What are the technical skills or statistical analysis skills we should know or be familiar with for medical school research?

[jjv123]

Hi All,
I was wondering what are some technical skills or statistical analysis skills we as medical students should know that will help us with medical school research?

For example, what particular statistical test or quantitative analysis programs did you often use during your research projects during medical school?

Hope this makes sense! Thank you for your time!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Goro]

Technical skills as in bench research skills??

 

[wellbutrin.girlfriend]

Hi All,
I was wondering what are some technical skills or statistical analysis skills we as medical students should know that will help us with medical school research?

For example, what particular statistical test or quantitative analysis programs did you often use during your research projects during medical school?

Hope this makes sense! Thank you for your time!

Are you an incoming first year? Research at DO schools can be a bit limited, so I would recommend that you look into the research that is going on at your specific school and read some of the papers published by those labs. They should detail all of the statistical analysis etc performed and give you an idea of what might be most common among the labs at your school. Additionally, it would be good to hone in on the type of research you would be interested in doing—necessary skills vary a lot between disciplines. My school has a fair amount of research opportunities and heavily emphasizes first year involvement. I’ve talked to several fellow first years who had no prior research experience and were still accepted to labs on campus ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[jjv123]

Are you an incoming first year? Research at DO schools can be a bit limited, so I would recommend that you look into the research that is going on at your specific school and read some of the papers published by those labs. They should detail all of the statistical analysis etc performed and give you an idea of what might be most common among the labs at your school. Additionally, it would be good to hone in on the type of research you would be interested in doing—necessary skills vary a lot between disciplines. My school has a fair amount of research opportunities and heavily emphasizes first year involvement. I’ve talked to several fellow first years who had no prior research experience and were still accepted to labs on campus ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am an incoming first-year (with very limited research experience)!

Thank you so much for this great and detailed reply! I would have never thought of looking at past research that students had produced and using them as a guide as to what skills I should know! Thank you for your encouragement and for the great advice. I will definitely follow the above advice. Unfortunately, my school does not have that much research on campus, therefore, hoping to contribute to research projects at hospitals nearby (thus was looking to build some research skills prior to starting).

Much appreciation for your help and guidance!

 

[jjv123]

Technical skills as in bench research skills??

I apologize, I actually meant quantitative analysis skills or statistical skills that might benefit me if I wanted to contribute to research projects that I can perform without having to be physically present in a lab. My school is very limited with the research they perform on campus, and I was hoping to contribute/produce research projects outside of campus by collecting existing data and analyzing them while still being at school.

 

[Redpancreas]

I apologize, I actually meant quantitative analysis skills or statistical skills that might benefit me if I wanted to contribute to research projects that I can perform without having to be physically present in a lab. My school is very limited with the research they perform on campus, and I was hoping to contribute/produce research projects outside of campus by collecting existing data and analyzing them while still being at school.

You will just have to learn these skills when opportunities are presented to you. I wouldn't worry about cracking open any textbooks now without a concrete question/objective.

 

[Osminog]

Pre-studying statistical techniques and software for future research projects that may or may not happen is a massive waste of time. It’s an even bigger waste of time than pre-studying for med school coursework. Enjoy your last few months of freedom.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

R Python

Even if you don’t use for research, they will come in handy.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

In general a basic stats course is helpful. Understanding the general concepts of variance and some of the basic tests for statistics helps. But without a specific project, it's difficult to focus on anything more.

What usually will be an issue is the software you will use to do the analysis. That will be lab specific.