What kind of research should I do?

[habeshama]

Hi, I was thinking of doing research in psychology because I have a lot of intrest in it. What do you think? Do Dental schools prefer research in the sciences such as Chemistry and Biology?

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[CMistry]

I did research in psychology, granted it was health-related, but my interviewers were very interested in it. I'm sure it did not hold me back.

-Cyrus

 

[TheWiredNerv]

I do research on the mustard plant Arabidopsis. Not health related but all my interviewers seemed very interested in it maybe because they had no knowledge about it. It gives you another advantage because you can show them how well you understand what you are doing by teaching them something about your research.

 

[eight sat up]

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[crazy4clana]

Yep, do any type of research that interests you. Relevant research, IMO is more encouraged for medical schools. Even then I knew a pre-med who did research for sociology...just studying human behavior.

 

[teethgirl]

Do research in whatever you are interested in!

As a biology major, I had the freedom to pick between a myraid of research opportunities at the large university I attend. After knowing I would hate running PCR gels all day long, I decided to do my research in biomechanics because that is interesting to me - I am athletic and have run 2 marathons. While that seemingly has nothing to do with dentistry at first, it was a great experience for me!

Instead of being in a lab coat, I was interacting with people and learning to be responsive to their needs during our gait analysis experiments!

UAB Dental Class of 2012!

 

[rollypolly]

Do research in whatever you are interested in!

As a biology major, I had the freedom to pick between a myraid of research opportunities at the large university I attend. After knowing I would hate running PCR gels all day long, I decided to do my research in biomechanics because that is interesting to me - I am athletic and have run 2 marathons. While that seemingly has nothing to do with dentistry at first, it was a great experience for me!

Instead of being in a lab coat, I was interacting with people and learning to be responsive to their needs during our gait analysis experiments!

UAB Dental Class of 2012!

Hey we have something in common! Teethgirl, your research experience sounds like so much fun! I'm writing my thesis right now on exercise physiology with an emphasis on marathon training and racing. I'm actually working on a section on gait and pronation right now!



OP, I agree with the others, do research in whatever you are interested in. It will make it a lot easier to talk about during your interviews if it is something you are passionate about. I did clinical research for 2.5 years in a physician's office and hospital and I loved it because I had a lot of patient interaction. I don't think I would have been nearly as excited about it if it was something that I forced myself to do just to say that I did research. Have fun doing psychological research!

 

[Californian]

Stupid Question: Where or how do you do research? and is research important?(impact on application?) Usually How many hours of research do you need? Do I need an approval for research hours for application?

 

[DGDDS]

Most colleges have undergraduate research offices where you can find out about research related jobs at your school. You can also look at and contact labs at your school (or neighboring ones) that have projects you're interested in. Email or call the PIs and see if they have positions available. You may have to start out as a lab tech and work your way up and the more experience you have, the better. All it takes is a little persistence in going after what you want.

Besides research at universities, you can do research at gov't institutions (NIH, DOE, etc) or in the private sector (those these are usually harder to come by and have many more restrictions on what you can do).

 

[Californian]

so you research any subject and learn the material? that's all?

 

[DGDDS]

For scientific research you'll need to find a lab to work in. Usually it involves learning the background material, performing experiments at the bench or in the field and analyzing those results (possibly for publication or for use in collaboration with other people in your lab). It's not just a report you research in the library and write up, it involves hands on activity.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

Research is what scientists do to answer questions they have about the universe. It is often condensed down into text books like campbell.

 

[Californian]

when r u guys planning to do research? during summer?

 

[jamminjimmy21]

I am currently involved in research on rodent submandibular salivary glands.

 

[skinetic]

The best research is the one that gets you published (1st author preferred). Find PI's who can make this happen with the least amount of effort

 

[nwdmd]

I don't feel that you need to be first the first author of a paper to have a rewarding research experience.

If you're going to a large research university, why not take the time to dabble around and find something you're interested in?

Keep in mind that research groups spend time/money to train you, so it's rude to join and then quit before giving back some of your time. It happens a lot.

 

[laundry]

I think it should most definitelly be either biology or chemistry (or any other math or science). My main research project (4 years) was on elucidating the population genetic structure of a mouse using mtDNA - not very helpful in biomedical research. However, I still got exposure to some of the universal molecular techniques (PCR, sequencing, RFLP, so on), as well as grant writing, attending and presenting the findings of my research at major conferences in both paper and poster format, publishing, etc. So, your project is not as important as the exposure you get as a young scientist.
Having said that, I've also done 2 biomedical research summer internships (one in pediatric rheumatology and another with dental biofilms). You will be surprised at how many schools offer summer research programs. Here's a link I found that lists every single internship in the United States (stop salivating and you're welcome):

http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/

Also, approach one of your professors and see if they are doing any research (most do, considering it's a tenure requirement). Even if you don't get paid, so what. I worked basically as a full-time RA for a whole year for free. It'll pay off at the end, I promise.


Good luck,

 

[skinetic]

One thing, if you find several PI's to choose from, make sure you talk to the graduate students and find out how the PI is... is he/she stingy with publications, is he/she easy to deal with, etc...

Also, if you have to climb some kind of hierarchy, better to stick with small groups.

This all depends on whether or not you are in this ONLY to make your application better, or you are really doing this for the experience. If you are doing this for the app, getting a publication is more important. Research experiences are a dime a dozen (on paper). Publications... not as common, especially 1st author.