research?

[zanaida10]

So I've been doing research in a lab for the last year (exactly). I've worked on gels and PCR's and pretty much whatever you would expect in a microbiology lab. Unfortunately, I couldn't get away from contamination. I stayed over weekends, worked until 4-5 in the morning many many many nights and so on. However, I just couldn't stop getting contamination. I did a presentation on a project I started and my mentor said it went very well and was happy with it. Yes once again, I kept getting contamination. So I had a meeting with my mentor yesterday that this just wasn't working. I was beyond exhausted with taking a heavy course load every semester and working overtime most weeks redoing projects because of the damned contamination in my gels. So, we both came to the conclusion that I just am not cut out for pipetting. She was really nice about it and said that I have many other great qualities i.e enthusiasm, dedication and effort and so forth and that the presentation was very good. I asked for a letter of recommendation and she said she would be happy to do it.

So here's the thing. Should I rejoin some sort of research? I didn't get a paper out of it like I wanted and although I was heading for it...contaminatioN OIGEJ; FIO;EJL FSUGHIHG0F****ING CONTAMINATION! ok so, is a year of research enough or should I do more? How bad is this going to look to adcoms? THANKS!!!

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[ratherberocking]

One year of research is fine if you're just applying MD. For MD/PhD, however, you need more than that. If you're just applying MD, don't worry about it, and just focus on clinical experience, just make sure to get the rec letter.

 

[chad5871]

Well a year-long research experience is pretty good if you got a lot out of it. You can do more research if you want but it's not absolutely necessary. If you are near a medical campus I would suggest looking into some clinical research. I'm working with a clinical research group now and it's a great way to get clinical experience (I do one-on-one interviews with patients) and research experience at the same time.

If you've discovered you're not interested in doing more research I would suggest focusing your efforts on some sort of clinical experience.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

how the heck do you contaminate that recurrently?

anyways, i think the two most important parts of research for non-MD/PhD applicants is the LoR and something to write an essay on. Publication isn't too important because 99% of us will not have a pub (heck ~50% of masters students wont get a pub)

 

[ChubbyChaser]

ummm how do you consistently contaminate your plates??? Im not even careful and ive been working for 2 years and have yet to contaminate my cells.

 

[135892]

ummm how do you consistently contaminate your plates??? Im not even careful and ive been working for 2 years and have yet to contaminate my cells.

yeah, same here

weird...

 

[disorder]

you definitely need to work on your aseptic technique.

ethanol, bleach, cover/caps, regularly change your gloves, keep exposed materials (whatever they are) to the open at a minimum, and the auto-clave are your friend.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

So I've been doing research in a lab for the last year (exactly). I've worked on gels and PCR's and pretty much whatever you would expect in a microbiology lab. Unfortunately, I couldn't get away from contamination. I stayed over weekends, worked until 4-5 in the morning many many many nights and so on. However, I just couldn't stop getting contamination. I did a presentation on a project I started and my mentor said it went very well and was happy with it. Yes once again, I kept getting contamination. So I had a meeting with my mentor yesterday that this just wasn't working. I was beyond exhausted with taking a heavy course load every semester and working overtime most weeks redoing projects because of the damned contamination in my gels. So, we both came to the conclusion that I just am not cut out for pipetting. She was really nice about it and said that I have many other great qualities i.e enthusiasm, dedication and effort and so forth and that the presentation was very good. I asked for a letter of recommendation and she said she would be happy to do it.

So here's the thing. Should I rejoin some sort of research? I didn't get a paper out of it like I wanted and although I was heading for it...contaminatioN OIGEJ; FIO;EJL FSUGHIHG0F****ING CONTAMINATION! ok so, is a year of research enough or should I do more? How bad is this going to look to adcoms? THANKS!!!

But to answer your question it wont look bad at all to an ADCOM...You made a presentation and that will look good, you hve a year of research under yuor belt which is alot more than most, and you can probably make a good case for "why not phd?"

 

[littlealex]

Try using an antibiotic? Kanamycin?
Autoclave your pipette tips and keep them sterile.

 

[zanaida10]

hey guys..thanks for the advice.

well as to the question of contamination...i have NO idea...neither did my mentor...we tried everything. and it wasn't plates that i was working with. i was just working on gels and PCR's and the only thing that was moving around were bead tubes...
i tried everything.
1. obsessively changing my gloves every time i finished a set of beads.
2. using rna/dna wipes...forgot the name but they were great(only time i didn't get too much contamination...eh oh well)
3. doing the microbio ballet dance with my hands...meaning not putting anything down on my work area and opening the pipette box, putting in liquid, putting back the pipette box top without putting it on the desk...basically taking twice as long as everyone else.
4. oh wiping EVERYTHING with ethanol and bleach obsessively. cleaning all the pipettes with bleach every time i changed a set.
um changing gloves everything i moved form one set of beads to another. changing rooms. i just don't know and honestly neither did my mentor. maybe the rna/dna wipes might have saved me if my lab had discovered them in time...but seriously. it just became miserable for me and i lost the excitement and curiosity as i got more and more bogged down in every detail and more paranoid about contamination. i haven't worked for a couple of days and i feel soooo relaxed and happy that my entire day doesn't depend on some pictures...and how they turn out.

so I'm really done with this research stuff. but for the clinical. can someone give me advice on how to go about getting it? I'm not exactly sure where to start or how to ask for help? or what departments? its easier to just call us departments on campus for student assistant jobs but no clue about clinical research? THANKS!!!

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

hey guys..thanks for the advice.

so I'm really done with this research stuff. but for the clinical. can someone give me advice on how to go about getting it? I'm not exactly sure where to start or how to ask for help? or what departments? its easier to just call us departments on campus for student assistant jobs but no clue about clinical research? THANKS!!!

chad5871 mentioned clinical research experience, I'm not sure how to pursue that exactly, clinical experience in general is pretty straightforward to obtain by contacting local hospital(s), the ones I'm familiar with have volunteer managers/volunteer coordinators, it takes 3-4 weeks after contacting them to process through the background check/tb screen, in my area one can do 4 hrs per week or so.

 

[chad5871]

chad5871 mentioned clinical research experience, I'm not sure how to pursue that exactly, clinical experience in general is pretty straightforward to obtain by contacting local hospital(s), the ones I'm familiar with have volunteer managers/volunteer coordinators, it takes 3-4 weeks after contacting them to process through the background check/tb screen, in my area one can do 4 hrs per week or so.

At my medical campus there are multiple studies going on all the time. The faculty compiles a list of all professors working on research who could use research assistants and then you can contact the people on that list to find opportunities. Fortunately for me I already knew some professors on the medical campus, and one of them asked me if I would be interested in being a research assistant for her. It's a great opportunity because you get direct patient contact, physician interaction, and a lot of experience with research. And I get paid, too!

 

[atalkinghead]

I know this is going to sound lame, but do you actually autoclave your tips? Maybe you should sterilize everything and make up your own solutions to make sure someone else isn't making the mistake. Just a thought. Good luck!