Research with Non-Research Physicians

[geekozoid]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello!

I have a question for you all because I think its an interesting topic/discussion. Currently, I am a first year med student and was advised that for my summer, I should do some kind of research. Personally, I don't mind doing research, in fact regardless of why my adviser was going to tell me, I would have done research regardless! But now I'm in a small pickle.

I would like to search in surgery because I would like to get my hands in surgery for my future career. Of course, that may change later, but for now I'm pretty confident in my choice. The problem I am facing is that some places with a very prestigious name in surgery such as Cleve. Clinic, has very interesting research projects but none of the physicians are classified as researchers! So even if I was able to contact the physician directly, I have a feeling they have no power or control on allowing me to join them. Its not that they don't do research, that's impossible. But rather their research is done by another/third person who is affiliated with CC and use the physicians to help gather the data for their projects. Again, because I don't know the exact nature/types of projects that are going on, I can't find any contact info for this either!

I have found other places like Columbia, NYU, Mount Sinai, UCLA, OSU, etc. that have physician researchers. But I want to keep ALL my options open! So far for now, my main interests are in orthopedics and cardiothoracic. I find that I have a better understanding and liking towards these fields for now. Obviously, I'll choose one to do over the summer.

I love the other universities and their research projects just as much as CC, but because of personal and familial reasons, I'd rather stay close to Cleveland. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong site/location, but I can't seem to find anything that is useful to me. Any suggestions??

I don't care necessarily about funding or housing or anything like that. In fact, I'm okay if I just get the experience and name out there rather than trying to finish a paper over the two months I have off. I'm a pretty open minded guy, so if there's a better idea out there that you guys think would be beneficial, don't hesitate to let me know! I know I may be too picky right now cause I haven't even taken my steps yet, but I like to plan things out cautiously, to be on the safe side.

 

[qw098]

Just look on Pubmed to see if those guys publish a lot. If they do.. that's already a good sign.

Also, try asking around if others have done research with the PI and see if they enjoyed their time.

Good luck

 

[235009]

You need to look within your institution. Looking up random people online is not the way to go about it.

 

[Winged Scapula]

You're misunderstanding the role of surgeon-researchers. There are virtually none that are 100% research without clinical duties/practice. Some may do more research than others and some may have a more active, productive lab. Others may be more handoff, letting the Post-Docs/PhDs take the lead.

Therefore, when you choose the filter "researchers" you are left with essentially no results. However, if you filter for "surgeon" you will get lots of results, all of whom have a "research" link under their profile which sends you to their PubMed entry.

However, rather than randomly looking for a surgeon doing research, you might consider what interests you. Approaching a faculty member without any idea of what they do or why it interests you is destined to fail when you ask them for a project to work on. It is not enough to say "ortho" or "CT".

I agree with above however, that finding a project to do over 2 months (and forget about being paid...LOL), is going to be very difficult. What's wrong with doing it at your home program? After all, if you are doing research to make contacts for residency, a 2 month summer time stint isn't what they mean.

 

[geekozoid]

You're misunderstanding the role of surgeon-researchers. There are virtually none that are 100% research without clinical duties/practice. Some may do more research than others and some may have a more active, productive lab. Others may be more handoff, letting the Post-Docs/PhDs take the lead.

Therefore, when you choose the filter "researchers" you are left with essentially no results. However, if you filter for "surgeon" you will get lots of results, all of whom have a "research" link under their profile which sends you to their PubMed entry.

However, rather than randomly looking for a surgeon doing research, you might consider what interests you. Approaching a faculty member without any idea of what they do or why it interests you is destined to fail when you ask them for a project to work on. It is not enough to say "ortho" or "CT".

I agree with above however, that finding a project to do over 2 months (and forget about being paid...LOL), is going to be very difficult. What's wrong with doing it at your home program? After all, if you are doing research to make contacts for residency, a 2 month summer time stint isn't what they mean.

YES!! Very true!! I agree, maybe I should clarify some details so no one thinks I'm completely oblivious to whats going on >.> 😉 I am an IMG(Yes I know IMG this and that blah blah blah) the reason for this research isn't for the name really. It's mainly just to do something and get some kind of experience over the summer. I know I won't be able to do anything till my third year. Why not my own institution? Well ideally because I'm an IMG (Ireland, RCSI), I would like to have something done in the US that's solid and easy for my future superiors to use when trying to get a hold of someone or to do some background research on my work. So far, I haven't found anything interesting, in fact I had a feeling that all surgeons were surgeon researchers, not just researchers, that's why I came here to confirm! Yes, I also know that I have to read into their research to do something with them, I would think this common sense, no? 😵

I'm not doing this for contacts/pay/etc. I'm just trying to find something to do over the summer that can add on to my overall resume. Oh and one last thing, OF COURSE I know I wouldn't get paid, but sometimes I have to clarify otherwise people will tend to ask these questions on some of the posts, not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

[Winged Scapula]

YES!! Very true!! I agree, maybe I should clarify some details so no one thinks I'm completely oblivious to whats going on >.> 😉 I am an IMG(Yes I know IMG this and that blah blah blah) the reason for this research isn't for the name really. It's mainly just to do something and get some kind of experience over the summer. I know I won't be able to do anything till my third year. Why not my own institution? Well ideally because I'm an IMG (Ireland, RCSI), I would like to have something done in the US that's solid and easy for my future superiors to use when trying to get a hold of someone or to do some background research on my work. So far, I haven't found anything interesting, in fact I had a feeling that all surgeons were surgeon researchers, not just researchers, that's why I came here to confirm! Yes, I also know that I have to read into their research to do something with them, I would think this common sense, no? 😵

I'm not doing this for contacts/pay/etc. I'm just trying to find something to do over the summer that can add on to my overall resume. Oh and one last thing, OF COURSE I know I wouldn't get paid, but sometimes I have to clarify otherwise people will tend to ask these questions on some of the posts, not that there's anything wrong with that!

I was making a lot of assumptions about how you were filtering the faculty list at Cleveland Clinic, et al which is why I thought perhaps you were only checking "Researcher" and finding no results.

Not all surgeons are surgeon-researchers but a great deal many are, even those of us in private practice. 😉

I understand the desire to do something over the summer and while most of the time we recommend taking that first summer off (seeing as its usually the last summer, for the rest of your working life, that you'll have off), as an IMG you do have to work harder especially if you are contemplating a difficult match.

So, try and find a particular topic that you are interested by checking the CVs of the CC faculty and then contacting them to see if there are research opportunities. I know we have some students here on SDN that are at the CC and perhaps they can offer some advice as to whether or not there is a student office which coordinates these things.

 

[geekozoid]

I was making a lot of assumptions about how you were filtering the faculty list at Cleveland Clinic, et al which is why I thought perhaps you were only checking "Researcher" and finding no results.

Not all surgeons are surgeon-researchers but a great deal many are, even those of us in private practice. 😉

I understand the desire to do something over the summer and while most of the time we recommend taking that first summer off (seeing as its usually the last summer, for the rest of your working life, that you'll have off), as an IMG you do have to work harder especially if you are contemplating a difficult match.

So, try and find a particular topic that you are interested by checking the CVs of the CC faculty and then contacting them to see if there are research opportunities. I know we have some students here on SDN that are at the CC and perhaps they can offer some advice as to whether or not there is a student office which coordinates these things.

YOU are my hero! 😀 lol No worries about the assumptions! I should have clarified this in the first place and for that I apologize! You make a very good point and tbh, I really appreciate the straightforwardness of your replies, they are very helpful! I'm guessing you're in a surgical field yourself? I think I will be doing exactly what you suggested, going on their CVs and finding out what interests me. Please don't hesitate to add-on any suggestions!! I am more than happy to learn from them! 🙂

 

[Winged Scapula]

While the links below are mostly geared toward undergrad college students, they might give you some leads:

http://jobs.clevelandclinic.org/career/category_details/7_student experience

http://www.lerner.ccf.org/news/sr/documents/sr2013-14.pdf (document of all active research at CC; last updated 2 years ago)

 

[geekozoid]

Great, I will get back to you on an update on what I found, hope to hear back with some good news!