The summer after the OMS1 year is the only time when students have a continuous block of free time to build your CV by pursuing a significant research project. Below are several considerations when looking for research opportunities.
1. Do something different. Unless you are finishing a master's thesis project or finishing a project that will get you authorship on a major publication, it is better to broaden your research experience and skill set by working in a different field. This is especially true if you did traditional bench research prior to medical school.
2. Do something clinical. Most students graduating from WCUCOM are going to be clinicians practicing in some area of primary care. It makes sense, therefore, to get involved in research that is clinical and patient-centered, if possible. Other good areas to consider that fit with your medical education are simulation-based research and public health research.
3. Do something realistic. You aren't going to do Nobel prize caliber research in a summer. It is also likely that you will not be doing research directly related to the residency you desire, if you even know what that is in your first year.
4. Do something off campus. Research opportunities on the WCU campus are currently limited. In addition, seeking a research position at another institution will not only broaden your background but also provide an additional possibility for a letter of support for your near future goals. If it is an institution that has residency programs, all the better!
5. Remember your time constraints. Classes stop in midMay and the OMS2 year begins around the beginning of August. That changes every year and may get pushed back, so check with Dr. Harris, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, to be sure of the start date for OMS2 . In the past, we have been able to accommodate missing up to a week of the OMS2 fall semester when necessary for a research commitment, but those arrangements must be made in advance with Drs. Weir and Bateman.
6. Start early. Look through the opportunities below for those that sound interesting to you and note the application deadlines. If you would like to be in a specific geographic location, look there not only for formal programs but also for any research of interest to you that is going on in that area. Find the principal investigator, familiarize yourself with their research and publications, then contact them directly to express your interest in a summer position. If you find a great research opportunity and need some financial support to take advantage of it, please review the WCUCOM Summer Fellowship application.
7. Letters of Good Standing. Many external programs will ask for a Letter of Good Standing as a part of your application. This is a standardized letter from WCUCOM indicating your academic status. The Office of Student Affairs handles these letters. Ask Mallorie Davis, not a faculty member or another administrator, for such a letter.
8. Letters of Recommendation/Evaluation. The quality of a faculty letter will be directly related to how well they know you. That, in turn, is dependent on how much of an effort you have expended to develop the relationship (or even just come to class). Letters from supervisors of research prior to medical school are still valuable for summer research applications, so cultivate these relationships even though you have left the research group. You will bet better letters and you are more likely to get your name on presentations or publications that include residuals of your prior work.
Working with a research supervisor. Whenever you are working on a research project in which you are not the Principal Investigator, which will be most projects at this stage of your career, you should have a clear agreement with your faculty mentor on mutual expectations, particularly in regard to time and effort required, authorship on presentations and publications, and confidentiality of data, research subjects, and other novel aspects of the research.
Also remember that you are a WCUCOM student and any research you do during your time as a student should acknowledge WCUCOM as your institution in any presentation or publication. Of course, if you are doing the research at a remote institution, they will be acknowledged as well.
AAMC Clinical and Research Opportunities (Includes international opportunities)
AAMC Public Health Pathways for Medical Students (public health training opportunities)
Directory of Medical Student Opportunities
https://researchguides.uic.edu/c.php?g=252301&p=1684870
http://www.uthsc.edu/medicine/student-affairs/score/summer-opportunities.php
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
NIH Clinical Center Summer Programs
Atrium Health Medical Student Summer Scholars Program (Surgery, Trauma, Research)
FAER Medical Student Anesthesia Research Fellowship- Summer Program
USC Summer Oncology Fellowship Program (Children's Hospital of LA)
MSTAR at Johns Hopkins Medicine (American Federation for Aging Research)
Summer Research Experience Program in Oncology (Roswell Park)
Strong Children's Research Center Summer Program (U Rochester)
Summer Medical Student Fellowship (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Campagna Scholarship (Neurosurgery)
Radiation Oncology Summer Student Research Program
NIDDK Medical Student Research Program in Diabetes
Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center
ASH Minority Medical Student Award Program
Chicago Minority Medical Student Emergency Medicine
Mass General Summer Research Trainee Program
Johns Hopkins CUPID Summer Translational Oncology Program
Jeanne Spurlock Research Fellowship (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Daniel Hale Williams Scholar Program: Through the Daniel Hale Williams Scholar program, scholars are able to expand their public health skills from the training they receive in cardiovascular epidemiology, biostatistics, and social epidemiology. An added advantage of the DHW Scholar program is that the scholars get an opportunity to do research using the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) data sets and are able to interact with researchers and investigators who are familiar with the JHS data and JHS research. They are also afforded opportunities to interact with renowned scientists from institutions around the country and have the opportunity to participate in research, presentations, and publications. This is a year round program and includes a scholarship. Contact Dr. Fastring for further details.
If a research opportunity is not possible for you for some reason (time constraints, family responsibilities, etc) you could consider shorter experiences that still enhance your medical education. Medical missions trips are an example of such new, but short, experiences. Another example is the addiction medicine program below.
Scaife Medical Student Fellowship in Substance Use Disorders (3 week program)
SAMHSA Summer Medical Student Program (psychiatry.org)
Multiple Sclerosis Medical Student Mentorship Program
The Medical Research Scholars Program is a year long research immersion program at NIH for future clinician-scientists that advances health by inspiring careers in biomedical research. By engaging students in basic, clinical, or translational research investigations, offering a curriculum rich in didactics and professional development, and featuring a robust mentorship and advising program, MRSP prepares its Scholars to become tomorrow's leaders in medicine and biomedical research.
Medical Research Scholars Program | Clinical Center Home Page (nih.gov)