Research with who?!

[bluenebula83]

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I'm an incoming resident interested in doing research in cardiology. I emailed my department and two docs responded. One is a well-known PhD who as ~400 publications on PubMed, is a great teacher and does some interesting stuff and the other doc is the director of cardiology! Both of them seem enthusiastic to take on a resident. Who should I do research with? The director of the department (who prolly knows other directors) or a well-known researcher who i'm more likely to get a publication from??

perplexed.
😕

 

[dragonfly99]

They both sound all right. Does the program director have many publications at all? My bias is to say that he's going to have more clout as far as getting you into a clinical cardiology training program. 400 pubs is a lot, though...the PhD likely is pretty well connected as well.

 

[revanche]

This is like asking "I asked out two guys/girls and both agreed. Both are hot. Who should I go out with?" Hell, go out with both! Odds are one or both will not work out any way. The only way to know this is by going out with both of them. If you are lucky and both work out, in this case (research mentors), you can keep and benefit from both.

 

[timpview]

To me it depends who the PhD is.. Is he publishing in a ton of basic research or subspecialty journals that have a narrow focus (i.e., avg cardiologist has never heard of the guy) - if that is the case, if you do work w/ him you might have less clout behind you so you better publish a ton..

I would think the program director would be the safer option as if the research doesn't pan out or doesn't get published, yet you work hard and gain his trust, you at least have someone in your corner that can make some calls for you.

 

[bluenebula83]

This is like asking "I asked out two guys/girls and both agreed. Both are hot. Who should I go out with?" Hell, go out with both! Odds are one or both will not work out any way. The only way to know this is by going out with both of them. If you are lucky and both work out, in this case (research mentors), you can keep and benefit from both.

LOLz i like that...yea, i think i might work with the PhD cause i did some searching and realized that they wrote a bunch of articles together. that means if i go with the PhD, the program director still knows him and i'll still have a greater chance of publishing. if i go with the program director, i'll be storing all my eggs in one basket and if he doesn't like me (which is highhhly unlikely) then there goes my publication AND my fellowship! 😱
😀

 

[bluenebula83]

o and the program director has about 80 publications...

 

[drdavemd]

agree with revanche

Having only one research project is asking for trouble if that project loses funding, investigator moves away, enrollment stops, and so on. Better to have a couple of things you are working on if you can.

 

[bluenebula83]

that's a great idea. i'm gonna keep in touch with both and see how it goes! thanks guys.

 

[Susan Watts]

I'm an incoming resident interested in doing research in cardiology. I emailed my department and two docs responded. One is a well-known PhD who as ~400 publications on PubMed, is a great teacher and does some interesting stuff and the other doc is the director of cardiology! Both of them seem enthusiastic to take on a resident. Who should I do research with? The director of the department (who prolly knows other directors) or a well-known researcher who i'm more likely to get a publication from??

perplexed.
😕

I too will be an intern in a few months and was interested by your post. Two questions pop into mind are, 1. do interns have time to do research or are you just getting connected now so that when you have time down the road you will be set. 2. Who did you contact, someone in the IM department or the Cards department? I have interest in Cards but no research experience and have no idea how to go about it. Excuse my ignorance.

 

[drdavemd]

You have to start somewhere. Internship is busy, but if you don't lay some groundwork then, you might be behind the pack during 2nd year and may not have anything to talk about during interviews and such.

Where to start depends largely on your program and who has been helpful in the past. In most cases, you can't just walk in to the Medicine or Cardiology offices and say "I want to do research". You should ask around at your program about who has been successful in the past, who their mentors were, etc. Some IM programs have structured mentoring or research initiatives, but many don't.

 

[tachycore]

It helps to choose your research in the cardiology field of your interest. If you have a prominent expert in that field who can write strong letters, even better.

Doing EP research and claiming your interests are in imaging don't make sense together. Speaking with others who've gone through the trail, I understand this discordance makes one harder to sell themselves as an applicant.

Of course, if you choose something general enough, that works in your favor regardless.

This is someone who's committed to academic cardiology, so take it for its worth.