What kind of research have you done?

[future_dmd]

I planned to do research this summer. However, I was kind of too late to apply for it in school and ended up assisting a professor for gathering data and etc. Can I say I did research? Actually, I would like to do some research before I apply for postgraduate program to boost my resume.
I don't have any research experience before and I am wondering how you guys have done "real" research. I mean... did you do something for publication? Then, how did you start that kind of research? Did you initiate anything or help professors?
Could you tell me about your research?

Thanks!

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[Smilemaker100]

Dear future_dmd,

It seems like only yesterday that I was in your shoes...a "dental student wannabe" ! Let's just say that it was more than 5 years ago ( but I am not over 30 just yet) ! Like they say..." time flies when you are having fun"

I remember "hunting down" /"harassing" professors in labs in different departments in the early springtime when I was an undergraduate student looking for a summer job because, in my house , summers were not the time for "vacation" but opportunities as students to work. I never traveled during those summers.

I had to be really persistent till I finally managed to convince a professor to take me on as a lab technician. I knew it wasn't the greatest job but at least it was experience I could build on (as you will see below). Everything counts, nothing you learn is ever a waste of time! . You have to accept that as a freshman, you aren't going to get the greatest positions in the world! Like the saying goes, " you have to learn how to crawl before you can walk, and learn to walk before you can run!"
I held various jobs before entering university ( earliest job at age 13- babysitting , daycamp counsellor, delivering newspapers for a few years, waitress, math tutor) My jobs as a university student:

Job #1 Research assistant/lab tech in a physiology lab: assisted a PhD student to prepare carbon filament electrodes to study catecholamines as well as preparing Petri dishes with some bovine culture, photocopying relevant scientific articles for the professor and organizing the professor's articles into a database

Job #2 Research assistant/lab tech in a pharmacology lab: assisted a post doc student to prepare SDS gels, Western blots, isolation of plamids, using PCR (these techniques were really in my realm as I was a microbiology student)- the subject of study was on DNA methylation and its relationship with oncogenes.

Job #3 [I]Research assistant in a hospital dental clinic in conjunction with the ENT department [/I] (for which I wasn't paid for so I had to work as a salesperson in the retail industry at the same time) I worked on a pilot study in the dentistry department at a hospital which involved oropharyngeal cancer patients that had undergone radiotherapy. We were studying various methods of measuring saliva flow , and eventually the effects of a pilocarpine spray vs tablet form were going to be studied ( I wasn't involved with that phase of the study). I don't think the study really went that far . However, an abstract on salivary flow measurements was presented at the IADR the following year.

Job# 4Graduate student (My master's degree which I did at a dentistry faculty): (I got a stipend as a graduate student but I also worked in a bookstore as a cashier at the same time for a period of 6 months to earn extra $$$). Electrophysiological studies of trigeminal representation in the somatosensory cortex as well as histological studies of thalamocortical projections involving the trigeminal nerve and upper cervical segments. The object of the study was more neurological (implicated neuroplastic changes of the brain) than dental (but then again so many sciences are implicated in dentistry)...the discussion of this is beyond the scope of this forum. In any case, I finished the thesis over the summers while I was a dental student.

Job #5 Research assistant in the department of anesthesiology I was working with a professor who was a psychologist and was very involved with pain research. I basically learned how to do all these psychometric tests on healthy rats that were used to measure pain threshold...using hot plates (paw flick test), using different sized Von Frey hairs. Once I learned how to do the tests, I learned how to anesthesize the rats and perform minor surgery on the sciatic nerve . I performed CCIs (chronic constriction injuries) in which I would put a few ligatures around the nerve ( a VERY delicate procedure) to mimic a neuropathic pain model and then performed the previously mentioned psychometric tests. I was involved with the pilot phase of the study. The ultimate aim was to do a double blind study of a drug to see its effects on chronic/neuropathic pain.

Research aside,as a university student, I had also worked on a part time basis as a dental assistant for a period of about 8 months for a dentist and occasionally with an oral surgeon (who mostly removed wisdom teeth when I assisted).

In retrospect, now that I am a dentist, I never thought I would have been so involved with research! At some point in my undergrad , I was accepted in the microbiology & immunology honour's program but dropped out because I found the repetitious nature of molecular biological techniques boring and frustrating too. I sort of regret that because I had the opportunity to work with someone of notoriety in the world of AIDS research (mostly reknown for the triple drug therapy). I was initially motivated to get involved with viral vaccine research, drug therapy, cancer research...it would have been interesting. But then again, I always preferred clinical stuff to "hard core lab work". I love reading about current research topics in microbiology, immunology, neurology and other scientific research, however doing research and reading it isn't the same deal. But I wouldn't mind getting involved with clinical research with patients at some point in the future.

Don't fret, future_dmd ! Here are a few words of advice:

1) Very important: Start your job hunting early (as early as January for the summer period) .You will not be the only student with the same idea!

2) Be ready to accept that you won't always get the ideal lab job you want at the beginning of your studies.

3) Be ready to do some research assisting without getting paid and take on another type of job at the same time in which you are paid which may not be related to your area of study ( I didn't always do this- only for two summers )

4) If you want to get into dental school, try to find out if anyone in the dental faculty is involved in any research and if so, if they are ready to take on assistants. (highly recommended!)

5)BE PERSISTENT!

Good luck ! And may you get your heart's desire! Persistence pays off more than you can believe!

 

[Zurik5]

^^^

Good advice. I worked in a sunflower lab (boo) for a few years. Let's just say it isn't for everyone. I suggest asking around the biology department, and looking in the school listing for jobs. Start out at the bottom and work your way up if research is your thing, best of luck.

 

[ItsGavinC]

The last few lines of Zurik's post are key: "...IF research is your thing."

I did LOTS of research and hated nearly every minute of it. Well, actually that isn't quite true. I liked the outcomes, but the process of getting there was SO tedious and SO boring and SO routine that I lost sight of the big picture. For me, I found, that research just wan't the thing.

Don't do it just to do it, or at the very least find something you are interested in. I was interested in the project, worked on it for 3 years, and still had trouble staying focused.

Don't do it to pad your application, it isn't THAT big of a deal and won't help you THAT much.

 

[future_dmd]

Dear smilemaker100,

it was really amazing story!
Actually, I am already a dental student.

I want to do some research next summer but have no idea where to start since I have no research experience.

Anyway, thank you very much for sharing your experience!

 

[jpollei]

For the record, there are certain DDS residency programs that do require research in some way, shape, or form. The're just that competetive. Especially if they have a reputation for being research-related institutions. So depending on what you're shooting for, you may "have to" get involved.

That said, research isn't just sitting in a lab pipetting onto a petri dish or running a PCR machine or whatever. There are some pretty sweet research interests out there. Everything from computer imaging and program development aimed to improve treatment, to curriculum-related projects, to community/patient initiatives and trials. Heck, some people will go so far as to simply send out a survey, tabulate the results and call it "research". (Though I think that might be streeeeeeeetching it a bit.)

I know people who have published and who will publish, and one common thread is that they take advantage of every opportunity presented. In one case, I know a couple of guys who were asked to help with a project that could've seemed less than "ideal", but have enjoyed it. And others who have gotten with the "perfect" faculty member just to end up wishing they'd never started. If you really enjoy what you do (READ: DON'T DO IT JUST TO PAD A RESUME!!), it will speak volumes because when asked about it everyone will know you enjoyed what you did. Who knows, you may even get paid!

I never liked the idea of doing research personally (the necessary evil viewpoint) until I had a faculty member ask if I would be interested in helping him revise/develop part of the predoc ortho curriculum. But it's been a lot of fun even though I'm not stimulating lab rats brains with electrodes.

 

[Smilemaker100]

The last few lines of Zurik's post are key: "...IF research is your thing."

I did LOTS of research and hated nearly every minute of it. Well, actually that isn't quite true. I liked the outcomes, but the process of getting there was SO tedious and SO boring and SO routine that I lost sight of the big picture. For me, I found, that research just wan't the thing.

Don't do it just to do it, or at the very least find something you are interested in. I was interested in the project, worked on it for 3 years, and still had trouble staying focused.

Don't do it to pad your application, it isn't THAT big of a deal and won't help you THAT much.

Come on, let's be honest! When you apply for a graduate program (or specialty) of any sort it is definitely an asset to have the research experience . Actually, it is even necessary and demanded for those that want to do honor projects or become researchers...which were my intentions those days. When I applied for my master's degree, I had to give reference letters from professors who I had worked for as well as any abstracts/articles I had published during my undergrad years.

I didn't dislike what I was doing. Compared to the other student jobs I had , research was definitely more satisfying . I have found that all the research I did contributed very much to the range of knowledge I have today . Nothing I learned was ever a waste. I didn't mind the research but at some point, I couldn't foresee myself being 100% devoted to it. But on the other hand, I wouldn't mind returning to research on a part time basis in some future time in addition to being a dentist.

And lastly, isn't it more satisfying to work in a lab or research project as a university student as oppose to being a daycamp counsellor dealing with a dozen or more screaming hyperactive children that wear you out physically and mentally each day or telemarketing ( there is a lot of THAT in Montreal where I come from...that industry is a nightmare and so abusive of poor students- heard enough stories to know ) or flipping burgers all summer or sitting in the sun working as a lifeguard for 12 hour shifts ( like my youngest brother has for many summers-lifeguarding is really not as easy as it sounds!)? If I were to do it all over again...I would do exactly the same thing: research projects every summer while I was a student.