While the word ‘summer’ may make some students think of margaritas on the beach and glorious sunshine, for premeds and medical students, another word may come to mind: research. Summer is an ideal time to dedicate yourself to research, whether that’s in the lab or the clinic. While you can (and should) find time for rest and relaxation, summer research is an ideal opportunity to build your extracurricular experience, hone your skills, and develop deep relationships in the medical industry.
But regardless of the season, research is a vital component of both your medical school and residency applications. The vast majority of students who matriculate to medical school will have some sort of research on their resume, so it’s critical that you do too.
In this post, we break down the value of summer research, how to find research positions, and tips to make the most of summer research opportunities.
The Value of Summer Research
Why Research Is Important
Research is an essential component of medical school; it is the source of everything that doctors use in medicine, from the drugs to the procedures to the way they counsel patients.
Participating in research gives you a better understanding of how the practice of medicine came to be and allows you to appreciate how much energy, time, effort, and resources go into making the drugs you will one day be prescribing. It may have taken ten years and a billion dollars to get the drug down the pipeline, and now doctors can prescribe it to help patients.
Research allows you to see the other side of medicine. While some of it may not be patient-facing, participating in research gives you a completely new skill set that could inspire you to become a different kind of doctor than you imagined, one who’s totally different from the typical doctor you see on TV. There is a huge arm of medicine that is solely or primarily research-based. Many people go into medicine to cure a disease, build a new way to diagnose something, or to just be in the lab in general.
Participating in research allows you to make this choice in a more informed context. Depending on your institution and its resources, you could be pipetting, in a clinical trial, assessing scoring instruments, doing a lot of advanced statistics, completing chart reviews, etc.
Now, a huge reason to pursue research is, of course, adding to your CV with papers, experiences, and letters of recommendation. These things are extremely important, but on a grander scale, participating in summer research enables you to make a more informed decision about your future medical career.
Why Summer Research Is Ideal
Participating in research during the summer is ideal for two reasons: the Principal Investigators (PIs), the physicians leading the research, have more time to devote to the research, and so do you.
As a premed or medical student, it is imperative that you use your summers wisely. While it’s important to take a much-needed break, the extra time that summer supplies should be supplemented with 50-75% of activities like volunteering, working at a free clinic, finding a job, or participating in research.
Summer is a prime time to get involved in research because institutions often don’t have a lot of classes, so the PIs who would otherwise be teaching have more free time. This free time means projects move a lot faster, so it’s a very high-yield time of the year to do research.
The other reason to participate in summer research is that you have fewer commitments and can more easily learn a new skill set. The thing about research is there’s no one class or one book to read that will ever get you prepared for conducting, analyzing, and presenting research. Research is experience-based, so the sooner you get involved in it, the better.
What better time to get involved in research than when you’re not worried about grades or the multitude of other things happening during the school year? Summer is also limited, so you’ll need to move things forward faster. If you’re given the whole year, you will naturally move at a slower pace compared to if you just have a couple of months to complete your research.
Now, it must be noted that summer research is a bit of a double-edged sword; there are complications that can arise from this short timeline as well. It’s very unlikely you can get into a basic science lab, conduct a bunch of experiments, get the results, get it analyzed, and get it all written up within a couple of months—but you can get a significant head start.
Medical schools also like to see longitudinal experiences with research. Summer is a great time to start research or continue research because you can really devote yourself to learning all of the skills necessary to do the experiments and analysis that will likely be happening during the fall, winter, and spring.
All in all, summer is an ideal jumping off point for building your research skills because your mentors can give you the kind of additional attention they won’t be able to when they’re also responsible for teaching classes.
How to Find Summer Research Positions
It’s no more difficult to find research positions in the summer than it is any other time of year, but summer is a phenomenal time to get started. Since they’re likely not teaching any classes, the Principal Investigator (PI) you’ll be working under will have more time to dedicate to the research, which means it’s the most high-yield time of year for research, and they’ll have more time to work with you directly to help develop your skill set.
Types of Research
There are two main kinds of research you can get into: basic science research and clinical research, with an honorable mention going to community research, though the availability of these kinds of research will depend on your specific school.
Basic science research, also known as bench research, is the typical experimentation branch of research that involves things like pipetting, cell cultures, microscopes, and everything you do in the traditional lab setting—evaluating scientific questions from a cellular, molecular, and physiological level. This is considered a more labor-intensive and time-consuming form of research, as it can take weeks or months to learn the necessary skills and even longer to achieve consequential results.
Clinical research encompasses clinical trials, chart review, or working with patients one-on-one for case studies. It may not be available to undergrads, but most med schools offer something like this.
Clinical research can be pretty short compared to basic and community research, so if getting something accomplished quickly is your primary concern, you may want to focus on clinical research. However, it’s also essential to show longitudinal commitment and to find an effective mentor who can take you under their wing and, one day, write you a strong letter of recommendation.
Community research is, naturally, community-centric in the sense that you’re working on the project to improve community resources or outreach. It’s essentially an extension of volunteering but in a more formal research setting so that you can identify the needs of a community and discover potential solutions.
Generally, admissions committees consider basic science research to be the most substantive form of research, and admissions committees tend to consider your basic research experience as evidence of your dedication to developing your research and medical skills. Plus, basic research will give you plenty to speak about on your application and during interviews.
Finding a Lab
When searching for a lab, it’s important to be both genuinely interested in the topics the lab is exploring and genuinely interested in learning from the PI, who will effectively become your mentor. It’s also important to have basic research experience, as this will give you a serious leg up on your competition.
Getting into research is very much about word of mouth, who you know, and how early and proactively you start your search.
The majority of universities have an online list of research labs, so utilize your university’s resources to find a list of PIs, and then email them directly. If you already know what kind of research you want to perform or have a specialty of interest in mind, such as cardiology or neurology, look for labs that perform that kind of research.
It’s also possible that your school has a program in which you can earn a class credit for your research. If this is the case, your university likely has clear steps for contacting PIs who are part of the program. This is an excellent option, as it means the PI already has a lot of experience working with premeds in their lab.
Otherwise, it’s best to reach out to your personal contacts, professors or TAs, upper year students, and trusted academic advisors. Do you know someone who had a great experience at a specific lab? How did they secure their position, and can you apply to that same lab?
If you’re consistently inspired by one of your professors, check to see if they have a research lab and reach out. Attend their office hours and demonstrate your enthusiasm and dedication before asking to join their research project.
Persistence is the name of the game. Once you get in contact with a PI, ask lots of questions about your specific role to determine if it’s something you’re enthusiastic about and willing to commit your summer to.
How to Make the Most of Summer Research
1 | Be Proactive and Begin Early
Do not wait until the summer to start looking for research positions. As a premed and medical student, you must be proactive in your approach to your summer (and your extracurriculars in general).
In an ideal world, you will already have a research position that you can build upon and rededicate yourself to in the summer months when you have more time. If you don’t have a research position yet, actively work to obtain one in the months leading up to your summer break.
Use your time wisely early on in your medical school journey. As a premed, you’ll have time you can dedicate to research most summers. As a medical student, depending on your school, the summer between M1 and M2 will be the freest and, therefore, the best time to dedicate to research. After that, you’ll need to use your summers to study for Step exams or to fulfill your clinical clerkships.
Learn more in our guide: Do Med Schools Have Summer Break? What Medical Students Do in the Summer.
Ask peers, upper year students, and academic advisors for advice. What are the best labs? Who are the best mentors? Gather research from the people in your network and then set a meeting with PIs to see what they’re about.
Focus on finding a lab that has shown productivity and is known for its tight-knit team environment. You want mentorship. You’re learning a set of skills you’ll use for the rest of your life, so focus on quality over prestige.
If you start early and are proactive, you’ll have time to find a summer research opportunity that’s a good fit for you instead of settling for whatever is available at the last minute.
2 | Spend Time Researching Labs and Mentors
Post docs and peers will be honest with you. Ask questions. It’s not taboo to ask around to learn more about other students’ experiences.
When you arrive in a lab for the first time, you’ll be the low person on the totem pole, which means you may be doing more grunt work. Slowly but surely, you will continue to elevate your skills and your work thanks to your effort as well as the guidance of your peers and PI. You want to see that the lab promotes growth and gives more agency and autonomy to its students. This will be discovered through word of mouth, not on any website. Ask around. Buy someone a coffee and pick their brain.
Searching for a mentor is often the most difficult part of finding a research position. You’re not only choosing the research; you’re choosing a mentor who will likely be one of your letter of recommendation writers.
If the mentor is brand new at the job, you likely don’t want to be their guinea pig. But at the same time, if you have a genuine connection with and appreciation for a young professor at the beginning of their mentorship journey, it may still be a good fit for you.
Approach a professor you connect with and tell them you’re interested in their research and would like to get involved. Tell them you would be excited to learn from them and why. Take advantage of their office hours and strive to demonstrate your passion for the work.
Before you join a lab and commit to a placement, set a meeting with the PI and talk to them about the research and what your role will be like.
It may take some time to find a lab and mentor that’s an ideal fit for you, which, again, is why it’s so important to begin looking for these positions early.
3 | Commit to Long Term Experiences
Research is a long term commitment. And although the summer is only a few short months, your added availability, capacity, and brainpower will allow you to progress quickly during this time.
But it’s important that you don’t look at summer research as a one-off event.
When applying to medical school and residency, programs want to see that you commit to your extracurriculars. Showing longitudinal commitment to your research is looked upon far more favorably than listing several shorter experiences. Look at your summer research as a chance to make a strong start to a longer commitment or, even better, begin your research well before the summer so that you already have a placement and can ramp up your workload in the summer months.
Another key aspect of success in research is building relationships and making connections in the industry that will help you gain letters of recommendation for either medical school or residency. These strong connections can also serve as references for future jobs as you pursue your medical education and future career.
Building strong relationships will take time—often years—and you must continue to nurture these relationships even after your research has concluded. You never know when that connection will come in handy down the road.
4 | Utilize Summer Research Funding
During the summer, there’s a stronger chance that you’ll be granted a stipend, as programs generally prefer that you stay with them instead of going home. Plus, summer research often has more potential for funding, and there are summer-specific research grants.
Think of it like a work/study program. Instead of moving back home and finding a job to pay the bills, you can continue to hone your research skills and build up your experience while still getting paid.
As you look into the research opportunities available to you, also take a look at what research funding may be available to you during the summer.
5 | Remember to Balance Summer Wellness
Savvy students understand that their own health and wellness play an essential role in their success. There are so many times in your premed and medical school career when you will be pushed to the limit both mentally and physically.
Knowing when to take a break and how to utilize your time off effectively will prevent burnout and, ultimately, lead you to better results.
Summers are the time to rest and recharge while also remaining productive. It’s all about balance. If you get burnt out by the beginning of the fall, your grades suffer, along with your mental and physical health.
You absolutely need this time to reset and refocus because another jam-packed school year is just around the corner. This is even more important for medical students who only have time off between M1 and M2, as Step exams and clinical rotations will begin after second year.
During your summers “off,” you want to feel like you’re reasonably busy while maintaining the routines you’ve built to help you excel in your classes—but don’t push yourself.
Take this time to figure out the passions and hobbies you are most interested in outside of medicine. During the school year, it’s very likely that you didn’t have time to pursue your interests outside of school. Now is the time to figure out what matters most to you and what helps you stay balanced and healthy. You may take time to catch up with friends and family, build a gym routine, take up a form of meditation, or pursue a hobby you either once loved or have always been interested in.
More tips for Summer Research Success.
Make Smart Choices for Medical School and Beyond
Need help finding the best summer research position for you or deciding what to do with your summer months? Med School Insiders will pair you with a physician advisor who fits your specific needs. We can answer your questions about what to do with the time between your studies, how to make the decisions that best suit your style, habits, and goals, how to transition into your first year of medical school and beyond, and how to succeed in applying to medical school and residency.
Reach out to our team to learn more about our services, and follow the Med School Insiders blog for the latest how-to advice, strategies, personal stories, and industry updates. As you progress in medical school, we have comprehensive guides dedicated to helping you conquer each of your clerkships, as well as your residency application.
