What is research experience?

[Flamingo123]

What does research experience actually entail? Does a research assistant doing data entry and taking down patient info count?
I am currently a research assistant for a doctor doing a new drug trial. Does that count as research or does it need to be a poster presentation or research in a lab?
It is actually very fascinating for me to work on this drug trial and I enjoy it.
Also how many hours do I need?

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[LizzyM]

Is your name on the FDA Form 1572? If so, that is pretty clear evidence that you are engaged in research. However, your engagement is relatively low level as you, I'm assuming, have no role in study design or data analysis. What you are doing is the clinical trial equivalent of pipetting all day long.

If you want to know how many hours you need, you are treating this as a check box. How many hours do you want?

 

[Catalystik]

What does research experience actually entail? Does a research assistant doing data entry and taking down patient info count?
I am currently a research assistant for a doctor doing a new drug trial. Does that count as research or does it need to be a poster presentation or research in a lab?
It is actually very fascinating for me to work on this drug trial and I enjoy it.
Also how many hours do I need?

Yes, it can count, but you need to have an understanding of the project beyond your piece of it to get the most possible out of the experience. Do you know the hypothesis, study design, methods, etc. Have you read the original IRB proposal and the grant application; those would be a good start. You might further read some of the background papers cited. Maybe you'll never have creative control over the process, but being able to answer picky interview questions from a global view is a good substitute if you aren't aiming for research-oriented med schools.

While research productivity in the form of posters, presentations, and publications is nice to see (and hard to acquire when a project will continue for years after you're gone), what's most important is what you get from the research experience, itself. Bonus points if you're interacting with patients personally.

The average applicant lists about a year of research, but for most med schools, it isn't explicitly required. One term or one summer of involvement can be enough for you to get what you need to from the activity.

JMO.

 

[Throwaway5129]

Is your name on the FDA Form 1572? If so, that is pretty clear evidence that you are engaged in research. However, your engagement is relatively low level as you, I'm assuming, have no role in study design or data analysis. What you are doing is the clinical trial equivalent of pipetting all day long.

If you want to know how many hours you need, you are treating this as a check box. How many hours do you want?

If OP is also interviewing patients him/herself, does that change anything? Or would you say its still the same as pipetting all day long?

 

[LizzyM]

Collecting data without having any role in deciding what data will be collected or what will be done with the data to test a hypothesis is still low level. It doesn't matter if the data is being collected from human subjects, or animals or plates or wells.

 

[Throwaway5129]

Collecting data without having any role in deciding what data will be collected or what will be done with the data to test a hypothesis is still low level. It doesn't matter if the data is being collected from human subjects, or animals or plates or wells.

Thank you. If this is all a research experience consists of, is it worth it to participate? It wouldn't be my only research experience, and the others I have were substantially more involved, but just not clinical.

 

[LizzyM]

You don't need clinical research experience. If you feel you are learning new skills, participate. The deeper you can go, the better. Ultimately, your goal in any research should be to test hypotheses and to report your results publically (posters, presentations, papers).

 

[Goro]

What does research experience actually entail? Does a research assistant doing data entry and taking down patient info count?
I am currently a research assistant for a doctor doing a new drug trial. Does that count as research or does it need to be a poster presentation or research in a lab?
It is actually very fascinating for me to work on this drug trial and I enjoy it.
Also how many hours do I need?

Being a mere secretary or a tech blindly following directions is not worth much unless you understand what is being done, and why. The key thing is that you gain an understanding of the scientific method.

Here's what two of my favorite SDNers have to say about the necessity of research:
The wise DrMidlife on research: “you've preferably had some exposure to research so you can be convinced that Wakefield used malicious dirtbag methods and is not the savior of the world's children.”

The wise Crayola227 on research: So tired about the whining over the foundation of knowledge that is expected in a physician. We're applied scientists ffs. Own that. If you can't own it and take pride in it, gtfo.