Research without Publication

[Sarovson98]

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I am currently doing research with a professor as a sophomore. Of course there's no way to know if my name will ever be published on some piece over the next 2 years, but I certainly hope that will happen. My question is...how valuable is research as far as it's weight on the app/interview if you never actually get published but only have your word and the word of your professor to show for what you've done as far as how much time you put in and what you did. Thanks!

 

[orangeman25]

It's completely fine. I don't know the exact numbers but publications for med school applicants is not very common

 

[kyamh]

You gain much more than a potential publication from meaningful participation in research.

1. You gain an in depth understanding about a scientific topic that interests you. This dedication shows enthusiasm for science and intellectual curiosity.
2. By participating in research you show your ability to juggle several demanding responsibilities.
3. You learn to work as a part of a team. You learn to communicate with people "below" and "above" you effectively.
4. You gain critical thinking and reading skills from understanding how to read scientific articles and how to extract information that is important to you.
5. You learn to problem solve. With a proper research experience you will hit roadblocks and failures along the way. Not only do you learn to not get bogged down with the problems that arise, but you also learn skills to overcome those problems.
6. You are empowered with the ability to understand where your education/skill set is lacking and you have experience with asking for help.
7. You learn to differentiate a problem that you can solve with hard work vs. a problem you ought to ask for help in solving.
8. You learn to identify sources that can help you and you learn how to appropriately obtain the help you need.
9. You show commitment and follow through if you participate for a long time.
10. You gain an understanding of what it is like to participate in research and can start to figure out whether you will want to be a physician scientist.
11. You gain effective presentation skills - posters, oral presentations, journal club presentations, presenting your progress to the PI etc.

..... The list can go on and on.



Edit: Bottom line - if you can articulate your growth as a scientist/student/person as a result of participating in research, you will be successful as far as applications go. If you can articulate the science underlying your lab's research and seem enthusiastic about it, you will come off well in an interview.

 

[Sarovson98]

Absolutely I'll make sure I'll be able to properly explain what I got out of research whenever it comes time for the interview. I just started this semester, and I'm already beginning to learn a lot of important stuff, not just contentwise, but more for the workplace and the world of science. I'm just relieved to know that adcoms won't be turned off by an applicant who participated in research and got a lot out of it but was not published. Thanks, guys!

 

[Heplayer92]

Yeah, don't sweat it man. Sure it's nice to be published, but as mentioned, the experience is more important. Also, publications are really PI and lab-dependent...some labs pump out numerous papers each year, while smaller labs may crank out only 1 every couple of years. Simply being involved in research puts you in a good position =) Best of luck!

 

[Itsmine]

It's fine. Maybe do an honors thesis or a poster/presentation to show for it. Also, having your own research project is helpful, even if it won't get published.

 

[nemo123]

2 years in a lab is good. LizzyM has said before that only about 5-10% of applicants even have a publication when they apply, and I would imagine some of those would be non-trads who have been working in research for some time. As long as you get to formulate your own hypothesis, test it, and have some amount of independence in the lab, you should be fine.

 

[BurberryDoc]

I worked full time for 2 years in a neuroscience lab, and I have spent the past year or so working in a stem cell lab. I have had no publications, no posters, no presentations.

It only looks like you have been screwing around and doing things in a perfunctory way if you cannot discuss the benefit of your research - either for the scientific community or for widespread human society. I talked about my research and why I felt it was valuable work to be done, made it very clear that I held a technical role (bench work only - no overarching analyses or anything like that) and a post-doc from my neuro gig and the PI from my stem cell lab wrote me recommendation letters.

Verdict? Accepted to all schools I have interviewed at (MD) this year. This was a concern I had going into the application cycle, but I hope that clears things up for you!