Research opportunities at DO schools?

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virtuoso735

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Are there research opportunities at DO schools? Can DO students find research opportunities at other research centers during the summer, etc? For most competitive residencies, having research experience is looked favorable upon, so I was curious about research opportunities for DO schools.
 
I'm going to use MSU as an example just because that's the one I researched heavily for pursuing their DO/PhD program. But there are certainly research opportunities at other DO schools. Others have little to no research, but I would assume that you can branch out and pursue research somemwhere if that's what you're interested in doing over the summer.

Go to the website of the schools you're interested in applying to and check out their research interests.
 
Some schools do have their own research opportunities available, but many DO students also apply to summer programs through other schools and organizations between OMS1/2. If you just google medical student summer research programs, you'll come up with quite a few. I participated in one (Medical Student Training in Aging Research), and it was a great experience. Look into these programs early - deadlines are usually about halfway through first year.
 
yes particularly at bigger schools that have an attached graduate school that does basic science research and where the phd's also teach at the med school.
 
I know MSU, PCOM, KCUMB, LECOM all have some research going on....the big thing is what area you want to do research, and how they are funded..(NIH grants, school funded, not funded..etc)

Look on their websites, they tell you which prof is doing what area...
 
There are at my school. We have several R01 and/or R21-funded faculty. I'll be taking a crack at an R15 myself next year. Can you do western blots? If so, please apply to my school!

TCOM has a very strong research program, for one.


Are there research opportunities at DO schools? Can DO students find research opportunities at other research centers during the summer, etc? For most competitive residencies, having research experience is looked favorable upon, so I was curious about research opportunities for DO schools.
 
I know MSU, PCOM, KCUMB, LECOM all have some research going on....the big thing is what area you want to do research, and how they are funded..(NIH grants, school funded, not funded..etc)

Look on their websites, they tell you which prof is doing what area...

Maybe LECOM-E. The Bradenton campus is pretty bare when it comes to research, which is sad because I saw a couple interesting labs on the website before applying. They were in Erie, though.
 
OUCOM has a ton of research going on or at least that's what they told me
 
I think LECOM's research all takes place in Erie - though Florida and Greensburg students sometimes come for the summer (after MS1) for research in Erie.
 
OP, just look in the CIB for schools with joint DO/PhD programs in biomedical sciences. As a word of caution though, DO schools are absolutely dismal when it comes to NIH funding. Even the school with the most funding (i.e. UMDNJ-SOM) only has a few million in NIH funding, as opposed to say a research powerhouse like UCSF with >500 million.


Can you do western blots? If so, please apply to my school

Those are so frustrating 😡
 
So what if you get into a school that doesn't do research in your interest field or the school just doesn't do much research like LECOM-B.... is there a way to do research at a hospital or another school or something? How valuable is research in medical school at getting you into your top choice match?
 
So what if you get into a school that doesn't do research in your interest field or the school just doesn't do much research like LECOM-B.... is there a way to do research at a hospital or another school or something? How valuable is research in medical school at getting you into your top choice match?

Yea, just ask the surrounding universities and hospitals. There are summer research projects open to all students (md/do) and you can always use your 4th year electives for research. The NIH has rotations in most fields of medicine that are open to DOs. If you want to do something competitive or go to a big named place, research helps. It has to be published research for it to help any, though. Most people do not have published research.
 
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