Organized summer program vs. college lab

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I'm a non-science major trying to get research experience and I've been looking at the summer research programs here:
<a href="http://www.fhcrc.org/content/dam/public/education/internships.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fhcrc.org/content/dam/public/education/internships.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My question is, what's the difference between working in a summer research program (like Amgen Scholars) and working in a lab at my university (Yale) over the summer? Is it better to do an organized program or to work for a professor that I already know? </p>

<p>For instance, Yale's program is called BioSTEP and the description says: </p>

<p>"The summer research training extends for 10 weeks. The program offers weekly seminars and workshops on topics relevant to biomedical science and their application to clinical medicine. All students present their research findings orally or in poster format at the end of the program. BioSTEP participants attend weekly luncheon seminars with Yale faculty researchers. Students gain an in-depth view of the lives, careers, and scientific expertise of Yale's physician-scientists. Participants also meet with admissions representatives of the medical school and graduate school admissions offices." </p>

<p>This seems fairly similar to what my experience has been working in research labs during the school year. Obviously, the stipend offered with the program is nice. But if I'm not a URM and not a PhD candidate, is it worth it to apply to these types of programs, or should I just seek out, say, my genetics professor and ask if he needs any undergraduate volunteers over the summer? Do med schools care whether your research was in an organized program or not?</p>

2

<p>No real difference. I could make the case that your own school is better because you could continue the project and be more likely to get a better LOR.</p>

3

<p>To the OP: I really like your handle, and I hope it’s a nod to your hobby as a DJ because that’s really cool, but I’d recommend not using it as an email address in the future. Who knows what some stuck up scientists at the NIH would think of DJDopeSlap ;)</p>

4

<p>From a medical school admissions standpoint, I don’t think it makes a difference. The only thing that I can think of is that if you did research at your home institution, there’s a greater chance of being able to continue the project and ultimately being able to publish. That said, there’s no guarantee, and so I’m not sure that should have much weight in your decision.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the thoughts! I appreciate them.
And @kristin5792, thanks! and don’t worry, I have an far more professional first name/last name school email address.</p>