Undergrad research on applications

[EMS5]

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Just a quick question that I was wondering about after reading a couple of other threads tonight...

I am a biology major, and my school offers the option to complete the degree as both a thesis and non-thesis student.

Supposing I go the thesis route, will the research I complete for my undergraduate requirement (~6+ credit hours over 2 semesters) be sufficient for the purposes of getting into medical school? I am not going the MD/PhD route and am not planning on spending too much time on research if/when I go into practice. If this is sufficient, do adcoms look for first/second name on publications or just some active involvement in a research project?

As a side note, anyone have any "non-traditional" research ideas/experiences/advice to share? I'm interested in doing something besides the classic bio/chem/medical lab research sort of thing.

Muchas gracias in advance

 

[Averroes]

will the research I complete for my undergraduate requirement (~6+ credit hours over 2 semesters) be sufficient for the purposes of getting into medical school?

Any research is good and unnecessary. It will only add to your application.

As a side note, anyone have any "non-traditional" research ideas/experiences/advice to share? I'm interested in doing something besides the classic bio/chem/medical lab research sort of thing.

I have a deep interest in sociology and public health. I hope I will be doing research on these subjects in developing countries once I get to college.

Research in any subject is good. Even research in English is good (yes, it is possible.)

 

[LuciusVorenus]

I imagine doing a thesis for your major should count as research. I think they just want to know you've learned the ins and outs of research, and if this is done as progress towards your degree then why shouldn't it count? People who do research in grad school have it count, I don't see why it'd be any different for someone doing the same thing for an undergrad degree. But I guess LizzyM is the only person who knows for sure.

Try doing something in public health. I did my research in public health and it ended up being very clinical. The nice thing about public health/clinical research is you don't need a strong science background in microbiology, chemistry, etc to try and publish something, just a good enough background in stats (know what a t-test is...that kind of stuff) and some basic info on your topic (spread of a specific disease in a specific population, etc). You might even get a good shot at publishing in a medical journal. Best of luck!

 

[EMS5]

I actually have a research proposal in with the campus anit-alcohol/tobacco/drug clinic, just waiting on final approval and hopefully be able to get started this fall. Thanks for the advice!

 

[NickNaylor]

I'm currently applying, but my honors thesis is in the political science area. I've done basic science research, but didn't want to do a thesis in the sciences.

I'll let you know how it turns out.