Research

[I'm No Superman]

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I'm not entirely sure what pre medical research at the collegiate level entails... Is it the student's research, with little or no teacher interaction, or is it more like assisting a professor who is conducting the research, or something completely different? Could anyone tell me what they did for their research and what it was like?
Thanks

 

[HH Holmes]

I'm not entirely sure what pre medical research at the collegiate level entails... Is it the student's research, with little or no teacher interaction, or is it more like assisting a professor who is conducting the research, or something completely different? Could anyone tell me what they did for their research and what it was like?
Thanks

This all depends on what kind of program/lab you're in and how close you are to the professor/mentor. I did research in between my junior and senior year of high school at a lab at a top 20 school. I had my own project, but I ended up assisting a lot of the grad students and post-docs with their stuff. In all honesty, I would have liked to just collaborated with one of them instead of having my own project, since, as a high schooler, it was hard to get certain stuff done on my own.

In undegrad, probably the first opportunities you will have will be via a professor whom you've become close with, or a program designed for undergrads. Especially at larger schools, it's hard for freshman to find research unless you have previous experience or a connection with a prof.

When I did my research, I was at the institution for 6 weeks. For about 4 of those, I was prepping my stuff (basically had to purify a modified form of cyanobacteria), while I helped a few post-docs and students with their projects... I'd create media, create gels, run basic tests do errands etc... It was kinda like b*tch work, but I didn't really mind -- it was an experience, and I was extremely grateful to be there, plus the letter of recommendation didn't hurt either.

Don't expect much your first time around. What I can tell you is to be nice to everyone you encounter, get there early, stay late (if applicable) and work hard. If you make a good impression, chances are they are more likely to be interested in working with you again. Unfortunately, since my research was only a summer internship, I have no real chance to go back, but the experience looks good on a resume, and I gained a lot of skills from it that I can now use in my undergrad and (hopeful) med years.

Good luck 🙂

PS - If you're a rising senior, try and email professors from a local college or university. See if you can get a simple assistant un-paid a few days a week after school. It'll help for college, you may get some exposure and you can decide if research is "for you" or not. I learned that as much as I love biochem and microbiology, I prefer clinical trial based research over sole lab research -- but that's just me.

 

[I'm No Superman]

Thanks, Ill definitely consider doing that. It all seems really interesting, and thanks for the quick and detailed response.

 

[HH Holmes]

Thanks, Ill definitely consider doing that. It all seems really interesting, and thanks for the quick and detailed response.

No problem. Sorry if some of it was rambling or grammatically incorrect. I'm running on no hours of sleep and I need to be up early tomorrow 😱

In my overtired and probably misinformed opinion, I think connections are one of the biggest and most important things to have when applying to college, or any professional school. The more people you know, and the more people know you, the better chances you have of someone making a phone call or sending an email that could potentially land you a research stint, a job, an interview for a school etc... Something to keep in mind.

Final ramblings for this thread tonight, I promise 😛

 

[I'm No Superman]

I was wondering how you got the opportunity to do research while in high school. Did you go through your high school or did you go to the college first? I guess I was just going to ask someone in the science dept. at our high school, and was wondering how you did it.

 

[Swiss Medical]

I was wondering how you got the opportunity to do research while in high school. Did you go through your high school or did you go to the college first? I guess I was just going to ask someone in the science dept. at our high school, and was wondering how you did it.

ummm...Well sometimes opportunities just appear or you just have to make a quick Google search for it. For example, my school is giving us the opportunity to attend Stanford Univ for an 8 week research fellowship.

 

[I'm No Superman]

ummm...Well sometimes opportunities just appear or you just have to make a quick Google search for it. For example, my school is giving us the opportunity to attend Stanford Univ for an 8 week research fellowship.

That sounds pretty cool, thanks for the advice.

 

[HH Holmes]

ummm...Well sometimes opportunities just appear or you just have to make a quick Google search for it. For example, my school is giving us the opportunity to attend Stanford Univ for an 8 week research fellowship.

I've never seen an opportunity "appear", nor can googling "research internship" get you very far. Luckily, your school offers such a program, but I'm not entirely sure where you go and how realistic such a program is... Usually a "fellow" requires a doctoral degree.

OP, my school has a research coordinator. He had a few connections at a few universities, but they had to do with ecology and environmental science, which i was not interested in. Through one of my family members, I almost had an opportunity at a pediatric clinical trial at Yale, but that fell through. I ended up just emailing about 50 or so professors from about 30+ schools: I went on pubmed.gov and searched topics I was interested in. From there, I would look at where each author was from, and search their name on their institution's website (each pubmed article lists the authors and their affiliated institution). From here, I'd look at their lab's webpage, see if I was interested and email them (99% of the time an email is included on the lab website).

To streamline the email process, I made a "template" email in MS Word, and inserted [name], [institution] and their basic are of study. I included by qualifications and reason for my interest. For about two months, all I received were denials. Eventually I got an email showing interest, and a few back-and-forths later, I had an internship.

Don't feel bad if you keep getting denied, just keep your head up and continue emailing. Eventually you'll find something.

 

[FutureDoc01]

You can do research on anything you want. It doesn't have to be entirely related to a human. I did mine on neurons of green crabs. It was really fun working with marine biologist, physiologists, and two biochemists. They asked about it at every medical school I interviewed at. Pick something that stands out!


I worked for the all 6 professors and received undergraduate credits resulting in me graduating with way more than 120 credits. Nice part about it was after all the PhD's names on the paper I was listed. So I still got published!

 

[HH Holmes]

You can do research on anything you want. It doesn't have to be entirely related to a human. I did mine on neurons of green crabs. It was really fun working with marine biologist, physiologists, and two biochemist. They asked about it at every medical school I interviewed at. Pick something that stands out!


I worked for the all 6 professors and received undergraduate credits resulting in me graduating with way more than 120 credits. Nice part about it was after all the PhD's names on the paper I was listed. So I still got published!

👍

I studied the circadian rhythms and potential biofuel production of alga.

 

[Swiss Medical]

I've never seen an opportunity "appear", nor can googling "research internship" get you very far. Luckily, your school offers such a program, but I'm not entirely sure where you go and how realistic such a program is... Usually a "fellow" requires a doctoral degree.

OP, my school has a research coordinator. He had a few connections at a few universities, but they had to do with ecology and environmental science, which i was not interested in. Through one of my family members, I almost had an opportunity at a pediatric clinical trial at Yale, but that fell through. I ended up just emailing about 50 or so professors from about 30+ schools: I went on pubmed.gov and searched topics I was interested in. From there, I would look at where each author was from, and search their name on their institution's website (each pubmed article lists the authors and their affiliated institution). From here, I'd look at their lab's webpage, see if I was interested and email them (99% of the time an email is included on the lab website).

To streamline the email process, I made a "template" email in MS Word, and inserted [name], [institution] and their basic are of study. I included by qualifications and reason for my interest. For about two months, all I received were denials. Eventually I got an email showing interest, and a few back-and-forths later, I had an internship.

Don't feel bad if you keep getting denied, just keep your head up and continue emailing. Eventually you'll find something.

First off, the key word, is "usually". Do not be deceived by the word "fellowship". That's what they called it. 🙄

About your clinical trial, were you meant to participate or do actual research on patients, because I was by [insert name here] that you could only conduct clinical research if you had a degree of some sort. Nation.

 

[HH Holmes]

First off, the key word, is "usually". Do not be deceived by the word "fellowship". That's what they called it. 🙄

Fair enough.

About your clinical trial, were you meant to participate or do actual research on patients, because I was by [insert name here] that you could only conduct clinical research if you had a degree of some sort. Nation.

No, I was not going to be a participant in the clinical trial, I was going to be a part of the research team. I don't understand what I bolded in your response. I'm confused. Regardless I wouldn't be able to have direct contact with the patients, but I would have been some part of the research group. Since the opportunity fell through, I never really found out what I'd be doing.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, I was simply stating that most schools do not have research programs, and how it is very hard to find a "connection" within school, family or friends, hence my advice for the OP to go out and look for a research opportunity on his own.

/thread

 

[Swiss Medical]

Fair enough.



No, I was not going to be a participant in the clinical trial, I was going to be a part of the research team. I don't understand what I bolded in your response. I'm confused. Regardless I wouldn't be able to have direct contact with the patients, but I would have been some part of the research group. Since the opportunity fell through, I never really found out what I'd be doing.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, I was simply stating that most schools do not have research programs, and how it is very hard to find a "connection" within school, family or friends, hence my advice for the OP to go out and look for a research opportunity on his own.

/thread

How can you even state this. i know a lot of undergraduate programs that command research in many aspects of science. the only problem is that availability of spots in the lab.

 

[HH Holmes]

How can you even state this. i know a lot of undergraduate programs that command research in many aspects of science. the only problem is that availability of spots in the lab.

He's a high school student, isn't he asking for research now in high school?!?

If not, then yes, you're absolutely right... Tons, if not all undergrad schools have research programs.

 

[I'm No Superman]

He's a high school student, isn't he asking for research now in high school?!?

If not, then yes, you're absolutely right... Tons, if not all undergrad schools have research programs.

Yeah I'll be a senior next year. 🙂