Research

[roseglass6370]

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I know research is fairly important but I'm not really sure which route to take.

What is your experience with it? Also, if you have done research, how long have you been working on it?

 

[mdeast]

I know research is fairly important but I'm not really sure which route to take.

What is your experience with it? Also, if you have done research, how long have you been working on it?

(1) and (2) are practically the same thing. Barring any sort of unique experience (at least if we're talking biomedical research at the bench)...most students won't come in with any idea of what specific project they want to do, rather just a general area of research they're interested in (stem cells, neuroscience, hormones, cell signaling, immunology, etc.). If you do undergrad research, almost always your project will be a reflection of something the PI/faculty member is interested in. They are the ones funding it 9/10 times 😉 This project can be independent or guided by the PI, but in the end, it will always be something the PI is interested in studying and funding.

 

[jla314]

my research has been really rewarding in part because i work in a smaller lab. i have a lot of opportunities to take lead positions on projects and work directly with my PI, which has given me something substantial to talk about in secondaries and interviews, and probably gave me one of my strongest letters. i've been with my current lab for 1.5 years (+summer)

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Im going to work under a professor for a while my junior year. I'm taking 2 credits of independent research under the psychology department.

 

[Narmerguy]

I'm curious what people are doing with their independent research projects.

 

[BlueElmo]

I wored under a graduate student mentor.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

A strong and well rounded pre-medical student can get into medical school easily without research experience (as long as other parts of your application are strong).

I had no research experience before medical school and was accepted to my first and second choices early in the season.

-senior medical student

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

A strong and well rounded pre-medical student can get into medical school easily without research experience (as long as other parts of your application are strong).

I had no research experience before medical school and was accepted to my first and second choices early in the season.

-senior medical student

Research can be a powerful plus on your application. Having 1 year or so of research makes you a more desirable and well rounded applicant.

 

[bannie22]

There is no option for me.
Worked under PhD student.

Now working under PhD.

You know, you dont have to work with faculty members right?

I think from the poll it comes across that you might not know that you can work with anyone in the hospital that is doing research.

 

[Morsetlis]

However, a faculty letter carries more weight than random-PhD-from-institution-across-the-street.

 

[bannie22]

Sick Kids.


but no, I did not get a reference letter from my PI because I only started this after the app season was midway through.

 

[SilentSoldier]

My first year of research was okay, not really what I wanted it to be. I really wanted to do research with people at my school's medical center but every lab I contacted was full. The only one to say yes was my physiology professor who was really nice but the nature of the research wasn't all that.

Now I'm doing research under a PhD candidate that is a bit more hands on. Still not with people, but this time I'm getting paid for it so it balances out 😀

 

[JJMrK]

A strong and well rounded pre-medical student can get into medical school easily without research experience (as long as other parts of your application are strong).

I had no research experience before medical school and was accepted to my first and second choices early in the season.

-senior medical student

Probably. But more and more students have done some type of research these days.

 

[Morsetlis]

Is it going to hurt/bore you that much to do a summer of research?

 

[familyaerospace]

I've done all three types of research, plus I was a professional researcher (as in also running a business) for a few years. 🙂

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I've done all three types of research, plus I was a professional researcher (as in also running a business) for a few years. 🙂

Hahaha that'll count as one sweet EC.

 

[deleted212936]

I know research is fairly important but I'm not really sure which route to take.

I had done 2 research: one in the summer and one for credits, both under professor's supervision.
My advice is, do research only if you like it. Don't waste your time doing it just because you think it "looks good" on your application.

 

[Acoustica]

I'm currently working at two labs.

My first lab is one dealing with pulmonary research, and I've basically working on my supervisor's project through this program we have where we get to present the research at a symposium at the end of the year. I started out working in the lab for pay the beginning of my freshman year in college, but just recently switched to doing it for credit this year. Hopefully I'll get to continue working in the same lab throughout my 4 years!

I just started working at my new lab--it is a paying job I just got last week. I get to work directly with the PI, but there are only 3 undergrads in the lab including myself and no post docs or techs or anyone else. Def pros and cons, but at least that means I get to be in charge of the Tissue Culture room and all the cells! There is definitely room for advancement. Oh yeah, it deals with Alzheimer research.

 

[tennisball80]

Independent research sounds more valuable than working under a professor. Do medical schools really prefer independent research to working under a professor?

 

[URHere]

If you like research or you have dreams of a Top-10, research-heavy school, then do research. If it is the latter, then clinical research or psychology research may be the least painful options for getting in research experience. Do it for one year, or for as long as you can stand.

If you hate research, and your dream schools aren't research-heavy, then there is no need to do research.

 

[URHere]

Independent research sounds more valuable than working under a professor. Do medical schools really prefer independent research to working under a professor?

In nearly all cases, students conducting "independent projects" are still working under a professor. This just means that the student is the one in charge of overseeing all experiments, making adjustments, analyzing data, and presenting results. The funding and (often) the idea still belong to the faculty member.

 

[roseglass6370]

Thanks for the responses! I'm considering doing some summer research under a prof at my school. Just curious to see what everyone had to say. Trying to keep my options open. 🙂

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thanks for the responses! I'm considering doing some summer research under a prof at my school. Just curious to see what everyone had to say. Trying to keep my options open. 🙂

Lol nice.. Even having just 1 summer of research is enough to put you in a good position.

 

[familyaerospace]

Hahaha that'll count as one sweet EC.

Actually it's going to probably have to be two ECs. 2 years was at 100 hours a week (trying to decide if it should be research or paid employment) and the other like 5 years for 20 hours a week. I'm also going to split them because of different responsibilities.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Actually it's going to probably have to be two ECs. 2 years was at 100 hours a week (trying to decide if it should be research or paid employment) and the other like 5 years for 20 hours a week. I'm also going to split them because of different responsibilities.

100 hours a week... thats 14 hours every day.. Lol..

 

[familyaerospace]

100 hours a week... thats 14 hours every day.. Lol..

What is sad is that was exactly what it was. About 14 hours a day 7 days a week. I liked the work but oh my god was it completely crazy. Luckily those 2 years was telecommuting. I would wake up at 8 am and go to bed at 2 am. I had no life though. Last month marked the one year anniversary of being separated from the job. As a lot of our former employees-turned-doctors said, after working there, getting through medical school is easy! Or so they claim, I can't judge yet.

 

[Excelsius]

I have found out that some of the smaller schools that have nearby medschools or research projects right within the school can provide some of the best opportunities for research since the large campuses usually have a lot of premeds vying for whatever research positions are available and this brings down the quality of the experience. You are sometimes given a free reign when the conditions are right. I work with a sub-PI and a PI simultaneously and after half a year of getting started I was basically given access to all the equipment to run the experiment by myself, with no one there. This gave me the spot for first authorship, but it was hard work. Not only training alone took some months, but the experiment had to be run continuously and every day (for about a week + weekends) I had to go to the lab after school and sometimes stay there until 2AM until I could finish up. After all that, data analysis begins...

Your experience will vary depending on what research you do and who's your PI. For example, brain research is very time consuming because of the delicacies and the amount of equipment and physics involved, but all that matters is that you like whatever you do. So choose something you like or you will either not learn anything or not get any publications (or both). If you don't like research at all, your ability to get a good recommendation at the end will be jeopardized as well. No good PI is going to give you a letter unless you put in the time.

 

[Morsetlis]

Basically my PI asked me to write the letter..