear, research can help but it isn't necessary.. well unless you want to do an md/phd. that being said, i've been in research for 3 years now. as far as involvement goes, i worked on mismatch repair mechanism in cancer cells, so i had to do everything from culturing my own line of cells and doing experiments with them. at first i just did ordering and making proteins and stuff, and then they slowly started to teach me more and i eventaully got the hang of things. later they let me do just about everything.

but i had to leave that lab, coz the PI was a d!ck. now im in clinical research and pretty involved in it as well. i have my own project and sit there analyzing data and reading papers.

i think high involvement would be:
-when the post docs ask you to run their experiment (ok that might not get your name on their paper or anything, but it's still good)
-getting to attend lab meetings and actually having a chance to talk about your project at those meetings.
-having a chance to move your project from an abstract to a paper
-gettng your abstract sent to an annual conference.

my position was research assistant.


Are these paid research tech. positions, or something you do voluntarily?

mine is paid

Is it a few hours a week, or like an intenxive summer position?
i worked/work about 17 hours a week
I'm so confused as to what to expect or what to apply for?

ok first, do you want to do bench work or more like clinical that has patient contact? then just pick a department you want to work for and a pi who's reputable and who's willing to hire you. usually they won't let you do experiments right away - that's ok... but show your pi that you like to do more and impress him/her... they might grow more confident and get you involved.

 

[Meridian]

I have a question for those of you who have done research--
What is the level of involvement that is expected for a pre-med student? In other words, what kind of work did you do? What was your "title"?

hey befreedman, from what i hear, research can help but it isn't necessary.. well unless you want to do an md/phd. that being said, i've been in research for 3 years now. as far as involvement goes, i worked on mismatch repair mechanism in cancer cells, so i had to do everything from culturing my own line of cells and doing experiments with them. at first i just did ordering and making proteins and stuff, and then they slowly started to teach me more and i eventaully got the hang of things. later they let me do just about everything.

but i had to leave that lab, coz the PI was a d!ck. now im in clinical research and pretty involved in it as well. i have my own project and sit there analyzing data and reading papers.

i think high involvement would be: (but might not be required for a premed)
-when the post docs ask you to run their experiment (ok that might not get your name on their paper or anything, but it's still good)
-getting to attend lab meetings and actually having a chance to talk about your project at those meetings.
-having a chance to move your project from an abstract to a paper
-gettng your abstract sent to an annual conference.
each lab is different, and this is based on my experience.

my position was research assistant.


Are these paid research tech. positions, or something you do voluntarily?

mine is paid

Is it a few hours a week, or like an intenxive summer position?
i worked/work about 17 hours a week
I'm so confused as to what to expect or what to apply for?

ok first, do you want to do bench work or more like clinical that has patient contact? then just pick a department you want to work for and a pi who's reputable and who's willing to hire you. usually they won't let you do experiments right away - that's ok... but show your pi that you like to do more and impress him/her... they might grow more confident and get you involved.

 

[merlin17]

Hi,

So I also did a lot of research in college but it was part of my classwork. You may want to see if your school allows you to take research for credit in the form of working towards a senior thesis or something along those lines. This basically helps to assure that instead of washing glassware and doing the experiments that a post-doc tells you to do, you are the one reading the papers, and coming up with the strategy for your experiments.

I worked on my senior thesis for two years. The first year probably 20 hours a week, and the second year about 40 hours a week. I had my own project from the begining, and since it was considered a class for me, everything that i was asked to do was for my learning benefit and not scrub work. Of course, this doesn't get you paid, but it can't be beat in terms of the experience. In terms of money though, I bet a lot of schools have money to help fund student research. I got a grant for both of the summers that I worked on this project to allow me to live/eat etc

I now work in a lab as a true research assistant (paid/full time). The quality of this experience isn't half as rewarding. I will likely get my name on a few papers, but this experience doesn't mimic that of a grad student in the same way. I'm not performing my own research, I am performing research guided by a professor which is very different because i don't feel like the research is mine.

 

[Explosivo]

I am a research technician that is treated essentially like a grad student except I am paid more and I don't have to deal with the academic side of things.

Luckily I work for a PI that is strictly interested in doing science and expects that everyone in the lab performs at a certain level. I have my own project, attend lab meetings each week, and have submitted a manuscript for publication which is currently under review. My hours are essentially those of a grad student in the lab which are 50+. I have been doing this for the past two years since I graduatuated and had little research experience when I started. Best decision I ever made since it has allowed me a break to do something diferent and explore other interests before medical school. You may want to consider this as an option if you don't end up getting in straight out of undergrad.

And, as someone stated earlier, what you do generally depends on what kind of PI and what kind of lab you are working in.