- Joined
- Dec 10, 2014
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Been awhile since I've posted on here, but looking for some ideas fellow SDNers.
I'm a first year at AZCOM. So far doing well and don't want to slow down in the summer. Stagnancy breeds failure. I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I also don't want to limit myself when applying for residencies. It sounds like many of my fellow classmates have been able to find summer experiences to bolster their app for residencies. The opportune time sounds like around this winter break to early February to get something going, so I just wanted to see what you all suggest.
An ideal summer for me would be a research project followed by a lil vacay and then work/volunteer until the next year starts. I've talked to others who have made this happen. I attended a club meeting dealing with just this thing and was able to hear some experiences of the 2nd years. Mind you this was for my Surgery club, so fairly competitive students.
What some chose to do was research, others a mission trip, and one an Anatomy TA position over the summer. I'd prefer research as I have none and think it looks the best on an app. Talking to my buddy who is interviewing for Surgical residencies he said all the interviewers asked about was his research. It was in something outside the field, but he said that didn't matter and spun it as that is what he was interested at the time. Its my opinion that a TA position wouldn't do much. Yeah you may know anatomy a lil better, but what did you contribute to the field?
So how do I go about finding a good research position? Some of them seemed straight forward. Apply for a spot with this program, or research funded by this university (Vanderbilt for example) and they'll set you up at a location with a specific duty under a researcher for an allotted amount of time. It seemed fairly "cookie cutter" to me with big promises, such as first author on one or two publications, and second on several others. I've also heard students simply reaching out to professors and asking to research under them throughout the summer.
What's your opinions on research? Does a "cookie cutter" program look worse? Is it better to branch out and do "free lance" research under your university or other university professor? Is it simply publications that matter?
One of the programs that sounded interesting was a diabetes research (I'll look up the organization and update this post). It was in locations I would like to live and have family in the area, Seattle and Chicago. There was both lab and field based research. Different pros and cons to each, but both "guaranteed" publications. Again my ideal would be 3 weeks to a month of research and then come back and do other things that interest me. Also if it matters, my last job was at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Would this help me with an in for research?
Thank you all in advance for the suggestions and like I said I'll update with the specific organizations they suggested when I get around to it.
I'm a first year at AZCOM. So far doing well and don't want to slow down in the summer. Stagnancy breeds failure. I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I also don't want to limit myself when applying for residencies. It sounds like many of my fellow classmates have been able to find summer experiences to bolster their app for residencies. The opportune time sounds like around this winter break to early February to get something going, so I just wanted to see what you all suggest.
An ideal summer for me would be a research project followed by a lil vacay and then work/volunteer until the next year starts. I've talked to others who have made this happen. I attended a club meeting dealing with just this thing and was able to hear some experiences of the 2nd years. Mind you this was for my Surgery club, so fairly competitive students.
What some chose to do was research, others a mission trip, and one an Anatomy TA position over the summer. I'd prefer research as I have none and think it looks the best on an app. Talking to my buddy who is interviewing for Surgical residencies he said all the interviewers asked about was his research. It was in something outside the field, but he said that didn't matter and spun it as that is what he was interested at the time. Its my opinion that a TA position wouldn't do much. Yeah you may know anatomy a lil better, but what did you contribute to the field?
So how do I go about finding a good research position? Some of them seemed straight forward. Apply for a spot with this program, or research funded by this university (Vanderbilt for example) and they'll set you up at a location with a specific duty under a researcher for an allotted amount of time. It seemed fairly "cookie cutter" to me with big promises, such as first author on one or two publications, and second on several others. I've also heard students simply reaching out to professors and asking to research under them throughout the summer.
What's your opinions on research? Does a "cookie cutter" program look worse? Is it better to branch out and do "free lance" research under your university or other university professor? Is it simply publications that matter?
One of the programs that sounded interesting was a diabetes research (I'll look up the organization and update this post). It was in locations I would like to live and have family in the area, Seattle and Chicago. There was both lab and field based research. Different pros and cons to each, but both "guaranteed" publications. Again my ideal would be 3 weeks to a month of research and then come back and do other things that interest me. Also if it matters, my last job was at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. Would this help me with an in for research?
Thank you all in advance for the suggestions and like I said I'll update with the specific organizations they suggested when I get around to it.
