"tell me about your research" response?

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bbentertainment

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Question regarding this upcoming residency interview process.
Research is a pretty significant part of my application with a number of publications over the last several years. Some projects are related, others are not at all.

I anticipate this question coming up a lot if applicants list any research activities.
My question is: How are people tackling this question? And what specifically would an interviewer be looking for when they ask this question?
Do I keep it nice and short and just say I worked in XYZ lab, and we sought to look for the role of X and its effect on Y? I.e. just giving the bare bones of of what the research topic was and let them ask any followup questions more specific to the project.

Or are interviewers looking for you to talk about your hypotheses, what specific results you found, where you published etc? For me, this would feel correct bc it would truly give them an idea of what my research entailed, but at the same time, talking about your research could go on forever (especially if yo have multiple projects ongoing) and I wouldn't want to bore them.

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"I Worked at This Lab, with a Focus on This, using These Methods and with These Publications. My ongoing work/future goals are Thus"

Alternatively, say "no" and lean back comfortably in your chair without breaking eye contact to establish dominance. Interviewers love that.
 
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"I Worked at This Lab, with a Focus on This, using These Methods and with These Publications. My ongoing work/future goals are Thus"

Alternatively, say "no" and lean back comfortably in your chair without breaking eye contact to establish dominance. Interviewers love that.
Maybe also add the impact of your study, if known.
 
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Do I keep it nice and short and just say I worked in XYZ lab, and we sought to look for the role of X and its effect on Y? I.e. just giving the bare bones of of what the research topic was and let them ask any followup questions more specific to the project.

Just do this. Most people don't want to hear at length about it, they just want to hear what it's about briefly and also make sure you know what it's about and can speak concisely about it. On a rare occasion it may overlap with someone else's research interests and they can ask more in depth questions if they want.
 
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Be concise, describe the research in general terms that any MD can understand and clearly outline your role in the project. If an interviewer is interested they can and will ask more in depth questions, giving you a chance to elaborate.
 
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Be concise, describe the research in general terms that any MD can understand and clearly outline your role in the project. If an interviewer is interested they can and will ask more in depth questions, giving you a chance to elaborate.

Thanks all for the responses. Very helpful.

F/u question about your "clearly outline your role in the project." I was debating whether or not this is something I should include or if I should solely keep my response to what the research was about. I'd been working on a research project for quite some time now and essentially did the majority of all the work from lit review, data acquisition, analysis, and writing most of the paper. I was as a result listed as first author on the paper, but I was wondering based on your response if this is something I should also mention, or if it is enough when they already see that my publication has me listed as first author already and thus may be unnecessary?
 
Thanks all for the responses. Very helpful.

F/u question about your "clearly outline your role in the project." I was debating whether or not this is something I should include or if I should solely keep my response to what the research was about. I'd been working on a research project for quite some time now and essentially did the majority of all the work from lit review, data acquisition, analysis, and writing most of the paper. I was as a result listed as first author on the paper, but I was wondering based on your response if this is something I should also mention, or if it is enough when they already see that my publication has me listed as first author already and thus may be unnecessary?

I think if you're first author it speaks for itself, otherwise would discuss your role, whether it was manuscript writing, data collection, grant and proposal writing, etc, because those are all skills that are good to demonstrate
 
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