RESEARCH: OVERVIEW & LINKS
revised 01/29/2008
OVERVIEW
A good number of prehealth students,
very often premeds, ask the question, "Do I need to do research
to be a competitive applicant?" There are four answers to this
important question. If that sounds confusing, everything will
hopefully be clearer in a moment!
- The student who wants a career in medical,
dental, optometric, or veterinary research should
gain research experience: Yes: because the research experience
is in line with your career goals.
- The student who is fixated on a getting into a US MD school
should have some research experience.Yes: because
it is getting harder to get into US MD schools and a large percentage
of those
who get accepted self-report that they have research experience.
(Keep in mind that it can be counterproductive to fixate only
on US MD schools because American osteopathic medical schools
are strong and because there are some excellent foreign medical
schools, too--but that is a topic for another advising session!)
- A student who is aspiring to very demanding dental
schools such as Harvard or Stony Brook would benefit from having some
research experience. Yes: as in the case above, becauase "the
market is competitive."
- For the great and noble category of "everbody
else:" It's up
to your discretion. The advantage of research is that it can
help make you a standout. The danger of research is that it can
vacuum up a lot of your time and maybe even hurt your grades
if you become totally absorbed and dominated by your research
project.
A few more points:
- There are lots of kinds of research. There is
laboratory "wet bench" research, and there is clinical research.
Science students have worked on research--and so have history
and sociology students. Find out what interests you!
- Never let research hurt your grades or keep you from getting
good health-related experience.
- As a result of your research experience, you might be able
to get good letters
of recommendation
from your research supervisors.
Regardless of whether you want to be a dual degree (MD/PhD) medical
researcher or a practitioner who takes care of patients and conducts
no research at all, it is important to have health-related experience.
Your volunteer work in the ER, or at a nursing home, or as an EMT
crew chief is one thing that tells schools of the health professions
you know what you are getting into--that you have some first-hand
familiarity with the pressures and realities of the field of health
care.
So, gaining health-related experience is a high priority. Further,
it is often easier to start getting health-related experience
before starting research work. We mean one thing
here: it could be more likely for you to have the skills that would
make you a good volunteer in your first semester freshman year.
The skill set that you need to make a successful first foray into
a research environment often comes with the experience you gain
through taking rigorous college courses. Therefore, it might be
less likely that you possess all the skills you need to make
the
most of research right at the start of your college career. With
this in mind, you might have some health-related experience before
you plunge into that complicated biochemistry research project--even
if your ultimate goal is an MD/PhD program.
Remember that strong academics are a basic and first priority
for which there is no substitute. You want to make the most of your
education by studying hard, mastering your material, and learning
the reasoning skills that you need to be a life-long learner and
problem solver. If you are already on top of your course work, then, a good research
experience could further your intellectual development. This could
make you a more interesting, and therefore stronger, applicant.
Remember that a research project is not a substitute for good grades,
strong communication skills, or the ability to think and reason
well--even under the pressure of the MCAT, DAT, OAT, or GRE.
Admissions committees look for excellence in their applicants.
Research is one, but not the only, way to pursue your interests
and show how good you are.
LINKS
Once you have made the decision to do research, you have
a good number of resources to help you find the experience that
is right for you. The pertinent links at Stony Brook are:
You might find these other resources helpful.
If you are interested in research in the health care field, you
might also want to read about MEDLINE.
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