As a pre-med student, one of the things you can do to bolster your medical school application while being more involved in your interests is participating in research as an undergraduate (and potentially even graduate) student. I’ve put together a simple guide on what exactly undergraduate research is, what it entails, and how you can approach professors and research mentors to ask how you can get involved.
What do you do in research?
As an undergraduate research assistant or associate, you participate in research under the direct supervision of faculty or other research mentors. Typically, you work alongside them on a larger project or on a specific portion of a project that will grant you both experience and the tools necessary to develop as a researcher. These are amazing opportunities for students to get their first exposure to research and may potentially lead to further developments later on after their undergraduate years — one may even continue their participation in research during graduate school.
Research can either be paid or unpaid, but regardless of whether they provide pay or not, the experience is equally valuable either way. Working as a student hourly in a research lab is one great way to gain experience in a lab environment while earning money. You may also earn academic credit for your course or major if they offer it. A semester-long research project usually earns one to two credits. Additionally, you may also choose to participate as a research lab volunteer if payment is not a priority. Usually all that’s expected of you is that you commit to a given amount of time per week in the lab or that you write a paper or give a presentation on the research, but your responsibilities and expectations will vary per project, person or discipline.
If you have the means to, you may also create your own independent research project.
What do I gain from research?
There are so many benefits to participating in research other than getting the chance to pursue your interests in a certain discipline by doing hands-on work. This is an opportunity for you to help solve real-life problems you care about as well as to learn about the newest research that may not have been published yet. Additionally, you have the chance to attain professional mentoring and networking — with a mentor, you can receive valuable advice for your career aspirations and even a source of letters of recommendation for medical school. Finally, depending on how long you’ve worked in the lab and how much effort you’ve contributed to a project, you may even get the special opportunity to gain authorship for a published research article or journal on the work you’ve been doing. This is an incredible opportunity to put your name out in the academic community and just overall an amazing achievement for an undergraduate researcher.
In research, you will get to understand the kinds of technical skills that are necessary for a research career. Additionally, this is your chance to find out if you like different kinds of scientific work. Finally, you can develop transferable skills employers typically look for when they’re hiring—leadership, teamwork, communication, perseverance, organizational skills, critical thinking and self-confidence are all skills you can gain and develop in a lab.
Do I have to pursue a research project relating to STEM?
Absolutely not! While you may choose to pursue a research opportunity centering around the sciences such as biology, chemistry or psychology, you can also choose to pursue other disciplines that are not directly related to science such as the arts and humanities. You may have chosen a major to study, but do not let this limit your search. Medical schools will not judge you for what discipline you choose to research in as long as you demonstrate a genuine interest in the topic beyond just doing it to look good for them.
Humanities research generally promotes the same values as those in the sciences, such as collaboration, creative and unique thought, and interdisciplinary works. However, the most major difference between humanities research and scientific research is that humanities focus more on theoretical research versus laboratory research. Some humanities disciplines include but are not limited to history, literature, philosophy, fine arts and the performing arts.
Where do I start looking?
If you are new to research, the first place interested prospectors should look at is the faculty list. You may start emailing multiple professors whose work you find interesting. However, this is not the most effective approach — while you may find an opportunity somewhere, you may have to be incredibly persistent in your search because sometimes the professors or other faculty members you may have reached out to may simply not respond to you at all.
Additionally, your university may have an organization or department that is dedicated to helping students find research. For example, the Center for Undergraduate Research (or CUR) is a great place for UF students to start finding research opportunities and learn how to reach out to ask for research opportunities.
What do I say?
If you are reaching out to a professor, a mentor or another faculty member about your interest in their research via email, be sure to remain professional, use proper grammar and punctuation, and attach your resume, your class schedule and possibly your transcript (the latter is optional unless instructed explicitly). In your email, avoid immediately stating outright that you wish to join their lab. Instead, first state that you are interested in the research they’re working on, why you’re interested and extend an invitation for them to meet with you to talk further about their research. Since this is also your first exposure to research, add a disclaimer saying that you do not have much experience with research but are willing to learn and mention any hard and soft skills you have that you may think will be beneficial to the research (i.e., programming skills, statistics, etc.). If you took the time to look into any of their published research, mention it in your email as well, and you can also mention that you’d love to talk more about their research articles.
Here’s a possible template you can compose in your email:
Dear ____(name of mentor, researcher, professor)_______,
My name is ________, and I am currently a ___(current year in college)____ studying ______(your major)______. I came across your research project about ____(topic of research)___. I am very interested in your research topic because _____(give reasoning)_____. I also took the liberty to read some of your published research papers, _____(name of the articles)_____, and I thought they were very interesting. ______(Say something that you found interesting in the paper)_____.
As a disclaimer, I have no hands-on research experience, but I am willing to commit my time and effort to learn new skills and complete any training necessary in order to aid you in your research. If you have time, I would be grateful to meet with you and talk more about your research and possibly join your lab as an undergraduate researcher. My resume and class schedule (and transcript [optional]) are attached to this email for you to look through at your leisure. Please let me know what a good time for you is and we can go from there. If you have any questions for me, please do not hesitate to contact me by email. I greatly appreciate your time in reading this email and for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(Your name here)
That’s all there is to it, folks! If there’s one piece of advice that I would suggest for you to keep in mind is to be persistent. Finding a research position is often a long process for some, so keep reaching out to people even if you get turned down, or if they’re unresponsive, demonstrate your genuine interest in research, and eventually you’ll find an opportunity that’s right for you.