Research

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Hello everyone! I am 5th year medical student and I want to make a research in neuroradiology but problem is I have had several ideas but I dont really like them. For example I had idea about multiple sclerosis but three students have already taken that topic, than I had idea about Chiari but as I have searched different research jobs about that topic, it seems that it isn't that interesting because there is not many researches about Chiari. I had also idea to do something about MR spectography but doctors in hospital told that this topic would be too complicated for medical student.
I am not asking you to give me a topic of my research job but maybe some interesting diseases in neuroradiology that is quite frequent in population or some current topical things in neuroradiology or current problems in this field. I really hope for responsiveness.

 

[Gadofosveset]

Practically, choosing a research project depends on a few things:

= the physical resources you have available. If you don't have the capability to perform DTI, don't write a paper on it. This is obvious is in the negative, but turn it around... what resources *do* you have?

= the faculty resources you have available
- do any faculty have a project you can get into?
- do any faculty have an interest in your area of interest? Can they guide you, give you ideas, proof your ideas and research?
- can you get along with the faculty in the area you're interested in? If you like the project but can't stand the research group, pick another project.

= how comfortable are you with stats?
- if less than comfortable (e.g. the concept of "powering" a study turns you off), choose something more descriptive.
- if more comfortable, then think about a research project involving some statistical comparison or other. These studies are generally more useful if done well.

= how much time do you have?
- be realistic

= what is your end goal?
- before you start the project, already be thinking about where you want it to be presented. Paper, poster, electronic presentation? Which journal are you going to try for first? Which second? Which third? In my opinion, you *must* consider the outlet before launching out on the project.
- look into the mission statement of the possible outlets. Is what you're putting together compatible with what they want?

= look at the current research in the publication outlet of choice
- if you want to publish in AJNR, look at the articles they've published in the past three months to get an idea of what they're looking for. Can you build on any of the areas that are currently being published in that outlet
- at the very least, familiarity with the outlet of choice will help you frame a reasonable proposal to the faculty member you want to work with.

Hope this is useful.