Research Question

<p>So I'm currently a second semester junior and I've been conducting research in a fruit fly lab since the beginning of sophomore year. However, I have not gotten any results published yet and most likely will not get anything published by the end of the semester (April).</p>

<p>Unfortunately, the professor that's been overseeing my research is leaving the university and will be moving out of state, meaning I will be unable to continue my current project next year. He said he'd be willing to help get me into whatever lab I'd want to move to, but regardless, I would have to change projects and I'm having some concerns as to whether to continue.</p>

<p>I'll be applying for medical school (just MD programs) this coming summer and (hopefully) interviewing senior year. I guess I've enjoyed my time in the lab, but I wouldn't necessarily be upset if I couldn't do it any longer. I've been trying to way the pros and cons but I'm still conflicted as to what I should do.</p>

<p>Realistically, there will be a learning curve to whatever new project I start and the chances of getting something published in less than a year, especially with winter break/spring break/interviews, is extremely unlikely. However, if I didn't continue with research, I feel as though it would look bad, as if I were doing it just to "put it on my resume." Plus, I'm not exactly sure what I'd do with my free time, although I'm sure I'd be able to do other meaningful activities as well. </p>

<p>Have you guys ever been in a similar situation or have any advice about my current one? Will med schools take into account extracurricular activities done during senior year if I've already submitted my application over the summer? Is this something I could potentially put on an application for other things during medical school or for applying for residency, or do they just consider things accomplished in medical school?</p>

<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>papers follow you for life but bench skills are usually lost pretty quickly so research experience from college probably wouldn’t go on a residency app.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the vast minority of medical students enter with publications. There is a lot that goes into a paper that is well beyond an undergrad’s control. For example, the summer after my sophomore year I did epidemiology work that yielded 2 papers in 2 months that I wrote up and was ready to submit, then a few days before they were going to go out, there was an issue with the clinical trial from which my data came and the clinical trial (which took over 5 years to complete and is described in one paper) could not be published. Since my data were from the trial, the trial had to be published before my work could be. That was 2007. One of the papers was published this past July (i.e. a full 5 years later) and the other was accepted last week. Also, given the long interim, more work was done on them so I ended up being bumped down the author chain.</p>

<p>If you want to continue research, continue it, if you don’t, don’t. If you don’t though, you can’t talk about your interest in medical research as it will look incongruent with your app (or at least you will need to have something that you are more passionate about to explain why you like research but chose to stop). It’s perfectly reasonable to switch given your PI leaving, and there’s really no expectation that you will publish as an undergrad. As long as you knew and understood what the project was and played a contributory role that’s all that matter.</p>

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<p>Do you mean “Most med students will apply to residencies having published some sort of research”? I’m sure you don’t mean most students entering med school have published (since later you said there’s no expectation to publish as an undergrad).</p>

<p>I mean that the number of 1st year medical students (i.e. applicants to medical school) with published papers is very, very, very small.</p>

<p>lol, first time i read it i saw majority–which is why i was confused!</p>

<p>I read it that way too. A few months ago, I was having a discussion about published papers with my son and he underscored this point. That MOST pre-med school students do not have published papers. In addition, they are in college for “only” 4 years, so the likelihood that you start something in your freshman year that ends up getting published 3-4 years later seems quite remote.</p>

<p>OP, you might want to investigate other studies, do something independently, or simply spend your time doing something completely different, like shadowing. Ask your advisor for recommendations.</p>

<p>Being on a published paper by senior year is difficult. But, if the research professor writes a solid LOR about the student’s excellent effort for the past three years, would that be sufficient? Or, is there a place on the application you can upload the draft/unpublished version of the paper/report as the proof? Does medical schools even care?</p>

<p>Are there any results you can submit to a conference or do a poster? If you have worked on something for so long, it would be good to have some reference pop up when they google your name.</p>

<p>As I<em>wanna</em>be_brown states, actual publishing has a long cycle (although his/her case is rather extreme!). A long time ago, my master’s thesis paper was published about two years later although I did not need that to get my first job.</p>

<p>Yeah, my example is meant to be extreme. It was almost extreme in the other way. Two papers in 2 months (would have been a 1st and 2nd author had they been submitted then) would have been absurdly fast. Mostly it would have been because I was doing epidemiology research more so than my skills.</p>

<p>The LOR is probably more important than the publication at this point in someone’s career.</p>

<p>You would not upload a proof or draft or anything like that. Your research isn’t yours until you publish it and no PI would ever consent to showing a proof to some outsider and potentially a competitor. If it has been accepted, you can list it as an accepted paper which is as good as a published one. If it is still being worked on you could say that but in theory any manuscript is “awaiting submission” from the moment the idea is created so you never know what people will think when they put that. My PI had always offered to clarify why my papers were awaiting submission to show it was totally unrelated to me but I don’t think anyone ever bothered and I always wondered if the “awaiting submission” actually looked worse than nothing. I figured since the work was clearly from a lab multiple years ago when I applied it was good but who really knows.</p>

<p>Definitely see about conferences. They are easier to get than pubs.</p>

<p>Just to sort of update the situation (and to make it a little more complex!), I’m still working on the research project this semester, but I was invited to be a part of the Honors Program in the Economics Department at my school (I am a biology/economics double major) for next year. Basically, this would allow me to write an honors thesis and conduct research on a topic of interest to me, but obviously the research would be in the field of economics. I think there would actually be a good chance I could be published if I completed my project, but obviously it would be in economics and not biology.</p>

<p>To summarize, I basically have four options:</p>

<ol>
<li>Stop doing research altogether and do something else (shadowing, volunteer, etc) in my free time.</li>
<li>Continue doing biology research but on a different project with a different professor, and a very, very slim chance of publication.</li>
<li>Take part in the Honors Program in the Econ department, where I could conduct research on a topic of interest and possibly get published.</li>
<li>I’m not sure about this one, but I could probably do the economics research on my own (so not through the Honors Program) if I could find a faculty mentor. I’m not sure how this would affect the chances at being published, though.</li>
</ol>

<p>Just to point out, the reason I’ve been considering #4 is because right now for my economics major, I have to take 4 electives to complete the requirements. I’ve already picked out many classes that I’d like to take that interest me, but if I were to enroll in the Honors Program, I’d have to take 3 specific classes of the 4, and these 3 classes do not interest me. Since my primary major is biology and my ultimate goal is medical school, I chose to be an econ major because I could enjoy it, so I’d rather take classes that interest me more than the “prestige” of being in the Honors Program.</p>

<p>To be honest, I’ll probably decide between options 2-4, so I was wondering if medical schools would prefer to see one of the options over the other. Would they prefer if I continued with research in the sciences? Would I be looked at “unfavorably” if I switched from science research to economics research?</p>

<p>OP, in your work with fruit flies, do you have any partial results, milestones, anything that you could write up? Have you done any posters that you could convert to a short paper? Is there a scientific publication for undergrads to publish their work at your school? If so, write it up. Just get the other principals to approve and put yourself as first author. :)</p>

<p>I probably do have some partial results, but I just looked and the deadline to submit materials is today haha. I could always try for next year though. </p>

<p>Any advice about the econ situation?</p>

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<p>I was a double major my first two years (chem, piano). I really wanted that BM, but reality finally hit me. There are only 24 hours in a day. I decided I could only be “world class” in one, so I selected chem. I am so much happier now. I am able to deepen (grad chem classes for UG credit) and broaden (biochem, etc.) my studies in my major while still having time to pick up random classes that interest me (took an honors seminar this semester dealing in “conflict”, I love it)
I guess what I’m trying to say is, you are only one person. Sometimes we just have to make choices.</p>

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<p>I’d say ^^^, growing up, and learning how to deal with people and their lives are arguably the three most important life lessons you learn in college.</p>

<p>What does Econ research look/sound like? I honestly don’t know how it would be perceived but my guess is it will be largely based off what your exact role would be.</p>