research?

[OneLove]

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I was planning on doing reserach with some psychology professors in my upcoming years because well.. psychology is my major. I see that most people talk of research as almost essential in the whole premed process. Should I be seeking research with bio/chem/phsycis professors as well?

 

[dr.z]

I was planning on doing reserach with some psychology professors in my upcoming years because well.. psychology is my major. I see that most people talk of research as almost essential in the whole premed process. Should I be seeking research with bio/chem/phsycis professors as well?

As long as you become good at research and enjoy it, I don't think the field matters much. Make sure you like what you are doing and learn as much from it. It may help to do research in something relavant to medicine, but if you don't enjoy it, it won't be worth it.

 

[ktsou]

do research with your psychology prof and instead of looking for another research position, try volunteering at a local hospital instead. just my opinion (i never did research bc stuff like that never interested me, but i volunteered a lot instead)

 

[Shredder]

I was planning on doing reserach with some psychology professors in my upcoming years because well.. psychology is my major. I see that most people talk of research as almost essential in the whole premed process. Should I be seeking research with bio/chem/phsycis professors as well?

Just try to get started early and get a publication out of it, and preferably with some relation to medicine I would say, or at least something you can spin to make it seem related. Psych major eh...well you should have plenty of time on your hands to do whatever research you decide on. Don't do double research; it's better to get more deeply involved in one. And ideally it should be that in which you are most passionate, so let that guide your decision. Don't do anything solely for med school's sake, that's no good I say.

 

[Neuronix]

I see that most people talk of research as almost essential in the whole premed process.

They're wrong. Get involved with clubs and programs that you enjoy and be involved and committed. If you're really interested in research, do the type of research you're interested in. Don't worry about doing "molecular" research unless you really want to do it.

 

[OneLove]

I am doing research in general but I dont think I would have a good oppurtunity to do any research with bio/chem professors. I was just thinking that this may put me at a disadvantage. I will pursue reserach in an area of interest within psychology when the chance arrives, but I'm still kind of worried.

 

[sully]

I am doing research in general but I dont think I would have a good oppurtunity to do any research with bio/chem professors. I was just thinking that this may put me at a disadvantage. I will pursue reserach in an area of interest within psychology when the chance arrives, but I'm still kind of worried.

I dont think it would put you at a disadvantage, from what I have gathered from admission reps it is not what you do, but how you do it. They seem to firmly hold the belief that they will be able to teach you the majority of the information you need to know to be a successful physician, you need to bring the ability to learn and apply the information to the table. Experiences that are more in-depth, where you make a valuable and indispensable contribution to an organization (or research group) through your work and independent leadership abilities are the ones that speak to the character that you possess. It is this character that will lead to becoming a positive influence in the medical field, not just a conduit for the reciting of information fed to you in medical school. Pick something that you enjoy, and then put your all into it. If you really love it, and want to see successful results, this will become evident through your actions.

I hope this helps a bit, but as always, take it with a grain of salt as it is just my opinion of what I have seen so far. Good luck!

 

[Aero047]

do research with your psychology prof and instead of looking for another research position, try volunteering at a local hospital instead. just my opinion (i never did research bc stuff like that never interested me, but i volunteered a lot instead)

Did not having any research negatively impact your application or come up during interviews?

 

[paroquet]

I was planning on doing reserach with some psychology professors in my upcoming years because well.. psychology is my major. I see that most people talk of research as almost essential in the whole premed process. Should I be seeking research with bio/chem/phsycis professors as well?

The field doesn't matter. Many interviewers asked me about my research, which was mathematical. They were eager to hear about it, and they seemed tired and bleary-eyed from all those bio folks who run electrophoreses (and risk getting nasal cancer in some cases ;-) to get their results.

Research looks good, but you want it to be balanced out with significant work in people-oriented stuff. Otherwise you'll just look like a sheltered nerd, and that's BAD in any case.

I spent my years balancing myself out and was admitted to my top-choice school (a top-20 school), and I expect to be admitted to a top-10 school soon.

When you don't have any perceivable weaknesses, the interviews go smoothly. Work on broadening yourself so that you can't be attacked by an interviewer for being too intellectual, or too hands-on and not intellectual enough, etc.

 

[ktsou]

Did not having any research negatively impact your application or come up during interviews?

actually, not doing research didnt really negatively impacted my application nor my interviews. my mediocre grades and mcat scores, however, did negatively affect my application. i was asked once during an interview why i did not do any research and i simply told the interviewer that research never interested me and had i perhaps been interested in pursuing a phd instead of a md, then i may have done research, but instead, i was more interested in being a primary care physician and felt that volunteering at a hospital was more relevant to what i wanted to do post-UG (and the interviewer agreed with me on this comment).

 

[whattodowithmys]

i agree with neuronix, dont do research to do to it, do it becasue you like it, otherwise itll be a drag... and if you do it, do whatever field you like, publicationts dont matter nearly as much as your ability to describe it

 

[fotolilith]

I am doing research in general but I dont think I would have a good oppurtunity to do any research with bio/chem professors. I was just thinking that this may put me at a disadvantage. I will pursue reserach in an area of interest within psychology when the chance arrives, but I'm still kind of worried.

I did most of my research in the psych department & I got accepted to med school: first my research was in social psych, then social endocrinology, then neuroscience. I am also doing biochem/ genomics research right now.

Don't do research cuz you think it's expected: my interviewers commented that I really was passionate about my research (which I am), and one said she could see through the boring applicants who didn't research something they found interesting. I can't say any of those research opportunities definitely helped me, but I was never looked down upon for doing psych research. Psychology is the science of people, afterall.

 

[ktsou]

i completely agree with the previous two posts. just do something you really want to do and not because you think its expected or because you want to pad your CV. admissions committee want to see that youre passionate about something and most (like the previous poster said) have interviewed enough ppl to know when someone does something (either research or volunteer) just so that they can add it to his/her application.