Research over summer

[Slavic Scot]

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Hi, I think I know the answer to this question already, but I found a PI that publishes frequently in high-power journals in the field I'm interested in that wants me over the summer.

Great. Sounds good to me.

Here is my point of anxiety: I looked at the last ~10 papers he published, and not one of them had a medical student author listed.

Do you think I'd be wasting my time? How would I politely ask if I would get a pub?

 

[Dantrolene FC]

What field are you wanting to go into? And do you plan on doing research as an attending?

Unless you’re interested in a very competitive specialty such as ortho or derm, I say only do the research if you are truly interested in it.

 

[Slavic Scot]

What field are you wanting to go into? And do you plan on doing research as an attending?

Unless you’re interested in a very competitive specialty such as ortho or derm, I say only do the research if you are truly interested in it.

Yeah, I'm interested in a competitive specialty.

 

[Dantrolene FC]

Which specialty? Some “competitive” specialties don’t actually require research.
If your field requires it, then you should do it. If it doesn’t require research, then I’d pass.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

Has he worked with students in the past? Ask if so.

Just make your intentions clear. Let him know you are interested in working hard enough for an authorship and you're willing to put in the work necessary.

If he doesn't include med students who put the work in, then don't waste your time.

IMO, those excluding students who work hard from an authorship don't deserve having med students.

 

[NickNaylor]

One way to try and get a better understanding about this is just to ask generally about the roles of medical students. What do you actually do? Are you involved in manuscript writing? Is authorship possible?

Coming right out and saying "I want to be an author of a paper after working here for 2 months" is probably not going to go very well. The other thing to keep in mind is that 2 months really isn't a lot of time, particularly for some kind of research. Obviously anyone who contributes meaningfully to a manuscript should be listed as an author, but it's also possible that that didn't occur. Who knows.