<p>I know that research is an integral aspect of any medical school application. My question is: How early should you start doing research? I've heard that students generally start in their junior year, but is it uncommon for freshmen or sophomores to do research? Also, how long would it take to get a research position in your undergraduate institution's medical school?</p>
<p>I haven't seen any freshmen do research yet. I am a sophomore and I am doing research. There is not a specific time you "should start researching"...you just research when you want to. You have to put A LOT of time into and it is a great commitment so don't let it effect your grades.</p>
<p>I know a freshman who is doing undergraduate research</p>
<p>hmmm...must be an ambitious one...usually freshmen don't get a research position because the PhD or MD who is conducting the research wants somebody with more of a college background, especially lab experience. But if that freshman is researching, more power to him/her.</p>
<p>that is so true. I've already emailed several professors (I'm a freshman) for opportunities and they all said something about reserving the opportunities for upperclassmen. (Or some try to give other reasons like they don't have enough funds).</p>
<p>depends on ur college and what kind of opportunities they have...at UMichigan, there is the UROP (undergraduate research opportunity program) where nearly 800 freshman and sophomores work with faculty of all backgrounds including medicine</p>
<p>my research as a freshman was actually really cool. I worked with those who were trying to maintain a fully functioning artificial biolung attached to a sheep...its for trying to figure a way to treat those with severe respitory problems and they may not be able to get a transplant or dont want to be on a ventilator so long and all that stuff...i got to see tons of open heart surgeries and learn about the human body as well as learn to take blood gases/ACT's and understand the layout and where everything is in the OR.........it was awesome...and for a whole year!</p>
<p>however yea prof's usually look for someone who has had some research background...i didnt have any whatsoevr so it took some convincing at the interview lol</p>
<p>umardarr - I'm assuming that you're pre-med (because we're on a pre-med forum). Has your research experience as a freshman helped you stand out amongst your other pre-med peers?</p>
<p>hmmm....probably not thus far lol...thing is cause UM provides this, so many premeds end up doing it...i guess it depends on how far you are able to take your research. I am planning on, and a friend of mine who is also a freshman who did urop, have managed to now create and work on our own projects over the summer which they pay you for...its really cool</p>
<p>so im basically saying, just doing research and then stopping after a year doesnt make me stand out even if my project is really cool...i have to take it further, do stuff over the summer, continue on to next year, end up having a great relationship with your sponsor and such....</p>
<p>so as a freshman it has certainly given me opportunity to advance deeper into biomedical research, but for the most part, my first year was just a learning experience to get acquainted to research cause i never did it before</p>
<p>it is better to start as soon as possible -- freshmen generally do not do research not only because fewer people are clear on what they want to do with their future, but also because freshmen have not taken many of the courses, especially labs, and have no established GPA or skills to demonstrate ability to any potential supervisors ... people are also more preoccupied with class-work their 1st and 2nd years because that is what they know how to do best since high school and they really want to get through with most courses and be on the road to graduation</p>
<p>you should start early because it increases your chances of getting a name on a publication -- perhaps being 2nd or 3rd author, but there are also few people who get 1st author publications in during their college years -- and that would really make you stand out from the rest of the med school applicants pool</p>
<p>it is easy to get a position if you're volunteering -- it is harder to get a paying position -- volunteering generally implies more creative tasks, but sometimes just sitting in the corner if everyone else is busy -- there is no real commitment -- working for a pay, you're likely to perform some simple tasks like restocking supplies and preparing buffers which eventually gets old and boring -- but you can have more interaction with other lab members, people will depend on you .... people at some labs might promise that in addition to your job, they will teach you other more intellectually stimulating skills if you come work for them, but they do not always follow through with these promises -- be sure you're not stuck at a dead-end lab</p>
<p>another way is to start volunteering at a lab early, and if you do it for really long time and get a lot of training, your supervisor might be persuaded to get you a paying position in lab</p>
<p>it is also better to do research at a couple of places, if possible -- this will give you more recommendation letters as well as more diverse experience and set of skills</p>
<p>i my experience at my institution it would take a 2-6 weeks or so to get a research position either volunteering or working in biology, biochemistry, or chemistry while bioengineering takes many months -- this of course depends on how desirable of an applicant you are in addition</p>
<p>Does it matter WHERE you volunteer? For example, is it better to volunteer in your institution's medical school if you are a premed student? And is it tough to get such positions?</p>
<p>Let's say that my major is finance but have the intentions of applying to medical schools but instead of researh I start interning at some Business Firm over the summer for experience. Would Med Schools ask me why I chose medicine over finance if I showed more interest in Finance due to my goals more oriented towards business? Also Is research/volunteering done during the school year or summer? I ask because since in the summer most people might plan on working I would rather research during the school year and make some cash in the summer rather than vice versa. </p>
<p>Also if you end up being part of a reseach, would you also recommend volunteering at a hospital? Because I would think that it might be too much espeically during freshman and sophmore and because most people need to learn how to budget their time more effeciently including me.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Would Med Schools ask me why I chose medicine over finance if I showed more interest in Finance due to my goals more oriented towards business?
[/quote]
Yes, but that doesn't mean (at least in theory) that no good answers exist.</p>
<p>Most research is done, at least by very committed premeds, during both the school year (10 hrs a week) and the summer (full-time).</p>
<p>You must have some clinical experience, and it's highly recommended to have some research. The more of each you get, the better. If you choose not to do them concurrently, then obviously this is a limitation on that. It won't inherently kill your application, of course.</p>
<p>Hey, I am now a freshman and I have applied to a lot of research positions in summer and did not get any. I am really worried because a few of my other pre-med friends are doing research. Is working in some lab over summer THAT important? I am not taking any classes during summer, but now I am seriously considering it.</p>
<p>I didn't get any either. I applied to some jobs online in my community and haven't heard from them yet. :( What should I do (other than volunteering) this summer?</p>
<p>it might be tough to get positions at the institution's medical center if your schools has many pre-med students -- it depends on the way it is organized -- at my local hospital it is very easy to become a volunteer even though my university features swarms of pre-meds: just to attend a training program, prove you have certain immunizations, and get an x-ray done of your chest (they are very serious with TB). Then, if you come every week and on time for a period of at least 5 months, you get to shadow a doctor. Which was guaranteed.</p>
<p>It does not matter when you do research and when you do work. Whenever you have more than 10 hours of free time available on your hands. At my university, if you take 3 classes/quarter you generally have about 15-20 free hours that you can devote to either activity. </p>
<p>In my experience, it is better to work though the school year while devote summers to research (may be work on the side cuz you still need $). Research demands not only that you perform tasks manually, but some thought process: you have to read on your topic and not just from an undergraduate textbook but real research articles that for beginners may appear quite dense. During the school year, there is only a certain amount of hours that you can sit and read and memorize. I mean human mind has a limited learning capacity over a given period of time. When I did research during academic year with a load of 3-4 classes, it surely went much slower as it would have if I spend that same time in lab during summer free from stress. Plus research helps keep those neurons in good condition over the summer such that it is easier to start learning in new semester/quarter's beginning.</p>
<p>But it is quite possible to do both research and work during your free time. The summer between my senior and junior years I've worked at two jobs and did research at one place. During my senior year I had a one 15h/week job and did research (but I was done with most of harder classes by that time so I could devote about 30h/week to both activities). As long as everything is located close-by (like on-campus or near it) it is very do-able.</p>
<p>If you have applied to multiple research positions but was denied everywhere then there are 3 things you can do:
1. improve your performance during the interview -- those people definitely took someone else in for the research position, so you have to figure out why not you
2. revise and improve your resume - let others read it for grammatical mistakes and inconsistencies (don't ever lie as it is easily discovered by an experienced reviewer, but some exaggeration can be done) - i've actually had a chance to read some resumes in order to help my employer pick best candidate and it was simply amAzing how many people write with poor grammar or inconsistently or with poor phrasing, such that you just have to sit there and wonder why did they not let someone else read their resume first to correct these things?
3. set your standards lower - if you're just starting out and have no prior relevant experience, apply to anything and everything even if some positions have your minimal interest - remember that student jobs/positions are usually temporary and in time of as little at 3 months you'll be able to present yourself a better candidate for a more interesting job</p>
<p>now, I know that there are some research positions where you're just mixing test tubes or doing the manual labor for the person you're helping. But how do you get positions in which you can actually do your own project (or something related to your mentor's project) or get published. Do you just have to apply to those programs? Will prior research be beneficial in getting into those programs?</p>
<p>sure, there are programs you apply for in every field -- like a research summer camp -- prior research will of course be beneficial (and references from such research)</p>
<p>but don't think that people who get into those programs get to do something very special and exciting and get published right away -- i've heard complaints from undergraduates that they'll get into such program and then be stuck running gels the whole summer ... and because they contributed only 3 months of work that is not enough for a publication -- however, these programs sound good on resumes</p>
<p>if you want to get published you have to go and contribute at least half a year of hardcore work with your local professor -- half a year is minimum because experimental work is very time consuming and things will never go as planned or sometimes as you were taught -- i've known of people who worked over 2 years and got no publications because either they were not lucky, or because they did not take their work seriously enough, or even because the group judged that they should not be on that publication (in some groups people are not very fair and do not want to share their work with others even if you helped them a lot -- the more authors the paper has the less work it is assumed the 1st author spent on it so some people don't want to include more names in a publication and exclude undergraduate helpers) ... as a graduate student, you'd spend 1.5-2 years working full-time to get one first-author publication done -- as an undergraduate you cannot afford to work full-time so either you work with a grad student or post-doc and get your name on the paper (even if you are the very last author it is still considered that you have officially published), or you work on your own project (and i mean totally own) and do something interesting enough to get published, which means you have to have already some technical training and your own ideas</p>
<p>so in summary, you do not have to be accepted in some kind of research program to do creative work</p>
<p>if you volunteer to work at a lab, chances are you'll get a small piece of someone else's project to pound your head on -- but you can ask your advisor for your own project if you feel you have had enough training in the technical aspects already -- whenever I came in the very first time for an interview, my advisor presented me with a number of projects, some of which no one in lab was working on, and some were already well under way -- if you want to get published, try to get involved in a project that is well under way and that has already produced some results, and not something that has not worked yet or has just been started</p>
<p>how do you get to doing your own project? you contact professors you're interested in and then see if they answer that they have space -- then be ready to come for an interview -- sometimes they may ask for your transcript and a resume (but most often not) -- then you discuss the projects available -- and then you start coming in to the lab to work -- and that's how you get to it (at least in my university it works this way)</p>
<p>manual stuff is usually what you do if you get hired for pay -- sometimes when you're just starting out volunteering people might try to make you do the manual stuff for them (like wash their dishes) -- but if you're volunteering and there are many labs around to choose from, definitely never agree to clean up after them or anything like that -- i mean it is OK to make some gels and buffers as long as it's not like you make it, and they use it, and you don't do anything</p>
<p>Thank you kihyle, that was very helpful!</p>
<p>I was wondering if substantial research done before college could be recorded on a medical school application. For example, if one were a Intel STS Semi-finalist and an American Academy of Neurology Finalist in one's senior year, could this be noted on the application? Thanks!</p>
<p>Those kinds of awards will not be given space to LIST, but if you could find a way to work them into essays, that would probably work.</p>
<p>Of course, with those kinds of standards, I assume that your undergraduate work will far surpass anything you did in hs... ;)</p>