<p>I know there is not a universal answer but what is the number of hours have some of you current or past medical students have logged doing research, volunteering or shadowing physicians prior to entering medical school? I think my son is off to a good start with about 360 hours this summer at a research facility but I was curious as to what some of you have completed.</p>
<p>when it comes to research, it’s not hours, it’s involvement. A student with 1000 hours cleaning flasks and making gels is not better than a student with a few hundred and his own project.</p>
<p>That being said, for perspective. As an MD/PhD student with a “low/average” amount of research, I had roughly 1320 hours (whoa didn’t realize it would be that high) at the time I applied (20 weeks of 40 hours/week over two summers plus 30 weeks of an academic year at 20 hours/week). I actually had 0 shadowing/volunteering hours when i submitted AMCAS because I only did that stuff during the year I was applying (in which I was working 50 hour weeks in the lab for the whole calendar year). </p>
<p>As an MD applicant I would imagine I would be considered as having a “heavy” amount of research on my resume.</p>
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Thank god that would be considered “heavy”. I can’t imagine how my son could accumulate that amount working during the school year (10 hours a week). :o</p>
<p>D2 will also be research-heavy when she applies next summer.</p>
<p>D2 just graduated with 1650+ hours of research. (40 hr/wk for 10 weeks for 2 summers plus 10-15 hr/week for 6 semesters during the school year). Some of those hours (~1200) will also count as direct patient contact hours since her research included running subjects thru neuro-psych exams and MRI exams.</p>
<p>Now add in another ~2000 hours (40 hours/week for 50 weeks) by the time she applies next summer. (These will also count towards patient contact since she will screening, testing and running MRI exams on patients.) </p>
<p>She also has probably around another 60 hours of hospital volunteering in neuro rehab and around 200 hours doing other medically-related volunteering (like therapeutic mentoring for adolescents with psychiatric disorders, grief counseling with at-risk youth and hospice service in Kenya).</p>
<p>She’s done some shadowing–probably less than 15 hours so far.</p>
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<p>D2 ran her own research project for her last 5 semesters plus one summer of undergrad. So continuous long-term, in-depth involvement.</p>
<p>Bump. Hoping for more feedback.</p>
<p>My senior year I was doing a thesis so that research counted as 1 class each semester. That made it much easier to spend 20 hours/week in the lab during the school year. Your son should see if his school allows research to count as course credit and if there’s a limit for it (for example, I’m pretty sure at Brown you could only get 2 semesters of credit for research). It both makes it easier to do the research and it’s pretty much a guaranteed A for your BCPM GPA</p>
<p>^^Same is true at D2’s school. Student who did volunteer research were allowed to earn credit. (Max allowed was 2 semesters or no more than 4 credits total.) Students receiving work-study funds or funding from their PI were not allowed to earn credits.</p>
<p>D2 got credit for UG research (2 semesters @ 2 credits) and was also allowed additional credits (1 semester @ 4 credits) for her senior thesis project. </p>
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<p>D1 did research as an undergrad for a total of 3 or 4 semesters plus 1 summer full time. Really don’t remember how many hours it was total. She was paid, so no credits were earned. (Plus it was in high energy physics.)</p>
<p>But her experience in physics/computer programming/materials science has helped her to get a research slot her [med school mandatory] thesis project. She’ll either being doing tissue engineering/prosthesis interfaces with MechE group, or studying pumonary function and gene expression in people living at high altitudes with a Biophysics group. (The latter group is interested in her because she developed a advanced fluid dynamic model for pulmonary blood flow in her graduate biophysics class. She got bonus points for being a competitive climber since everyone in the group also climbs.)</p>
<p>When you say research I assume you mean something different than the research course required for his major. He has to take two credits in research (one must be senior year) for his MCDB major.</p>
<p>Research projects under faculty supervision, ordinarily taken to fulfill the senior requirement. This course may be taken before the senior year, but it cannot substitute for other requirements. Students are expected to spend approximately ten hours per week in the laboratory, and to make presentations to students and advisers at monthly section meetings. Written assignments include a short research proposal summary at the beginning of the term, approved by the faculty sponsor and the instructor in charge of the course. A final research report is required at the end of the term. Seniors taking this course to fulfill the senior requirement must give an oral presentation of their research at the end of the term.</p>
<p>D2’s major requires a senior [research] seminar with lab. </p>
<p>Her senior thesis and undergrad research were in addition to the senior seminar–and was wholly optional, as was her undergrad research project. (Actual her thesis was the culmination of 3 years of independent work.)</p>
<p>I was able to complete my research during a summer internship for 12 weeks at a medical school prior to my senior year. The greatest aspect of the entire experience was being able to be a contributing member of the team. Prior to the internship, I was sent data on the background of what was being researched, did quite a bit of reading–and then during the first three weeks–the PI helped me understand just what my role would be in the lab. While I played a minor role on the team–the great part was being in on weekly meetings and working directly with the PI in the entire process. I was entrusted with plenty of things to do that were important. I worked in cancer research. To answer your question directly about hours–I worked from 8-5 five days a week. While 480 hours probably is miniscule compared to the amount of hours worked by others on CC, I received excellent training and it was a great experience. I am just finishing my gap year and I am getting ready to begin MS1 next month. During my interviews last fall no one discussed anything about my research. I am looking forward to completing research next summer before MS2 at my med school.</p>
<p>So if 1300 would be considered heavy and 480 is miniscule would 800 or so be average?</p>
<p>I had around 800h after all was said and done. Sometimes I was “just” volunteering (?) in the lab, other times I was getting course credit, and other times I was being paid. My 800h was spread roughly equally between a basic science lab and a clinical research position. I’m glad I did it but have no desire to continue with bench research, I’m not in an MSTP program, and my school is not focused on research. </p>
<p>From talking to my classmates, I’d say most of them had research experience and most of them had around the same amount I did (at least on the same order of magnitude, or “hundreds of hours” as opposed to “thousands of hours”).</p>
<p>For reference, I attended my state flagship for undergrad and am now an M2 at my state med school (same university).</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. Any others care to chime in?</p>
<p>-Through the entire process I tried to focus on the research and not in the accumulation of hours. Research is an important aspect of a pre-med’s overall profile–but, I tried not to become obsessive with having a distinctive set amount of hours. Every person is different–and does his best with the amount of time he or she has to spend in research. I think what early research does is provide you with a starting point to shape the foundation of a life that will be filled with practicing and learning new ways to approach the constant re-learning that you will be doing for your entire career. I think that your son is off to a terrific start with his research-best of luck to him in his journey!–I’m sure he will discover the right balance that works best for him-</p>
<p>DS3 had slacked off in the 1st month of this summer. Now, his lab research in the home college gets pretty intense. He has been working 10 hrs this week including 7/4 and 7 hrs on Saturday. At this rate, he will probably have over 360 hours this summer. His biochem professor plans to include him as one of the co-authors for a paper. The effort since last summer pays off. During the sophomore year, he wouldn’t be able to do much since the course load is heavy. However, he should be able to continue the next summer and take some research credits in the junior year. Hopefully, this prepares him well for the graduate school or medical school.</p>