Research potential for post-baccs?

[jmitch03]

Say a person had no science courses in undergrad, then completed a 1 year post-bacc program, and got into medical school. Would that person still be able to do research in medical school, or would not having a science background in undergrad be too constraining?

 

[vtucci]

Say a person had no science courses in undergrad, then completed a 1 year post-bacc program, and got into medical school. Would that person still be able to do research in medical school, or would not having a science background in undergrad be too constraining?

Absolutely. Research is as broad as your mind will permit. You can write up medical policy papers (appeal to the non-science types like myself) or clinical research papers. The sky is the limit-- the trick is finding a mentor that you can work comfortably with.

Although if you only have 1 year of post-bac, please let me recommend that you take anatomy and physio over the summer before you start med school. trust me-- you are competing against people with degrees (at the masters level in many cases) and it sucks if this is the first time you are seeing the material. I barely passed both.

 

[relentless11]

Everyone has to start somewhere, I don't see why as a post-bacc you would have problems finding research when you get into med school. I know a few med students who got into research during med school so no biggie.

You can probably find research fellowships, internships, or just volunteer (like the ole undergrad days). For the most part, med schools have some faculty that are doing research, therefore they are more than happy to have additional labor😉.

On the flipside you may find research time and research options to be a tad more limited. For example, if you have a desire to do humanities research, it may be more challenging than say doing clinical research.