How to Obtain Research Experience

Dr. Erkeda DeRouen talks to Dr. Anita Lwanga, a kinesiologist, internist, and geriatrician who is actively involved in educating the next generation of physicians. She’s here today to share her best tips for how pre-meds, medical students, and residents can obtain research experience. 

• [00:56] Dr. Lwanga’s Medical Journey and Background
• [02:50] Why Internal Medicine?
• [05:47] How Important is Research Experience?
• [12:20] How to Obtain Research Experience
• [18:14] What Dr. Lwanga Would Change in Healthcare

Why You Need Research Experience

Having research experience on your resume can help your application stand out from the crowd.

As a pre-medical student, it’s nice to learn research skills early, which will serve you later on as a medical student and physician. Medical students need to have ample research projects so the dean can write a strong letter of recommendation.

Physicians who want to move up in academic institutions will be able to do so based on their quality and quantity of publications. If your goal is to work in academia, then research experience is absolutely necessary.

How to Look for Research Opportunities

Select courses that require research projects. Ask professors and teaching assistants if they need help with their personal research. Chances are they’re also MA/PhD students. This is a great chance to learn how to gather and analyze data.

Reach out to the doctors in your community for mentorship. They can help direct you to organizations and individuals that can provide research opportunities.

Medical students can offer to help residents and fellows by conducting literature reviews, chart reviews, and case reports. If you’re unsure of how to do these things, you can learn online. Check out PublishedMD on YouTube to learn about academic writing. Remember that assisting professors, mentors, and physicians will make it easier for you to obtain good letters of recommendation in the future.

Reach out to Dr. Anita Lwanga through Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn.

To learn more about how MedSchoolCoach can help you along your medical school journey, visit us at Prospective Doctor.