Researching Questions

[DoctorSaab]

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What do you guys mean when you are talking about research?

I am a bio undergrand that is doing research in ecology and evolution. When you guys say research, do you mean research in medicine or physiology for example?

 

[tinkerbelle]

We mean research in any field you can think of (med, engineering, public health, psych, art, history, etc).

 

[lizbjrddnr]

Just to confirm what I think the OP's intention was- do med schools value medical research a lot more than basic science research?

 

[DoctorSaab]

Yeh, that is also a better question to ask. Are medical schools favoring applicants that have done medical research?

I just thought it would be better to do research in other fields besides medicine just to become diversified.

 

[Fermata]

Just to confirm what I think the OP's intention was- do med schools value medical research a lot more than basic science research?

MSTP admissions actually like basic science research.

 

[tinkerbelle]

Just to confirm what I think the OP's intention was- do med schools value medical research a lot more than basic science research?

oh. well i would think anything that increases your exposure to medicine would be great. Although I still think any type of research is good. I think it's all about what you learned and whether you have the skills to put a positive spin on what you havae done 🙂

Plus diversity is always good. So, if you have the opportunity, try to do something that other pre-meds aren't doing (i.e. the same old medical/sciency research)

 

[acidhouse303]

i suppose it also depends on the nature of your project and what exactly your role was in the lab. i suppose its better if you had a larger role organizing and setting up clinical trials in a medical research sense rather than doing something repetitive like PCR over and over again in a basic science setting. But then again, any kind of exposure is good. Its more important what you learned from the experience about science on a molecular level and about yourself. You dont necessarily have to do medical research on hot topics like the neurodegenerative diseases of aging or oncology or heart disease. The Ad coms might be more interested in a different kind of research that they dont get to hear about all that often. I did research in environmental microbiology (which has nothing to do with infectious disease or any fun pathology stuff), molecular genetics (drosophila stuff), i worked at a pharmaceutical company doing vaccine research (i get asked about this alot bc it was really cool and i got to wear a the whole pinstripe bunnysuit) and now i work on synapotgenesis in the hippocampus. anyway, any exposure you get is great, just get out there and find something you are passionate about! dont just do research bc its a hot topic for med school if you arent going to love the project because its not worth spending long hours in the lab sippin on that hate-orade!🙂 hope that helped, if u have any questions about research u can def PM me

 

[lizbjrddnr]

i suppose it also depends on the nature of your project and what exactly your role was in the lab. i suppose its better if you had a larger role organizing and setting up clinical trials in a medical research sense rather than doing something repetitive like PCR over and over again in a basic science setting. But then again, any kind of exposure is good. Its more important what you learned from the experience about science on a molecular level and about yourself. You dont necessarily have to do medical research on hot topics like the neurodegenerative diseases of aging or oncology or heart disease. The Ad coms might be more interested in a different kind of research that they dont get to hear about all that often. I did research in environmental microbiology (which has nothing to do with infectious disease or any fun pathology stuff), molecular genetics (drosophila stuff), i worked at a pharmaceutical company doing vaccine research (i get asked about this alot bc it was really cool and i got to wear a the whole pinstripe bunnysuit) and now i work on synapotgenesis in the hippocampus. anyway, any exposure you get is great, just get out there and find something you are passionate about! dont just do research bc its a hot topic for med school if you arent going to love the project because its not worth spending long hours in the lab sippin on that hate-orade!🙂 hope that helped, if u have any questions about research u can def PM me

Ok, by basic science research, I mean NOTHING to do with medicine (my project was studying moth flight tracking behavior). However, it was my own project (done all work on it myself) and I'll be first (or second, whoever finishes the paper I've already drafted) author on the paper from the research, presented a poster at conferences. So, in the sense that I have learned a lot, been very involved/responsible for the research, you're saying that's good. But it really has nothing to do with medicine... Any opinions on whether this will hurt me or not?

 

[Anka]

Research is good regardless of field; some schools value diversity more than others (e.g., Penn, though it's far from the only one). Here's the bottom line -- do you value this sort of diverse experience for yourself? I'm not so sure I need a medeival literature major who flies airplanes in her spare time as a doctor; on the other hand, it's the kind of doctor I want to be. Another thing to think about is, if you want to do academic medicine and you're pretty sure of that, you might want to get started in a lab which is related to your future field.

Best of luck with all this. Things are better once you're in medical school (much less stress about trying to impress some etherial admissions committee... you just do the work).

Anka