Research Professors (PI) that drives you Crazy!

[kaybam20]

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How do you guys deal with PIs that make sarcatic coments about you? which one make more sense Quiting research without asking for letter or endure difficult and unrealistic expectaions from PIs?








Thanks!

 

[staticsoliloquy]

Quit.

 

[UCDavisdude]

i got pretty lucky, my pi is pretty damn awesome. very understanding, but demanding as well

 

[EBI831]

speaking from experience, there's no point in sticking it out for a letter if the PI is ridiculing you now. the letter will suck and most likely won't highlight your best aspects. leave and steal a few zebrafish, beakers, etc or whatever it is u do on the way...that'll show him. j/k

 

[EBI831]

oh one more thing. you could just ride it out and stay(so you can have research experience on transcript and b/c quitting looks horrendous and says bad things about you). then, don't ask for a letter except in awful cases like harvard where u have to have a letter from everyone you've done research with.

 

[airshad8]

Yeah I had a PI like this...Didnt even bother asking him for a letter. I think it was an ego drop for him when he realized I had applied to schools, already had 7 letters, and had never approached him for one...but he was just a prick and I didn't want a ****ty letter in my pile. Don't get me wrong, I didn't quite, or slack off, I worked my ass off and published once. The guy just had issues with me that weren't work related it seemed (race? gender (all the other people in his lab were hot girls)_ who knows?) but I did what I had to do and got out of there.

 

[eddie13231]

Quit and find a new PI, you might try asking one of your old prof's that you found to be really nice.

 

[Anka]

Is they guy malignant, or just sarcastic? There are plenty of PIs (and you'll come across physicians like this as you progress through your career) who are extremely sarcastic, but have your best interests at heart. On the other hand, you'll find people who smile and pat you on the head, but screw you over the second you need an evaluation.

Depending on what kind of medicine you decide to practice, you may find that some of your best teachers are total jerks by any objective standard -- they yell, crack jokes at your expense, and can be downright demeaning, but they're the ones who will let you do the most.

My advice is, if possible, try to figure out what this guy really is -- is he a sarcastic person who, in the end, will go to war for his people, or is he just a jerk?

Best,
Anka

 

[DropkickMurphy]

steal a few zebrafish

At my old school there is a professor who will give you some if you ask him. The damn things apparently breed so fast he always has more than he could ever use.

 

[airshad8]

At my old school there is a professor who will give you some if you ask him. The damn things apparently breed so fast he always has more than he could ever use.

Haha I give out fishies to my friends all the time. Once a grad student and I knocked out a gene that makes the stripes and made spots instead. Those went like hot cakes. Playing god is so fun ^_^

 

[KaraKiz]

Dude sounds like a d-bag. Leave now. I find it highly unlikely that someone who shows you so little respect in person would actually write you a quality letter anyway.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Haha I give out fishies to my friends all the time. Once a grad student and I knocked out a gene that makes the stripes and made spots instead. Those went like hot cakes. Playing god is so fun ^_^

👍

 

[kaybam20]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

 

[airshad8]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

Sound like my dad. Lol.

 

[MinnyGophers]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

Some people are just not very keen on those wanting to go to med school... they could possibly have been rejected themselves, or value basic sciences/research/academia more highly and are thus demeaning pre-med students in general. Happens all the time.

 

[airshad8]

Some people are just not very keen on those wanting to go to med school... they could possibly have been rejected themselves, or value basic sciences/research/academia more highly and are thus demeaning pre-med students in general. Happens all the time.

Yeah i think this is very true. A lot of PIs assume if you are premed you are only doing the work to get a rec, and not for science.

Also, my PI didn't get into med school. His MCAT score was in the 20s or something and it is what led him to research. He literally scoffed after asking me my score and I told him. It was like he was competing with me or something...Punk ass.

 

[baylormed]

Some people are just not very keen on those wanting to go to med school... they could possibly have been rejected themselves, or value basic sciences/research/academia more highly and are thus demeaning pre-med students in general. Happens all the time.

Ditto.

One of my TAs was overheard (because he was being very loud) scoffing at students who are "pre-med." He started saying how the medical field is so bad and he would never want to work in it. Well, being a research assistant and working your way to tenure isn't very easy and certainly not well paid, even if you do have a PhD.

I thought I heard a bitter tone coming from it, but then again, who knows??

 

[airshad8]

Ditto.

One of my TAs was overheard (because he was being very loud) scoffing at students who are "pre-med." He started saying how the medical field is so bad and he would never want to work in it. Well, being a research assistant and working your way to tenure isn't very easy and certainly not well paid, even if you do have a PhD.

I thought I heard a bitter tone coming from it, but then again, who knows??

Pshh PhDs just WISH they had the heavy debt we do after we get our degrees. Haters.

 

[baylormed]

Pshh PhDs just WISH they had the heavy debt we do after we get our degrees. Haters.

True, they don't have heavy debt, but they don't start out making 6 figures right after training (after residency in our case, I mean). The way to tenure is long and hard, if tenure ever comes.

 

[airshad8]

True, they don't have heavy debt, but they don't start out making 6 figures right after training (after residency in our case, I mean). The way to tenure is long and hard, if tenure ever comes.

I know I know...I was just kidding.

I think the problem I find with a PhD is that you are always dependent on institutions. An MD gives you independence to work on your own, for a hospital, in another country, etc.

 

[HristosKaran]

You have to watch out and make sure you know your Prof. true intentions. I felt the same way with my Research Prof. He always made comments about my work and how to improve, and even though I spent all summer in the lab, he never really mentioned anything about my hard work ethic. But they do take notice and its pretty much guaranteed he is going to write me a very nice recommendation letter. Sometimes its just the personality with the prof you have to learn how to deal with...

 

[szhao]

yea my PAST PI was ... unreasonable wanted me to keep working o well, who cares hehe

 

[kaybam20]

I actually asked him for a Rec. letter, but after one of those silly comments i told him not to bother anymore.

 

[airshad8]

I actually asked him for a Rec. letter, but after one of those silly comments i told him not to bother anymore.

Mine told me...oh rec? here's another mini project i want you to do before you leave, when you get the results, supply me with the results and i'll provide you with the rec. I did the extra work, but didn't ask for the recommendation. I might be an expendable resource as an undergraduate but **** i gots my integrity yo.

 

[shnjb]

I've had four PIs, and only 1 long term.
#1 was unavailable and it was chemistry... didn't like it so much.
#2 was very nice, in charge of human embryonic stem cell core facility... but I had to quit because he didn't have time for an undergrad since there was no grad student to babysit me.
#3 was a Harvard grad with heavy accent... he was the worst person in the world and he told me to quit after my first PCR failed... WTF?
Most likely, this PI was worse than yours.
My advice is do what I did after this PI discouraged me from doing any more research AT ALL.

I went around looking for MD or MD/PhD PIs.
Totally different animals.
They're actually NICE people and not megalomaniacal psychopaths because of the whole medical schools approach which generally tends to look for quality people and trains doctors to be nice to patients.
Also they've been on admission committees and thus can give you much better advice than PhD PIs ever can.
Plus, MD/PhDs are smarter than PhDs, more than likely, because it is well known that the best US students go to medical schools/law schools or REAL graduate schools (physics, for example) and NOT biological science grad schools.
Even a Harvard PhD program in biology probably doesn't compare to any of the MSTPs in terms of admission standards.

So as you might have predicted already, my fourth PI is an MD/PhD, who is fairly young and he's just starting his own lab.
He's got a lot of time currently and he's teaching me personally (like my second PI) and giving me a lot of freedom, independence and mentorship.
He's also served on the admission committee for MSTP, went to washington university in st. louis for residency, etc...

Great success!

 

[stoic]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

dudette, he's just breaking your proverbial balls. seriously. c'mon.

don't be so afraid of him. bark back.

 

[undrcovrgunner]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

Looks like he isn't comfortable with you applying to med school. I would quit.

 

[undrcovrgunner]

I've had four PIs, and only 1 long term.
#1 was unavailable and it was chemistry... didn't like it so much.
#2 was very nice, in charge of human embryonic stem cell core facility... but I had to quit because he didn't have time for an undergrad since there was no grad student to babysit me.
#3 was a Harvard grad with heavy accent... he was the worst person in the world and he told me to quit after my first PCR failed... WTF?
Most likely, this PI was worse than yours.
My advice is do what I did after this PI discouraged me from doing any more research AT ALL.

I went around looking for MD or MD/PhD PIs.
Totally different animals.
They're actually NICE people and not megalomaniacal psychopaths because of the whole medical schools approach which generally tends to look for quality people and trains doctors to be nice to patients.
Also they've been on admission committees and thus can give you much better advice than PhD PIs ever can.
Plus, MD/PhDs are smarter than PhDs, more than likely, because it is well known that the best US students go to medical schools/law schools or REAL graduate schools (physics, for example) and NOT biological science grad schools.
Even a Harvard PhD program in biology probably doesn't compare to any of the MSTPs in terms of admission standards.

So as you might have predicted already, my fourth PI is an MD/PhD, who is fairly young and he's just starting his own lab.
He's got a lot of time currently and he's teaching me personally (like my second PI) and giving me a lot of freedom, independence and mentorship.
He's also served on the admission committee for MSTP, went to washington university in st. louis for residency, etc...

Great success!

Yeah, I agree. My PI's who have had MD's have all been very nice, but I don't think I would call the 2 PI's who have had PhD's psychopaths, they were still quite nice, too.

 

[Anka]

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

Yeah, sounds like he's an okay guy who's busting your balls. Regardless of the decision you eventually make, you can learn a lot about yourself by how you respond to that personality, since you'll be running into it a lot in medicine. There are some people who, when they hear a particular teacher is "a yeller" or "malignant" or "really nails people on rounds" don't find it necessary to avoid the person because they have a high tolerance for it. If coupled with "but I learned a lot from him", I'd probably try to get assigned to that attending/resident's service. Usually, there is a period of ball busting followed by "okay, you've got my respect" if you step up and meet the challenge. And I find I do a lot better in that sort of environment. On the other hand, a lot of my friends get very miserable in that sort of environment, and stay away from it -- and it's a good thing, too, because for whatever reason they don't learn well from that type of interaction. I, on the other hand, want to puke if I go in the first day and the team is holding hands and singing Kumbaya. As long as you have a good read on what type of person you are and behave accordingly, you'll be fine. Sounds like this guy is really getting to you, so it might be better to bow out and find someone you work better with [notice, in that entire very long piece of advice, not a single mention was made about evaluations... thinking about letters of rec or evals will just drive you batty... focus on doing good work].

Best,
Anka

 

[CCLCMer]

some comments he makes in front of me are sometimes demeaning. There was a time he asked me (am undergrad by the way) to teach grad students the brain and when i asked him what part of the brain ... he said Oh my God ... and you gonna be a Doctor!

Also, there was a time i cover slipped a section a little bit wet, he saw it, looked at me, shake his head, uttered some words in his language and said " and you gonna be a doctor"

To be sincere, he gave me a project of my own but am beginning to get tired of all those comments.

Why don't you flat-out ask him if he is trying to be funny, because it isn't coming across that way? See what he says. If he's meaning to be a jerk, you can quit and you have nothing to lose. But maybe he doesn't mean to be a jerk, and he just doesn't realize that he's hurting your feelings because he's oblivious.

 

[HreComesTheSun]

True, they don't have heavy debt, but they don't start out making 6 figures right after training (after residency in our case, I mean). The way to tenure is long and hard, if tenure ever comes.

dude,what's with the PhD bashing? it's pretty obvious that airshad was joking. i am interested in both medicine and science, and i'd like to think that the main motivation for most doctors isn't "to make 6 figures right after training."

fyi, to represent for the PhD side, someone who went to work for a good biotech company post-PhD could be making 6 figures before alot of us even finish residency, and from what i've seen, tenure seems to come too easily to some profs who don't deserve it, depends on the university.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

i got pretty lucky, my pi is pretty damn awesome. very understanding, but demanding as well

Yeah me too, my PI is out of this world. I didn't realize how much of a difference it makes not only in the work environment but also my research in general to have a PI that rocks.