Hi all,
I've been actively looking for research as I apply during my gap year because it is the one big thing that is missing on my app. I have had no luck with dental research. I did, however, get an interview at a lab in the department of pharmacology at the med school here.
Would that still be beneficial? Does the kind of research you do not matter?
Hi, I did Pharmacology research during the summers of my Sophomore and Junior year. I was able to get two publications and presented a poster at the Experimental Biology conference in San Diego last April 2014.
Overall, I think that if you are trying to get into a Ph.D. program, you will have a shoe in with doing Pharmacological research. I didn't really know if I wanted to do dentistry or research or medicine when I was in undergrad, so that's why I have pharmacological research on my resume. I didn't want to have my summers empty so I thought Pharmacological research was something cool to get experience and loved the lab so much I came back the following summer. The field interested me and it gave me a chance to showcase my drive to take on a project and follow it all the way through. Pharmacological research can also be demanding dexterity wise and I think that was also a nice added bonus.
Because I applied late (September 5 due to taking DAT on Aug 12) and some maybe questionable aspects of my application (low volunteer hours, 3.40 oGPA, 21 AA but 19 TS due to 17 in Gchem), I only got 2 interviews: LECOM and NYU, and I am currently waitlisted at both. When I interviewed at NYU, they asked me about my research and seemed genuinely interested as NYU is also a research heavy dental school. It will certainly help, but I think that volunteering at a dental clinic over the summer or shadowing will do you better. I still highly recommend research anyway because it is really exciting and helps set you apart from other applicants but it would be best to prioritize volunteering, shadowing, leadership opportunities. Can I ask what kind of pharmacological research you would be doing if you go through with it? I wish you the best of luck!
EDIT: Just read that you are planning on doing it your gap year. It's crazy because I'm currently in my gap year and I have continued doing Pharmacological research because of my experience at the lab. They basically hired me as a one year position, and I think if you have nothing else you can possibly do to bolster your application, continuing to be involved in medicine, even if its indirectly like research, will always look good. At least you're doing something as opposed to sitting around and waiting for interviews. I think it shows you have a breadth of scholarly interests, at least that's how I rationalize my one year position (I also need the money to pay student loans). Just my $0.02.
