Thoughts on getting involved with this?

[Lex03]

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Hey guys, so I went on an interview to get involved in research, and they offered me a paid position as a research assistant in the "Screening" team. So basically my job would be to be at the hospital speaking with patients, families and the medical team to see if they qualify to be in the trial and obtain consent and what not. Do you think this would be a good thing for me to do? The study is a multi-center collaborative study that includes Harvard Medical School among others.
Thanks for any insight... L

 

[punkedoutriffs]

Why not? It'll give you an intro into clinical trials. I'd take it unless you had a better/more involved prospect.

 

[NickNaylor]

Sounds like a pretty good experience to me - it might open the door to other stuff. But don't do it if it sounds like a beating.

 

[Lex03]

I just wasn't sure if it would qualify as "research" per se, you know?

 

[NickNaylor]

I just wasn't sure if it would qualify as "research" per se, you know?

"Research" is not limited to basic science research. Besides, I would consider this a much better starting point than washing dishes or mixing reagents as you likely would in a basic science lab.

 

[Lex03]

Yea? Okay good. I like clinical research more anyway. I'm also going to be working at a different clinic with pregnant women with drug addiction. It likely won't lead to any publishing (I don't really think either of these projects will), but that still counts, right?

 

[NickNaylor]

Yea? Okay good. I like clinical research more anyway. I'm also going to be working at a different clinic with pregnant women with drug addiction. It likely won't lead to any publishing (I don't really think either of these projects will), but that still counts, right?

By no means are you expected to be published. That's the gold-standard, but most applicants don't publish.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Do it! This is a very good way of killing two birds with one stone, both research and clinical experience. As LizzyM says, "If you can smell the patient, then it's clinical experience."

 

[Tots]

Yea? Okay good. I like clinical research more anyway. I'm also going to be working at a different clinic with pregnant women with drug addiction. It likely won't lead to any publishing (I don't really think either of these projects will), but that still counts, right?

I did three years of research in the same lab, was never published and interviewers were still interested in my experiences. I think if you can talk intelligently about why the experience was valuable to you(what you learned, etc) then you will be more than fine.

 

[Lex03]

I did three years of research in the same lab, was never published and interviewers were still interested in my experiences. I think if you can talk intelligently about why the experience was valuable to you(what you learned, etc) then you will be more than fine.

That's amazing and reassuring to hear. Thank you very much!