2 answers
Benjamin
Student
Everett, Washington
1
Question
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How does one gain the traction to begin medicinal research?
As an aspiring biochem/biophysics major who is looking to make pharmaceuticals in the future I was wondering how one would go about getting the resources and clearance to formulate and test new compounds. #medicine #health #research #healthcare #biochem #biophysics #pharmaceuticals
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2 answers
Nolan McPherson
GOLD Associate
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Baltimore, Maryland
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Nolan’s Answer
Hi Benjamin,
I got started doing research in college by first reading some of the publications my university was putting out (I believe i was a junior or maybe sophomore at the time) and finding one that seemed interesting to me. I then emailed the professors saying I found their work on (insert part of their work here) interesting and asked if they had room for me to help. I was rejected a lot until i found a professor who had some money to help fund me. We had a mini interview and I started out helping out in the lab. Eventually by my senior year I was able to have my own project and publication.
The second way you can start is some schools offer classes where you do research for credit. This can be a great way as well but my school did not have too many of those . If your school offers this I recommend this path as there are some boundaries on how you work. My initial way was a lot of work for free and my professor expected a lot out of me. I ended up working a lot of hours to get my publication.
If you can impress a professor or TA in a class that is a good foot in the door for research so treat every class as a networking opportunity. Ask questions, answer questions, and look alive during lectures. Secondly for medicinal research I found a lot of opportunities in other schools outside of the school of biology. My professor was apart of the school of pharmacy.
I got started doing research in college by first reading some of the publications my university was putting out (I believe i was a junior or maybe sophomore at the time) and finding one that seemed interesting to me. I then emailed the professors saying I found their work on (insert part of their work here) interesting and asked if they had room for me to help. I was rejected a lot until i found a professor who had some money to help fund me. We had a mini interview and I started out helping out in the lab. Eventually by my senior year I was able to have my own project and publication.
The second way you can start is some schools offer classes where you do research for credit. This can be a great way as well but my school did not have too many of those . If your school offers this I recommend this path as there are some boundaries on how you work. My initial way was a lot of work for free and my professor expected a lot out of me. I ended up working a lot of hours to get my publication.
If you can impress a professor or TA in a class that is a good foot in the door for research so treat every class as a networking opportunity. Ask questions, answer questions, and look alive during lectures. Secondly for medicinal research I found a lot of opportunities in other schools outside of the school of biology. My professor was apart of the school of pharmacy.
Saroj Rai, PhD, MPH
Medical Science Liaison, Neuroscience
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Saroj’s Answer
please can you specify what do you exactly mean by medicinal research? Do you mean clinical research?