Types of "Research" that help...

[StanMarsh1978]

Hello everyone--

I was following the "Stanford" thread below and noted the emphasis from many advisors on doing "research" in order to maximize one's appeal to that particular school. I have a few quick follow-up questions on what constitutes useful "research". If anyone has insight on the following, I'd be grateful:

1) I'm an attorney, and I'm working now on some journal articles on legal topics that are not related to health care or medicine. Will the research and writing that goes into getting such articles published be of interest to admissions committees at all?

2) Alternatively, would legal journal articles on health related topics (health care policy, health care law, health care legislation, health care litigation, international aid, environmental law, etc.) be of interest to admissions committees at all?

3) Outside of law and my current knowledge, what is the effective path to establishing some research credentials? What is the range of topics in which reputable medical journals might show interest? Are we talking necessarily about Masters or PhD level research in biochemistry or physics, or is there a wider world in which to wander?

4) Which are the best websites or other avenues through which to review some sample research? This will give me a better sense of what we're dealing with here.

5) Also, with regards to Stanford, in following up this thread I noted that the school itself indicates a strong preference for speakers of foreign languages. Does that really mean, then, that foreign languges are not really a "plus" but rather a "sine qua non"? Just curious.

Thanks again, everyone.

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[Mobius1985]

1) "Research" for the purposes of a med school application refers to a scholarly endeavor to add to human knowledge. It does not refer to a reiteration of previously known facts.

2) The AMCAS application has an area called "Publications" where you can list anything you've written and gotten published, whether poetry, bench research, or a legal article. Anything health related probably gets more interest.

3) Research need not be in the area of science. If done, it need not be published, though you get more "points" for doing so. Only 60% of applicants list a research experience. It is not required, but is desirable. The highest-selectivity, research-intense institutions tend to be more inclined to consider an application if it is present. Most of the research done by med school applicants is done at the undergraduate level. It's my personal bias that bench or clinical research is best, but realistically, that's probably not true.

4) You can go to the website of your university and probably find abstracts of research published by its professors somewhere. If you find topics that appeal to you, those are the professors to approach for a possible spot in their lab or on their project. You can do research as a volunteer or for classroom credit. Some are lucky enough to get paid to do it.

5) I can't help you with this one.


One of SDN's adcomm members,LizzyM, provided us with this ranking of how adcomms value various activities among research experiences:

I'd rank research experience in this way:


11. Housekeeping and supply ordering.

10. Helping others with projects, serving as a research assistant or technician.

9. Animal surgery.

8. Pilot work prior to writing a proposal for a testable hypothesis.

7. Responsibility for testing a hypothesis.

6. Funding of your project (not your PI's funding)

5. Poster presentation at a student event

4. Podium presentation at a student event

3. Poster presentation at a regional or national meeting in your specialty (published abstract)

2. Podium presentation at a regional or national meeting in your specialty (published abstract)

1. Authorship in a peer reviewed, national publication.

 

[Bacchus]

Thread closed due to crossposting. Please see Pre-allo for most current thread. Here is a direct link to that thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7917985