Summer research before med school

[JPSmyth]

I want to get involved in research during the summer before medical school. Since I am no longer an undergrad, but not yet a med student, what would be the best way to go about finding summer research opportunities? The professor that I did undergrad research with definitely does not have the funds to offer any kind of stipend for me. Are there any specific types of programs for people in my situation that you guys have seen before?

Thanks!

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[coffeeandcodeine]

In my experience, there are no summer research funds that exist for post-grads, only undergraduates. After graduation, you need to either apply for a fellowship or a job as a lab tech, both of which almost always require a longer time commitment. Some labs may give you a stipend over the course of a summer if you agree to teach/mentor younger students for the duration of that time, but this is relatively rare. If you can afford it, the best option is to volunteer your time at a lab while working part-time elsewhere.

 

[JustAPhD]

Agreed. I'm not sure of any programs that are post-bac that are just for a summer, things like the IRTA require at least a year commitment. You might have to be a volunteer unless you get really lucky with a generous PI. By the time you get going in the lab you're going to be leaving to go to med school. It's just not a very attractive option from a PI's prospective.

 

[Havoc390]

I'm also interested in doing clinical research before med school starts. Is it realistic to only commit ~10 hours/week or will it not be worth the PI's time?

 

[james11]

can I ask why you guys want to do this? to beef up residency apps? I'm planning on just relaxing, maybe travel a bit, maybe work on some life skills like cooking

 

[aldol16]

There is no field (except perhaps a statistical/data processing one) in which you can learn all the lab techniques and obtain meaningful results within a short 3 months. When you were an undergrad, the research experiences in the summer for undergraduates were mainly geared towards exposing you to research and now that you've had your four years in, there are no programs to my knowledge that exist to give post-baccs more exposure to research without requiring a large time commitment (>= 1 year).