how to start a medical research

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How to Write a Medical Research Paper

Last Updated: February 5, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Chris M. Matsko, MD . Dr. Chris M. Matsko is a retired physician based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With over 25 years of medical research experience, Dr. Matsko was awarded the Pittsburgh Cornell University Leadership Award for Excellence. He holds a BS in Nutritional Science from Cornell University and an MD from the Temple University School of Medicine in 2007. Dr. Matsko earned a Research Writing Certification from the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) in 2016 and a Medical Writing & Editing Certification from the University of Chicago in 2017. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 89% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 203,707 times.

Writing a medical research paper is similar to writing other research papers in that you want to use reliable sources, write in a clear and organized style, and offer a strong argument for all conclusions you present. In some cases the research you discuss will be data you have actually collected to answer your research questions. Understanding proper formatting, citations, and style will help you write and informative and respected paper.

Researching Your Paper

• Pick something that really interests you to make the research more fun.
• Choose a topic that has unanswered questions and propose solutions.

• Quantitative studies consist of original research performed by the writer. These research papers will need to include sections like Hypothesis (or Research Question), Previous Findings, Method, Limitations, Results, Discussion, and Application.
• Synthesis papers review the research already published and analyze it. They find weaknesses and strengths in the research, apply it to a specific situation, and then indicate a direction for future research.

• Keep track of your sources. Write down all publication information necessary for citation: author, title of article, title of book or journal, publisher, edition, date published, volume number, issue number, page number, and anything else pertaining to your source. A program like Endnote can help you keep track of your sources.
• Take detailed notes as you read. Paraphrase information in your own words or if you copy directly from the article or book, indicate that these are direct quotes by using quotation marks to prevent plagiarism.
• Be sure to keep all of your notes with the correct source.
• Your professor and librarians can also help you find good resources.

• Keep all of your notes in a physical folder or in a digitized form on the computer.
• Start to form the basic outline of your paper using the notes you have collected.

Writing Your Paper

• Start with bullet points and then add in notes you've taken from references that support your ideas. [1] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Go to source
• A common way to format research papers is to follow the IMRAD format. This dictates the structure of your paper in the following order: I ntroduction, M ethods, R esults, a nd D iscussion. [2] X Research source
• The outline is just the basic structure of your paper. Don't worry if you have to rearrange a few times to get it right.
• Ask others to look over your outline and get feedback on the organization.
• Know the audience you are writing for and adjust your style accordingly. [3] X Research source

• Use a standard font type and size, such as Times New Roman 12 point font.
• Double-space your paper.
• If necessary, create a cover page. Most schools require a cover page of some sort. Include your main title, running title (often a shortened version of your main title), author's name, course name, and semester.

• Break up information into sections and subsections and address one main point per section.
• Include any figures or data tables that support your main ideas.
• For a quantitative study, state the methods used to obtain results.

• Clearly state and summarize the main points of your research paper.
• Discuss how this research contributes to the field and why it is important. [4] X Research source
• Highlight potential applications of the theory if appropriate.
• Propose future directions that build upon the research you have presented. [5] X Research source
• Keep the introduction and discussion short, and spend more time explaining the methods and results.

• State why the problem is important to address.
• Discuss what is currently known and what is lacking in the field.
• State the objective of your paper.
• Keep the introduction short.

• Highlight the purpose of the paper and the main conclusions.
• State why your conclusions are important.
• Be concise in your summary of the paper.
• Show that you have a solid study design and a high-quality data set.
• Abstracts are usually one paragraph and between 250 – 500 words.

• Unless otherwise directed, use the American Medical Association (AMA) style guide to properly format citations.
• Add citations at end of a sentence to indicate that you are using someone else's idea. Use these throughout your research paper as needed. They include the author's last name, year of publication, and page number.
• Compile your reference list and add it to the end of your paper.
• Use a citation program if you have access to one to simplify the process.

• Continually revise your paper to make sure it is structured in a logical way.
• Proofread your paper for spelling and grammatical errors.
• Make sure you are following the proper formatting guidelines provided for the paper.
• Have others read your paper to proofread and check for clarity. Revise as needed.

Expert Q&A

• Ask your professor for help if you are stuck or confused about any part of your research paper. They are familiar with the style and structure of papers and can provide you with more resources. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Refer to your professor's specific guidelines. Some instructors modify parts of a research paper to better fit their assignment. Others may request supplementary details, such as a synopsis for your research project . Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Set aside blocks of time specifically for writing each day. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Do not plagiarize. Plagiarism is using someone else's work, words, or ideas and presenting them as your own. It is important to cite all sources in your research paper, both through internal citations and on your reference page. Thanks Helpful 4 Not Helpful 2

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178846/
• ↑ http://owl.excelsior.edu/research-and-citations/outlining/outlining-imrad/
• ↑ http://china.elsevier.com/ElsevierDNN/Portals/7/How%20to%20write%20a%20world-class%20paper.pdf
• ↑ http://intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/3/191
• ↑ http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html#form

About This Article

To write a medical research paper, research your topic thoroughly and compile your data. Next, organize your notes and create a strong outline that breaks up the information into sections and subsections, addressing one main point per section. Write the results and discussion sections first to go over your findings, then write the introduction to state your objective and provide background information. Finally, write the abstract, which concisely summarizes the article by highlighting the main points. For tips on formatting and using citations, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Nih clinical research trials and you.

The NIH Clinical Trials and You website is a resource for people who want to learn more about clinical trials. By expanding the below questions, you can read answers to common questions about taking part in a clinical trial. 

What are clinical trials and why do people participate?

Clinical research is medical research that involves people like you. When you volunteer to take part in clinical research, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future. Clinical research includes all research that involves people.  Types of clinical research include:

• Epidemiology, which improves the understanding of a disease by studying patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease in specific groups.
• Behavioral, which improves the understanding of human behavior and how it relates to health and disease.
• Health services, which looks at how people access health care providers and health care services, how much care costs, and what happens to patients as a result of this care.
• Clinical trials, which evaluate the effects of an intervention on health outcomes.

What are clinical trials and why would I want to take part?

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Clinical trials can study:

• New drugs or new combinations of drugs
• New ways of doing surgery
• New medical devices
• New ways to use existing treatments
• New ways to change behaviors to improve health
• New ways to improve the quality of life for people with acute or chronic illnesses.

The goal of clinical trials is to determine if these treatment, prevention, and behavior approaches are safe and effective. People take part in clinical trials for many reasons. Healthy volunteers say they take part to help others and to contribute to moving science forward. People with an illness or disease also take part to help others, but also to possibly receive the newest treatment and to have added (or extra) care and attention from the clinical trial staff. Clinical trials offer hope for many people and a chance to help researchers find better treatments for others in the future

Why is diversity and inclusion important in clinical trials?

People may experience the same disease differently. It’s essential that clinical trials include people with a variety of lived experiences and living conditions, as well as characteristics like race and ethnicity, age, sex, and sexual orientation, so that all communities benefit from scientific advances.

See Diversity & Inclusion in Clinical Trials for more information.

How does the research process work?

The idea for a clinical trial often starts in the lab. After researchers test new treatments or procedures in the lab and in animals, the most promising treatments are moved into clinical trials. As new treatments move through a series of steps called phases, more information is gained about the treatment, its risks, and its effectiveness.

What are clinical trial protocols?

Clinical trials follow a plan known as a protocol. The protocol is carefully designed to balance the potential benefits and risks to participants, and answer specific research questions. A protocol describes the following:

• The goal of the study
• Who is eligible to take part in the trial
• Protections against risks to participants
• Details about tests, procedures, and treatments
• How long the trial is expected to last
• What information will be gathered

A clinical trial is led by a principal investigator (PI). Members of the research team regularly monitor the participants’ health to determine the study’s safety and effectiveness.

What is an Institutional Review Board?

Most, but not all, clinical trials in the United States are approved and monitored by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure that the risks are reduced and are outweighed by potential benefits. IRBs are committees that are responsible for reviewing research in order to protect the rights and safety of people who take part in research, both before the research starts and as it proceeds. You should ask the sponsor or research coordinator whether the research you are thinking about joining was reviewed by an IRB.

What is a clinical trial sponsor?

Clinical trial sponsors may be people, institutions, companies, government agencies, or other organizations that are responsible for initiating, managing or financing the clinical trial, but do not conduct the research.

What is informed consent?

Informed consent is the process of providing you with key information about a research study before you decide whether to accept the offer to take part. The process of informed consent continues throughout the study. To help you decide whether to take part, members of the research team explain the details of the study. If you do not understand English, a translator or interpreter may be provided. The research team provides an informed consent document that includes details about the study, such as its purpose, how long it’s expected to last, tests or procedures that will be done as part of the research, and who to contact for further information. The informed consent document also explains risks and potential benefits. You can then decide whether to sign the document. Taking part in a clinical trial is voluntary and you can leave the study at any time.

What are the types of clinical trials?

There are different types of clinical trials.

• Prevention trials look for better ways to prevent a disease in people who have never had the disease or to prevent the disease from returning. Approaches may include medicines, vaccines, or lifestyle changes.
• Screening trials test new ways for detecting diseases or health conditions.
• Diagnostic trials study or compare tests or procedures for diagnosing a particular disease or condition.
• Treatment trials test new treatments, new combinations of drugs, or new approaches to surgery or radiation therapy.
• Behavioral trials evaluate or compare ways to promote behavioral changes designed to improve health.
• Quality of life trials (or supportive care trials) explore and measure ways to improve the comfort and quality of life of people with conditions or illnesses.

What are the phases of clinical trials?

Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps called “phases.” Each phase has a different purpose and helps researchers answer different questions.

• Phase I trials : Researchers test a drug or treatment in a small group of people (20–80) for the first time. The purpose is to study the drug or treatment to learn about safety and identify side effects.
• Phase II trials : The new drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people (100–300) to determine its effectiveness and to further study its safety.
• Phase III trials : The new drug or treatment is given to large groups of people (1,000–3,000) to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it with standard or similar treatments, and collect information that will allow the new drug or treatment to be used safely.
• Phase IV trials : After a drug is approved by the FDA and made available to the public, researchers track its safety in the general population, seeking more information about a drug or treatment’s benefits, and optimal use.

What do the terms placebo, randomization, and blinded mean in clinical trials?

In clinical trials that compare a new product or therapy with another that already exists, researchers try to determine if the new one is as good, or better than, the existing one. In some studies, you may be assigned to receive a placebo (an inactive product that resembles the test product, but without its treatment value).

Comparing a new product with a placebo can be the fastest and most reliable way to show the new product’s effectiveness. However, placebos are not used if you would be put at risk — particularly in the study of treatments for serious illnesses — by not having effective therapy. You will be told if placebos are used in the study before entering a trial.

Randomization is the process by which treatments are assigned to participants by chance rather than by choice. This is done to avoid any bias in assigning volunteers to get one treatment or another. The effects of each treatment are compared at specific points during a trial. If one treatment is found superior, the trial is stopped so that the most volunteers receive the more beneficial treatment.  This video helps explain randomization for all clinical trials .

" Blinded " (or " masked ") studies are designed to prevent members of the research team and study participants from influencing the results. Blinding allows the collection of scientifically accurate data. In single-blind (" single-masked ") studies, you are not told what is being given, but the research team knows. In a double-blind study, neither you nor the research team are told what you are given; only the pharmacist knows. Members of the research team are not told which participants are receiving which treatment, in order to reduce bias. If medically necessary, however, it is always possible to find out which treatment you are receiving.

Who takes part in clinical trials?

Many different types of people take part in clinical trials. Some are healthy, while others may have illnesses. Research procedures with healthy volunteers are designed to develop new knowledge, not to provide direct benefit to those taking part. Healthy volunteers have always played an important role in research.

Healthy volunteers are needed for several reasons. When developing a new technique, such as a blood test or imaging device, healthy volunteers help define the limits of "normal." These volunteers are the baseline against which patient groups are compared and are often matched to patients on factors such as age, gender, or family relationship. They receive the same tests, procedures, or drugs the patient group receives. Researchers learn about the disease process by comparing the patient group to the healthy volunteers.

Factors like how much of your time is needed, discomfort you may feel, or risk involved depends on the trial. While some require minimal amounts of time and effort, other studies may require a major commitment of your time and effort, and may involve some discomfort. The research procedure(s) may also carry some risk. The informed consent process for healthy volunteers includes a detailed discussion of the study's procedures and tests and their risks.

A patient volunteer has a known health problem and takes part in research to better understand, diagnose, or treat that disease or condition. Research with a patient volunteer helps develop new knowledge. Depending on the stage of knowledge about the disease or condition, these procedures may or may not benefit the study participants.

Patients may volunteer for studies similar to those in which healthy volunteers take part. These studies involve drugs, devices, or treatments designed to prevent,or treat disease. Although these studies may provide direct benefit to patient volunteers, the main aim is to prove, by scientific means, the effects and limitations of the experimental treatment. Therefore, some patient groups may serve as a baseline for comparison by not taking the test drug, or by receiving test doses of the drug large enough only to show that it is present, but not at a level that can treat the condition.

Researchers follow clinical trials guidelines when deciding who can participate, in a study. These guidelines are called Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria . Factors that allow you to take part in a clinical trial are called "inclusion criteria." Those that exclude or prevent participation are "exclusion criteria." These criteria are based on factors such as age, gender, the type and stage of a disease, treatment history, and other medical conditions. Before joining a clinical trial, you must provide information that allows the research team to determine whether or not you can take part in the study safely. Some research studies seek participants with illnesses or conditions to be studied in the clinical trial, while others need healthy volunteers. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are not used to reject people personally. Instead, the criteria are used to identify appropriate participants and keep them safe, and to help ensure that researchers can find new information they need.

What do I need to know if I am thinking about taking part in a clinical trial?

Risks and potential benefits

Clinical trials may involve risk, as can routine medical care and the activities of daily living. When weighing the risks of research, you can think about these important factors:

• The possible harms that could result from taking part in the study
• The level of harm
• The chance of any harm occurring

Most clinical trials pose the risk of minor discomfort, which lasts only a short time. However, some study participants experience complications that require medical attention. In rare cases, participants have been seriously injured or have died of complications resulting from their participation in trials of experimental treatments. The specific risks associated with a research protocol are described in detail in the informed consent document, which participants are asked to consider and sign before participating in research. Also, a member of the research team will explain the study and answer any questions about the study. Before deciding to participate, carefully consider risks and possible benefits.

Potential benefits

Well-designed and well-executed clinical trials provide the best approach for you to:

• Help others by contributing to knowledge about new treatments or procedures.
• Gain access to new research treatments before they are widely available.
• Receive regular and careful medical attention from a research team that includes doctors and other health professionals.

Risks to taking part in clinical trials include the following:

• There may be unpleasant, serious, or even life-threatening effects of experimental treatment.
• The study may require more time and attention than standard treatment would, including visits to the study site, more blood tests, more procedures, hospital stays, or complex dosage schedules.

What questions should I ask if offered a clinical trial?

If you are thinking about taking part in a clinical trial, you should feel free to ask any questions or bring up any issues concerning the trial at any time. The following suggestions may give you some ideas as you think about your own questions.

• What is the purpose of the study?
• Why do researchers think the approach may be effective?
• Who will fund the study?
• Who has reviewed and approved the study?
• How are study results and safety of participants being monitored?
• How long will the study last?
• What will my responsibilities be if I take part?
• Who will tell me about the results of the study and how will I be informed?

Risks and possible benefits

• What are my possible short-term benefits?
• What are my possible long-term benefits?
• What are my short-term risks, and side effects?
• What are my long-term risks?
• What other options are available?
• How do the risks and possible benefits of this trial compare with those options?

Participation and care

• What kinds of therapies, procedures and/or tests will I have during the trial?
• Will they hurt, and if so, for how long?
• How do the tests in the study compare with those I would have outside of the trial?
• Will I be able to take my regular medications while taking part in the clinical trial?
• Where will I have my medical care?
• Who will be in charge of my care?

Personal issues

• How could being in this study affect my daily life?
• Can I talk to other people in the study?

Cost issues

• Will I have to pay for any part of the trial such as tests or the study drug?
• If so, what will the charges likely be?
• What is my health insurance likely to cover?
• Who can help answer any questions from my insurance company or health plan?
• Will there be any travel or child care costs that I need to consider while I am in the trial?

Tips for asking your doctor about trials

• Consider taking a family member or friend along for support and for help in asking questions or recording answers.
• Plan what to ask — but don't hesitate to ask any new questions.
• Write down questions in advance to remember them all.
• Write down the answers so that they’re available when needed.
• Ask about bringing a tape recorder to make a taped record of what's said (even if you write down answers).

This information courtesy of Cancer.gov.

How is my safety protected?

Ethical guidelines

The goal of clinical research is to develop knowledge that improves human health or increases understanding of human biology. People who take part in clinical research make it possible for this to occur. The path to finding out if a new drug is safe or effective is to test it on patients in clinical trials. The purpose of ethical guidelines is both to protect patients and healthy volunteers, and to preserve the integrity of the science.

Informed consent

Informed consent is the process of learning the key facts about a clinical trial before deciding whether to participate. The process of providing information to participants continues throughout the study. To help you decide whether to take part, members of the research team explain the study. The research team provides an informed consent document, which includes such details about the study as its purpose, duration, required procedures, and who to contact for various purposes. The informed consent document also explains risks and potential benefits.

If you decide to enroll in the trial, you will need to sign the informed consent document. You are free to withdraw from the study at any time.

Most, but not all, clinical trials in the United States are approved and monitored by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure that the risks are minimal when compared with potential benefits. An IRB is an independent committee that consists of physicians, statisticians, and members of the community who ensure that clinical trials are ethical and that the rights of participants are protected. You should ask the sponsor or research coordinator whether the research you are considering participating in was reviewed by an IRB.

Further reading

For more information about research protections, see:

• Office of Human Research Protection
• Children's Assent to Clinical Trial Participation

For more information on participants’ privacy and confidentiality, see:

• HIPAA Privacy Rule
• The Food and Drug Administration, FDA’s Drug Review Process: Ensuring Drugs Are Safe and Effective

For more information about research protections, see: About Research Participation

What happens after a clinical trial is completed?

After a clinical trial is completed, the researchers carefully examine information collected during the study before making decisions about the meaning of the findings and about the need for further testing. After a phase I or II trial, the researchers decide whether to move on to the next phase or to stop testing the treatment or procedure because it was unsafe or not effective. When a phase III trial is completed, the researchers examine the information and decide whether the results have medical importance.

Results from clinical trials are often published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Peer review is a process by which experts review the report before it is published to ensure that the analysis and conclusions are sound. If the results are particularly important, they may be featured in the news, and discussed at scientific meetings and by patient advocacy groups before or after they are published in a scientific journal. Once a new approach has been proven safe and effective in a clinical trial, it may become a new standard of medical practice.

Ask the research team members if the study results have been or will be published. Published study results are also available by searching for the study's official name or Protocol ID number in the National Library of Medicine's PubMed® database .

How does clinical research make a difference to me and my family?

Only through clinical research can we gain insights and answers about the safety and effectiveness of treatments and procedures. Groundbreaking scientific advances in the present and the past were possible only because of participation of volunteers, both healthy and those with an illness, in clinical research. Clinical research requires complex and rigorous testing in collaboration with communities that are affected by the disease. As research opens new doors to finding ways to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure disease and disability, clinical trial participation is essential to help us find the answers.

This page last reviewed on October 3, 2022

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Medical Research

How to conduct research as a medical student, this article will address how to conduct research as a medical student, including details on different types of research, how to go about constructing an idea and other practical advice., kevin seely, oms iv.

Student Doctor Seely attends the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In addition to good grades, test performance, and notable characteristics, it is becoming increasingly important for medical students to participate in and publish research. Residency programs appreciate seeing that applicants are interested in improving the treatment landscape of medicine through the scientific method.

Many medical students also recognize that research is important. However, not all schools emphasize student participation in research or have associations with research labs. These factors, among others, often leave students wanting to do research but unsure of how to begin. This article will address how to conduct research as a medical student, including details on different types of research, how to go about constructing an idea, and other practical advice.

Types of research commonly conducted by medical students

This is not a comprehensive list, but rather, a starting point.

Case reports and case series

Case reports are detailed reports of the clinical course of an individual patient. They usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence or provide new evidence related to a specific pathological entity and its treatment. Advantages of case reports include a relatively fast timeline and little to no need for funding. A disadvantage, though, is that these contribute the most basic and least powerful scientific evidence and provide researchers with minimal exposure to the scientific process.

Case series, on the other hand, look at multiple patients retrospectively. In addition, statistical calculations can be performed to achieve significant conclusions, rendering these studies great for medical students to complete to get a full educational experience.

Clinical research

Clinical research is the peak of evidence-based medical research. Standard study designs include case-controlled trials, cohort studies or survey-based research. Clinical research requires IRB review, strict protocols and large sample sizes, thus requiring dedicated time and often funding. These can serve as barriers for medical students wanting to conduct this type of research. Be aware that the AOA offers students funding for certain research projects; you can learn more here . This year’s application window has closed, but you can always plan ahead and apply for the next grant cycle.

The advantages of clinical research include making a significant contribution to the body of medical knowledge and obtaining an understanding of what it takes to conduct clinical research. Some students take a dedicated research year to gain experience in this area.

Review articles

A literature review is a collection and summarization of literature on an unresolved, controversial or novel topic. There are different categories of reviews, including meta-analyses, systematic reviews and traditional literature reviews, offering very high, high and modest evidentiary value, respectively. Advantages of review articles include the possibility of remote collaboration and developing expertise on the subject matter. Disadvantages can include the time needed to complete the review and the difficulty of publishing this type of research.

Forming an idea

Research can be inspiring and intellectually stimulating or somewhat painful and dull. It’s helpful to first find an area of medicine in which you are interested and willing to invest time and energy. Then, search for research opportunities in this area. Doing so will make the research process more exciting and will motivate you to perform your best work. It will also demonstrate your commitment to your field of interest.

Think carefully before saying yes to studies that are too far outside your interests. Having completed research on a topic about which you are passionate will make it easier to recount your experience with enthusiasm and understanding in interviews. One way to refine your idea is by reading a recent literature review on your topic, which typically identifies gaps in current knowledge that need further investigation.

Finding a mentor

As medical students, we cannot be the primary investigator on certain types of research studies. So, you will need a mentor such as a DO, MD or PhD. If a professor approaches you about a research study, say yes if it’s something you can commit to and find interesting.

More commonly, however, students will need to approach a professor about starting a project. Asking a professor if they have research you can join is helpful, but approaching them with a well-thought-out idea is far better. Select a mentor whose area of interest aligns with that of your project. If they seem to think your idea has potential, ask them to mentor you. If they do not like your idea, it might open up an intellectual exchange that will refine your thinking. If you proceed with your idea, show initiative by completing the tasks they give you quickly, demonstrating that you are committed to the project.

Writing and publishing

Writing and publishing are essential components of the scientific process. Citation managers such as Zotero, Mendeley, and Connected Papers are free resources for keeping track of literature. Write using current scientific writing standards. If you are targeting a particular journal, you can look up their guidelines for writing and referencing. Writing is a team effort.

When it comes time to publish your work, consult with your mentor about publication. They may or may not be aware of an appropriate journal. If they’re not, Jane , the journal/author name estimator, is a free resource to start narrowing down your journal search. Beware of predatory publishing practices and aim to submit to verifiable publications indexed on vetted databases such as PubMed.

One great option for the osteopathic profession is the AOA’s Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (JOM). Learn more about submitting to JOM here .

My experience

As a second-year osteopathic medical student interested in surgery, my goal is to apply to residency with a solid research foundation. I genuinely enjoy research, and I am a member of my institution’s physician-scientist co-curricular track. With the help of amazing mentors and co-authors, I have been able to publish a literature review and a case-series study in medical school. I currently have some additional projects in the pipeline as well.

My board exams are fast approaching, so I will soon have to adjust the time I am currently committing to research. Once boards are done, though, you can bet I will be back on the research grind! I am so happy to be on this journey with all my peers and colleagues in medicine. Research is a great way to advance our profession and improve patient care.

 Keys to success

Research is a team effort. Strive to be a team player who communicates often and goes above and beyond to make the project a success. Be a finisher. Avoid joining a project if you are not fully committed, and employ resiliency to overcome failure along the way. Treat research not as a passive process, but as an active use of your intellectual capability. Push yourself to problem-solve and discover. You never know how big of an impact you might make.

Disclaimers:

Human subject-based research always requires authorization and institutional review before beginning. Be sure to follow your institution’s rules before engaging in any type of research.

This column was written from the perspective from a current medical student with the review and input from my COM’s director of research and scholarly activity, Amanda Brooks, PhD. 

Related reading:

H ow to find a mentor in medical school

Tips on surviving—and thriving—during your first year of medical school

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How to get involved in research as a medical student

• Related content
• Peer review
• Anna Kathryn Taylor , final year medical student 1 ,
• Sarah Purdy , professor of primary care and associate dean 1
• 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol, UK

Participating in research gives students great skills and opportunities. Anna Taylor and Sarah Purdy explain how to get started

This article contains:

-How to get involved with research projects

-Questions to ask yourself before starting research

-What can you get published? Research output

-Advice for contacting researchers

-Different types of research explained

-Stages of research projects

Students often go into medicine because of a desire to help others and improve patients’ physical and mental wellbeing. In the early years of medical school, however, it can seem as if you are not making much difference to patient care. Involvement in research can provide exciting opportunities to work as part of a team, improve career prospects, and most importantly add to the evidence base, leading to better outcomes for patients.

Research is usually multidisciplinary, including clinical academics (medical doctors who spend part of their working life doing research), nurses, patients, scientists, and researchers without a medical background. Involvement in such a team can improve your communication skills and expand your understanding of how a multidisciplinary team works.

Participating in research can also help you to develop skills in writing and critical appraisal through the process of publishing your work. You may be able to present your work at conferences—either as a poster or an oral presentation—and this can provide valuable points for job applications at both foundation programme and core training level. This is particularly important if you are considering a career in academia. You will also develop skills in time management, problem solving, and record keeping. You might discover an area of medicine in which you are keen to carry out further work. For some people, getting involved in research as a medical student can be the first step in an academic career.

Kyla Thomas, National Institute for Health Research clinical lecturer in public …

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How to Write and Publish Clinical Research in Medical School

From working hard on the USMLE® exams to holding leadership positions in a specialty’s academic society, there are many ways medical students can work towards matching into the residency of their choice. One such activity that looks great on residency applications is finding clinical research opportunities in medical school to write and publish papers. No one knows this better than Dr. Eve Bowers. 

An Otolaryngology resident at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Eve became an expert in writing, submitting, and publishing manuscripts during her final years in medical school. Check out Eve’s blog post below to get valuable insights on how to get published in medical school. 

As medical students, we’re told that research is important and that publications are “good”, and even “necessary to match ” into residency, but we often aren’t given the tools we need to turn ideas into manuscripts. This is especially true given our rigorous schedules. 

When I looked through my CV, I saw I had a few abstracts and presentations, but no manuscripts. I wanted to write, but publishing seemed like just checking another resume box. On top of that, I didn’t know where to begin. 

My writing journey started with a case report I nervously picked up during my surgery clerkship . Then, over ten months of typing, editing, and sending unanswered emails, I went from writing 0 to ten manuscripts. The process was sometimes painful but mostly gratifying (yes, research can be gratifying), and you can do it, too.

To make finding, starting, and publishing high-quality research articles a little bit easier and a lot more enjoyable, check out my five tips for publishing clinical research in medical school.

1. Build your network to find publication opportunities in medical school

When looking for projects, finding great mentors is often more useful than finding the perfect project. This is especially true when starting out. Use your time on clerkships to identify attending and resident mentors who you trust to support your budding author ambitions.

At this stage, residents especially are your friends . When you demonstrate follow-through and receptiveness to feedback, you will be given more research opportunities. Don’t be shy about asking mentors for tasks if you can juggle multiple projects, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. It’s important to communicate honestly and be transparent about the amount of time you have.

2. Kickstarting your research during medical school: start small 

If you have no research experience, start with a case report. Volunteer to write an article about an interesting case you saw in the operating room or clinic. It’s much easier and more rewarding to write about patients you have experience with, and case reports are a great way to demonstrate your writing ability to more senior authors.

Pro tip : Try to figure out as much as you can independently by using published reports as blueprints before asking for help. Nevertheless, don’t be afraid to seek guidance when you need it! If you approach a mentor with a problem, come prepared with 2-3 realistic solutions or examples of how you tried to figure it out on your own.

3. Know the criteria for writing a clinical research paper 

Before you begin, ask your mentor where they would like to submit the completed work. Each journal has specific standards, styles, and submission criteria. For guidance, look to papers previously published in that journal. 

As far as annotations and citations are concerned, download and learn how to use Endnote or Zotero right now! You’ll save days of work formatting your references.

Additionally, consider creating folders and spreadsheets to keep track of projects. Set goals and timelines for yourself from the beginning, and block off dedicated time to conduct a literature review, analyze data, and write.

Pro tip : If you are the first author and overseeing a large team, improve communication and efficiency by making everyone’s roles and expectations very clear to the group via email.

4. Follow up with your mentor

Sometimes you’ll send your mentor a draft, but she won’t get back to you with edits and feedback in a reasonable timeframe. Surprisingly, many projects do not get past this point because of insufficient persistence. Here’s what to do if this happens:

• Politely nudge your mentor with follow-up emails and schedule a meeting to discuss in person or via Zoom.
• Set deadlines and give specific reasons why the paper needs to be submitted. Some reasons could include, “I need this submission for my residency application ” or “this is a requirement for my school.”
• Ask your co-author resident and/or fellow to advocate for edits and submission.

Whatever happens, don’t give up at this point. You’ve put in the work, and persistence makes or breaks a successful student-author.

5. Write about the medical topics that you love

Writing is fun when you focus on subjects you’re really passionate about. You also don’t have to stay within your institution: feel free to branch out if you come across an interesting research opportunity at a different program. A little cold email can go a long way!

If your goal is quantity, you can increase output by asking around about “productive” research mentors and sticking to topics related to clinical practice or medical education. However, my advice is to never let relatively quick publication opportunities compromise the quality of your work. Remember — every paper you write gets easier and more enjoyable, and your work will be truly important to advancing the field you care about. Good luck!

About the Author : Eve is an Otolaryngology Resident at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. She attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about medical education, mentorship, and increasing minority and female leadership in surgical fields. For more tips and tricks, follow her on Twitter and Instagram !

For more information on residency applications, check out the AMBOSS Residency Applications Clerkship Survival Guide. 

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Tools and Techniques for Effective Clinical Research Start-up at an Academic Medical Center

Abstract : Activating a clinical research project at an academic medical center requires significant planning and effort from study teams. Research sponsors often have difficulty understanding any process lacking in consistency and transparency and so start-up becomes a barrier to study enrollment. This article breaks down such barriers by advocating specific project management and communication tools and techniques that accelerate the study start-up process without sacrificing quality.

Declaring Goals for Study Start-up

Study start-up is the project calibration stage of any clinical research project. There are many rules, regulations, and processes to be followed when conducting clinical research, and so it is essential to first have a strategy for successful completion of a project.

Table 1 highlights the goals for study start-up. From the onset, it is necessary for stakeholders to have a clear understanding of the institutional process as well as the more local program-specific process for study start-up. Individual program areas have their own priorities, so even within the same academic medical center, the start-up can take on a variety of forms, often for good reason. If it is difficult to create a one-size-fits-all model, it is then necessary to cultivate a flexible predictability via organizational consensus, staff training and education, and clear and regular communication with sponsors. Striving to meet sponsor expectations while executing organizational mandates are key objectives during start-up.

Identifying Barriers to Study Start-up

Executing on institutional mandates and minimizing the duration of study start-up are not mutually exclusive goals, but the interplay is often complicated. Institutional mandates account for sound legal, safety, and financial considerations. Study teams must be empowered to promote and act on these goals while also advocating for the priorities of clinical investigators and sponsors who wish to partner on a study.

There can be a lack of predictability in study start-up (Table 2). Portfolio complexity can be a barrier to site activation. For example, UCLA Pediatrics has about a dozen medical sub-specialty divisions conducting clinical research at a given time: clinical trials, retrospective analyses, biorepositories, and longitudinal and non-interventional studies of rare diseases, etc. These divisions can be even further sub-specialized down to the investigator portfolio level.

Perhaps understandably then, there is a great deal of variety in the types of sponsors and research in this space. At a given time, about 50% of our projects are likely to be industry-sponsored, 30-35% non-profit sponsored, and 15-20% collaborative (industry and non-profit involvement). We must be intelligent in the way that we manage this because complexity readily travels into the legal, safety, finance, and operations arenas.

At UCLA, the sponsor types and project types dictate specialized contracting unit workflows. To avoid delays in start-up, knowing which office to engage for support in negotiation of a sponsored agreement is essential.

The Office of Contracts and Grants Administration (OCGA) 2 manages all federally-funded research awards as well as research awards funded by non-profit organizations or the state. This office supports the university at large, not only the health sciences.

UCLA also supports clinical research partnerships with private industry. There are two specialized contracting units for these partnerships:

Clinical Trials Contracts and Strategic Relations (CTC&SR) 3 deals in clinical trial research awards for the investigation of medical devices, biologics, and investigational drugs. This office supports the health sciences specifically.

The Technology Development Group 4 supports industry-sponsored clinical research awards that are not clinical trials. Like OCGA, this office supports the university at large, not only the health sciences.

In instances of for-profit and non-profit partnership, the general process guidelines are modified to suit the needs of the project.

Finance and Operations

Gaining approvals from the variety of ancillary medical services necessary to accommodate all protocol requirements can be another barrier to completing start-up. Upon receiving an application and completing a service analysis, each support unit produces its own budget that will be included in the sponsor’s overall project budget.

A non-exhaustive list of these ancillary service units includes the investigational pharmacy, the clinical and translational research center, clinical radiology, clinical pathology, anesthesia, pheresis and stem cell units, nuclear medicine, ophthalmology, a functional assessment lab, highly specialized core laboratories 5 , a medical device formulary, and a gene and cell therapy manufacturing facility. 6

When sponsor clarification is required, it can be challenging for teams to pull together all of the necessary ancillary service agreements in a timely fashion, but it is essential to the financial and operational success of the project.

Putting aside the well-known and valuable role of medical IRBs in clinical research, and considering for a moment a specific aspect of the process as it relates to the whole, what may not be obvious to sponsors, and which may not be true at all academic medical centers, is the role that the IRB plays in holding its approval back until other important safety or scientific approvals are shown to be in place.

At UCLA, a non-exhaustive list of these other approvals includes committees for internal scientific peer review; medical radiation safety, biosafety, and/or a central IRB approval. If our IRB has not issued its local approval, it may very well intend to do so once these other committees provide theirs. If study teams do not make this distinction clear to sponsors or to colleagues within the organization, the issue may be confused and complicate the overall outlook for start-up at the site.

Ultimately, UCLA requires legal, financial, and safety approvals from study teams in order to undertake a sponsored clinical research study. Project specifics often mandate the path that a project takes, and it is the site’s responsibility to guide sponsors along the selected path.

Tools and Techniques for Effective Study Start-up

Since infrastructure and priorities naturally vary from one organization to the next, in most cases the following recommendations are purposefully general to allow for easy adoption and modification to the specific needs of individuals, programs, and organizations.

Project Management

Organizations recognizing value in an independent project management role may find more success in this landscape than those organizations that do not. This is because the many legal, safety, financial, and operational concerns in start-up must be kept on track to meet start-up goals, and they do not cease with site activation. If existing study team members do not have the ability to do project management because they are tending to other essential responsibilities, like coordinating patient visits for active studies, reporting data to sponsors, and maintaining the regulatory body of ongoing studies, etc., then the site might consider appointing a dedicated project manager to provide effort in this space.

Simple Software

UCLA Pediatrics uses a formulated Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to track administrative and scientific tasks required for study start-up. In addition to providing a reliable space to track our process data, we also have the local flexibility to modify and adjust to the real-time environment. We use this approach to track, among other things, the average length of time that it takes to activate a project in our portfolio. Knowing about how long study start-up takes makes it easier to manage expectations and plan for each new project sent down a similar path. We are also able to measure and target slowdowns in any of the major start-up pathways.

Advanced Software

The more rapid flow of information is essential to start-up. UCLA made a strategic decision to leverage its existing and familiar webIRB system as the front end of a multi-program research continuum called ResearchConnect. 7 The webIRB interfaces with the CTMS, which in turn interfaces with the electronic health record. This fundamentally restructured the study activation pathway from the previous disconnected IRB, finance, and contracting reviews into a parallel review model initiated at the point of webIRB submission. Now legal, safety, and financial reviews happen in parallel, and uniform information is disseminated more broadly to stakeholders, aiming to shorten the period between submissions and approvals to the greatest extent possible without sacrificing quality.

Obvious Communication

Whether using telephone, email, or in-person meetings, or using all three, regular communication and periodic status check-ins have an uncanny way of advancing a project toward approval.

The Single Application Method

Committee applications take all shapes: hard copy forms, emails, online applications, etc. It is necessary to prospectively identify all required study approvals and prepare the applications at once. Use a major deadline for a target, perhaps the IRB’s deadline. Submit all required applications on the same day to establish a uniform starting point. This approach lends predictability to the work: someone will not need to remember to get something else in later when other approvals may depend on it. One will most likely have their minor approvals in hand when they need to provide them for major approvals. This approach brings alignment and quiet to an unruly information exchange.

Create a Checkpoint

About a month after submission (or sooner if to needed), plan to meet with project stakeholders to ensure completion of initial tasks and to discuss the final steps to be taken to complete start-up. At UCLA Pediatrics, this meeting has taken the form of a finance committee meeting in which we gather ancillary service approvals with cost estimates and present the budget for PI review. We also take it as an opportunity to remind ourselves that we must push ahead with energy to reach the finish line.

Completion of Start-up

Tying up loose ends is easier said than done. As one nears the end of the start-up period, one should not be ashamed to over communicate the team’s desire to complete the agreement. Involve all necessary parties in a single conversation so that nothing is missed. Keep in mind that we do not do clinical research because start-up is a grand challenge; we do start-up so that we may do clinical research.  

Declaring the goals for study start-up at the onset is the first step toward clinical trial success, but then, execution and tenacious follow-through are key elements of reaching goals. Study teams should actively engage stakeholders within the organization, and the sponsor, to ensure understanding of the study-specific needs and organizational requirements. Study teams should also employ tools and techniques to keep all parties engaged as necessary throughout study start-up so as to reach an agreement as quickly as possible. One success leads to another!

#          #          #

Goals for Study Start-Up

• Meeting sponsor expectations
• Executing on institutional mandates
• Stakeholder understanding of the process
• Identifying and overcoming project complexities

Barriers to Study Start-Up

• Specialization vs. Standardization
• Contracting according to project types and sponsor types
• Specialized ancillary support services and budgeting
• Diffused safety and scientific committee approvals

Tools and Techniques for Effective Study Start-Up

• Program trackers
• Software applications
• Communications
• “Single application” method
• Follow-through

4 thoughts on “Tools and Techniques for Effective Clinical Research Start-up at an Academic Medical Center”

Your article really piqued my curiosity. I had to consider some of your unique ideas in order to think about them a bit. I agree in part with your views. Thank you for interesting content.

it is easy to make a goal in clinical research but hard to execute. there are some unique ideas in this blog. thank you.

hey it looks important. greatly defined meaning of clinical research. thank you for sharing.

Streamlining the study start-up process through effective project management and communication tools is crucial for accelerating clinical research projects. Clear goals, proactive identification of barriers, and the implementation of appropriate techniques can enhance efficiency and collaboration, ultimately leading to successful study execution.

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7 Strategies for Getting an Entry-Level Clinical Research Job

News December 8, 2020

Kunal Sampat, MNA, ACRP-CP, Host of the Clinical Trial Podcast

Many people applying for entry-level clinical research jobs may begin their journey by enrolling in a certificate program. They invest months or years, not to mention thousands of dollars, toward earning a certificate, yet upon finishing and hitting the job markets, are likely to still be dealing with unresponsive hiring managers who are looking for individuals with two years of experience. (It is important to note here that having a “certificate” in clinical research from some source is not the same as holding “certification” in clinical research—an achievement based on mastery of job roles and solid experience in the field.)

How does one get around such a situation to get that first dream job in clinical research with less hassle, less expense, and more reliable prospects for employment at the end of the process? Presented here are some strategies that can work extremely well for individuals with foreign medical degrees, backgrounds in life sciences or allied health, or experience working in a regulated environment.

1—Gain clarity on your career goals.

  When most people apply for clinical research jobs, they fire up their computer and start applying for open positions. Before applying you should begin your journey by answering the following questions:

• Do you want a paid job or a volunteer opportunity? Is the experience you’ll gain more important, or do you really need a paycheck right away?
• Who do you want to work for? Clinical research is a vast field with different types of companies offering different kinds of job opportunities. You can work for a contract research organization, a sponsor such as pharmaceutical or device company, a clinical research vendor, a regulatory authority such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration , a nonprofit organization such as a patient advocacy group, an institutional review board, or a study site, to name some of the options.
• What job role are you most interested in? Is there a specific one you’d enjoy more than others? There are many other clinical research opportunities in addition to the clinical research associate (CRA) or clinical research coordinator (CRC) roles. For example, you can work as a data manager, safety monitor, patient recruiter, medical writer, biostatistician, project manager, regulatory compliance manager, or research billing expert.
• Would you enjoy working in the field (traveling or remote work) or in an office environment? Some people enjoy being on the road (and earning frequent flyer points). Others get more energy interacting with people at the office. Most clinical research roles offer the ability to work remotely or in an office setting.
• Are you open to relocating to a different city, state, or country? Entry-level positions may not offer the best pay, so you’ll need to decide if you’d be open to relocating, even if the pay was low.
• Are you looking for full-time, part-time, or contract employment? Depending on your personal circumstances, you may be more interested in a full-time position for the medical benefits or in a part-time role for a better work-life balance. Alternatively, you may be interested to contract opportunities at first and then transition into full-time employment once you have experience under your belt.

Answering these six questions honestly will give you the necessary clarity on which opportunities you should pursue and which ones you shouldn’t.

2—Invest in your clinical research education.

At a minimum, I encourage everyone to become familiar with the tenets of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) early in their job quest. Depending on the type of clinical research organization you decide to work at, your training beyond GCP will differ significantly. For example, training for an oncology pharmaceutical company will be different than training for a cardiology medical device company.

You can watch hundreds of YouTube videos on clinical trials or medical technologies, attend conferences or seminars, and get in-depth software training, but still not have a job in clinical research. Here is what you can do to narrow down your clinical research education priorities:

• Identify the dream role (career opportunity) you’re interested in applying for.
• Read through the job description—specifically, the job requirements.
• Highlight the skills you have little or no knowledge or experience with.
• Look up webinars, YouTube videos, and literature to develop those specific skills (i.e., fill the skill gap).

The above plan won’t make you an expert in those skills, but you will have built confidence in yourself and your ability to speak to these topics during interviews. If you feel you need more training, I encourage you to sign-up for membership with nonprofit professional organizations such as ACRP or SOCRA . Membership gives you access to many training resources; a lot of information is available to you for no additional cost aside from the basic membership fee.

Additionally, with your membership, you end up surrounding yourself with other experienced clinical research professionals via networking with their virtual communities and by attending educational events. You can then reach out to your fellow members for career guidance and make them aware of your interest in working in clinical research.

3—Fix your resume.

Your resume must not read like a job description. Most employers rely on a resume to screen applicants. Unfortunately, if your resume reads like a job description, the hiring manager does not get a clear understanding of your contributions in your current and previous roles. Instead, your resume should reflect your own professional achievements. You want to clearly state the results you achieved in your previous roles and, when possible, you should quantify the results. For example, instead of stating, “Worked in a research lab analyzing preclinical data,” you might want to state, “Analyzed data from two preclinical studies in mice for an Alzheimer’s drug.”

If you feel like your clinical or medical-oriented experiences are limited, focus on transferable skills for the research position you seek. Transferable skills such as financial management, project management, writing, and informational systems management are applicable to clinical research as well.

 4—Focus on 10 job opportunities and always follow up.

Focus on only 10 job applications at a given time. Many applicants apply for multiple jobs every week during their searches. Over the course of a couple of months, they have applied for dozens of jobs, but probably haven’t had a formal interview for any position. Instead of applying for every possible clinical research job as soon as they appear on the radar, I have found that applying for 10 at a given time gives applicants the time and energy to personalize their approach for each position.

Following up with employers is absolutely necessary. Even though hiring is a top priority for many organizations, hiring managers get busy with their day-to-day activities and hiring can take the back seat. By following up with the hiring manager, you’re demonstrating your continued interest in working for the company.

5—Write and speak clearly.

Aside from strong technical skills for many jobs, you may also need to demonstrate above-average written and verbal skills. This is important because clinical research is a cross-functional, team-oriented field. For most roles, you’ll be working in a team environment. When the job description states, “candidate must have excellent communication skills,” the employer wants to ensure you can write and speak clearly.

Many candidates will create a page-long, generic cover letter that repeats everything that can be found in their resume. Such a cover letter fails to show the employer why you’re the right fit for the role. Instead, I recommend applicants write a cover letter with three to five bulleted points that outline the benefits of hiring him or her for the job. The more personalized your cover letter is to a given employer and role, the greater chance you have for being invited for an interview.

Personalized cover letters might make reference to a specific clinical trial the hiring company is running, the company’s therapeutic area(s), and other details that show you’ve done your homework and are engaged in the opportunity to work there.

When it comes to verbal communication, the easiest way to have clarity in your message is to write down the key points you want to discuss on the phone. This forces you to be clear about why the company should hire you and not some other candidate with equivalent credentials.

6—Prepare for your interview.

Once you’ve landed with an interview date, it is time to prepare for the interview, using the following tips:

• Read the “About” and “News” section of the company website. Learn about the company’s clinical and regulatory leadership team. The news section will provide insights from the latest press releases from the company. This will give you an idea of what is on the company’s “mind.” You can also visit ClinicalTrials.gov for more information on the company’s trials, and to get a better understanding of the medical treatments being developed and their targeted patient populations.
• The biggest unknown in any interview is that you do not know what questions the interviewer will ask you. To help focus your answers, I recommend that you come up with a list of five to eight examples from your education or professional experiences that you’re proud of or that taught you something valuable. When possible, limit these to experiences that are medical or clinical in nature. Next you want to create a story around each of these examples that will become a valuable answer to an appropriate question. The best way to create a story is using the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, and Results). For each of these examples, you want to write down the situation, the task in front of you, the action you took, and the results achieved as a result of your actions.

Once you’ve completed these steps, you’re almost ready for the interview. The last thing you need to do is to appear and sound professional during and after the interview. Be sure you write a personalized “thank you” note after each interview.

7—Have the courage to hear “No.” Remember that you will eventually hear “Yes.”

Many entry-level clinical research applicants lack the courage to hear that, “No, we cannot hire you for this job” from potential employers. It is painful to hear a “No” and rightfully so. Furthermore, most employers do a poor job of providing constructive feedback to applicants they don’t want to hire. Employers don’t want to say “No” to the not-so-great candidates because they fear not finding the “right” candidate for the job; they prefer to have a backup list of candidates in case their preferred candidate doesn’t work out.

This makes it even more important for candidates to encourage employers to make a decision, whether it’s a “Yes” or a “No.” This not only helps the candidate, it also helps employers to move on to other candidates who might be a better fit for the organization.

You don’t need to sign up for an expensive and time-intensive clinical research certificate program to secure an entry-level job in clinical research. Instead, you need to gain clarity around your clinical research career ambitions, learn GCP, invest in your continued education through nonprofits such as ACRP and SOCRA, fix your resume so that it doesn’t read like a job description, focus on 10 open opportunities at a given time, write and speak clearly in all your communications with the potential employer, plan for your interview using the Situation, Task, Action, Results (STAR) format, and embrace rejection if you’re not hired for the role. These strategies, collectively, will increase the odds of your success tremendously and you’ll be on your way to experiencing the joys of working in clinical research and clinical trial management.

by Guest Contributor Kunal Sampat, MNA, ACRP-CP, Host of the Clinical Trial Podcast

BEAVER Method—How to Get a Job in Clinical Research

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Getting Started in Clinical Research

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• How to Become a Medical Researcher – 6 Steps You Must Take
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A medical researcher, sometimes referred to as a medical scientist, carries out scientific studies to enhance our understanding of medicine and how to treat illnesses better. Their work is crucial for pushing healthcare forward, leading to new treatments and technologies that save lives and improve the quality of care for patients.

Those passionate about making their mark in the medical field often find themselves working there. However, despite the rewards this career offers, it requires commitment. Understanding how to get into medical research as well as the steps to take is crucial for determining whether this career is for you. Read on to discover more!

What Is a Medical Researcher?

A medical researcher plays a crucial role in discovering new ways to improve our health. They conduct experiments to test new medicines or treatments, carefully analyze the results, and then share their findings through publications. This process helps the medical community learn more about diseases and how to combat them.

Medical research is vast and covers various fields. For example, clinical research focuses on testing new treatments or drugs directly on patients to see if they are safe and effective. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread and affect different groups of people, helping identify illness patterns and causes. Translational research bridges the gap between laboratory discoveries and real-world medical treatments. It aims to quickly turn scientific findings into practical solutions that can be used in healthcare. Together, these fields of medical research contribute to advancing our understanding of health and disease, leading to better prevention, diagnosis, and treatments.

What Does a Medical Researcher Do?

A medical researcher completes many important tasks. They design studies to answer specific health questions, collect data through experiments or observations, analyze the results to find patterns or answers, and then write research papers to share their findings with others. This process helps improve our understanding of diseases and health.

Medical research is a team effort. Researchers often collaborate with people from different fields, such as biology, statistics, and medicine, to get a well-rounded view of their study. They also collaborate with doctors and healthcare professionals to apply their findings in real-life settings. This teamwork strengthens medical research because it combines knowledge from various areas to tackle health problems more effectively.

How to Become a Medical Researcher?

Becoming a medical researcher is an exciting path for those who want to explore the mysteries of health and disease. The journey to getting there includes a mixture of education and practical work, ensuring you are equipped with all the skills necessary to succeed in this dynamic field.

Earn a Bachelor’s Degree

Earning a Bachelor’s degree in biology, chemistry, or biochemistry is like laying the foundation for future study. It gives you the basic knowledge and skills needed for a career in medical research or related fields. A strong GPA is important because it shows you understand the material well, which is crucial for tackling complex research problems. Also, getting involved in research during your undergraduate studies is a big plus. It gives you a taste of what medical research is like and helps you stand out when applying for further studies or jobs. Together, these steps prepare you for success in the scientific community.

Earn a Medical Degree

Choosing to pursue a medical degree, like an MD program (Doctor of Medicine) or DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine), opens the door to becoming a physician-researcher. At this point, it’s crucial to know what makes a medical school application stand out and approach it strategically. This special path lets you both treat patients and conduct research to find new ways to improve healthcare. As a physician-researcher, you can apply your scientific discoveries directly to patient care, seeing firsthand how your work makes a difference. It’s a challenging but rewarding journey for those passionate about making a lasting impact on health and medicine.

Complete a Three-Year Residency

After earning their medical degree, physician-researchers must complete a residency program. This is a critical step where they work in hospitals or clinics for several years, gaining hands-on experience in treating patients under the supervision of experienced doctors. During residency, they learn a lot about different medical conditions and how to manage them. This period is crucial for building their clinical skills and medical knowledge, preparing them to be both excellent doctors and insightful researchers who can contribute to advancing medical science.

Get a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree

Obtaining a PhD in a field like biomedical sciences or public health means going deeper into studying and researching a specific area of medicine. This journey starts with taking advanced classes to build your knowledge. Then, the main focus shifts to doing your own research project. You’ll pick a unique question to explore, conduct experiments or studies to find answers, and finally, write a detailed dissertation about what you discovered. This process, which takes several years, prepares you to be an expert in your field, ready to contribute new knowledge to the world of medical research.

Pass the United States Medical Learning Examination (USMLE)

For physician-researchers in the United States, passing the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) is a must to get a medical license. This series of exams tests your knowledge and skills in medicine to ensure you’re ready to provide high-quality care to patients. Part of the test, for example, is the USMLE Step 2 CK , where you will be tested on clinical science. At further stages, it will cover everything from basic medical science concepts to clinical skills. Passing this exam is a big step toward practicing medicine and conducting research that can improve patient care.

Obtain Licensing and Certification

Getting a medical license or certification is highly important for doctor-researchers, depending on what their job or the place they want to work requires. This license proves they have the knowledge and skills to treat patients safely and effectively. For research positions, especially those involving direct patient care, being licensed ensures you meet the high standards needed to conduct medical research ethically and responsibly. It opens doors to more opportunities, allowing researchers to make a more significant impact in both patient care and the medical research community.

What Skills Do You Need to Become a Medical Researcher

Medical researchers need several key skills to be successful at their job, including:

• Analytical Skills : Ability to examine data and extract meaningful insights
• Attention to Detail : Noticing and considering every small part or fact to avoid errors
• Communication Skills : Clearly conveying research findings and ideas, both in writing and speaking, to a variety of audiences
• Teamwork : Collaborating effectively with other researchers, healthcare professionals, and possibly patients
• Critical Thinking : Evaluating information logically and creatively to make reasoned decisions and solve problems
• Problem-Solving Skills : Identifying issues within a study and finding effective solutions
• Ethics : Understanding and applying ethical principles to research involving human or animal subjects
• Time Management : Effectively managing one’s time to balance research, publication deadlines, and possibly clinical duties

Job Outlook and Salary

The job outlook for medical researchers is bright, with a growing demand for skilled professionals. As we face new health challenges and continue to seek better treatments for diseases, the need for innovative research increases. According to BLS data , the need for medical researchers is projected to grow 10% in the following decade, meaning more opportunities to work in the field.

Salaries in this sector can vary widely. Factors like experience, education, and where you work (e.g., in a big city versus a rural area) can make a big difference in how much you earn. Generally, medical researchers can expect to earn up to $99,930 per year, a salary that reflects the importance and complexity of their work and offers many opportunities for advancement.

To become a successful medical researcher, you need a strong foundation in biology, chemistry, or a related field, followed by advanced training such as a PhD or medical degree. Essential skills include analytical thinking, attention to detail, and effective communication. If you’re passionate about advancing healthcare, start by pursuing relevant education and seeking research opportunities. Dive into the world of medical research and contribute to life-saving discoveries!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

Can you still be a doctor and do research.

Yes, you can be a doctor and also conduct research. Many physicians split their time between seeing patients and working on research projects to advance medical knowledge.

Can you be a medical researcher without being a doctor?

Yes, you can be a medical researcher without being a doctor. Many researchers have PhDs in fields like biology, biochemistry, or public health instead of medical degrees.

If I want to go into medical research, is biochemistry a good major choice?

Biochemistry is an excellent major for going into medical research. It gives you a solid foundation in the sciences that underpin medicine, helping you understand the chemical processes behind health and disease.

How many years does it take to be a medical researcher?

Becoming a medical researcher typically takes about 8 to 12 years after undergraduate studies, including time spent earning a PhD or MD and gaining additional research experience.

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The Guide to Becoming a Medical Researcher

• February 1, 2023

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As a medical researcher, your job is to conduct research to improve the health status and longevity of the population. The career revolves around understanding the causes, treatments, and prevention of diseases and medical conditions through rigorous clinical investigations, epidemiological studies, and laboratory experiments. As a medical researcher, simply gaining formal education won’t suffice. You also need to hone your communication, critical thinking, decision-making, data collecting, data analyzing and observational skills. These skill sets will enable you to create a competitive edge in the research industry. On a typical day, a medical researcher would be collecting, interpreting, and analyzing data from clinical trials, working alongside engineering, regulatory, and quality assurance experts to evaluate the risk of medical devices, or maybe even preparing and examining medical samples for causes or treatments of toxicity, disease, or pathogens.

How To Become a Medical Research Doctor?

The roadmap to medical research is a bit tricky to navigate, because it is a profession that demands distinctive skills and expertise along with mandatory formal education. If you harbor an interest in scientific exploration and a desire to break new ground in medical knowledge, the first step is to earn a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as biology, chemistry, or biochemistry. After completing your undergraduate education, you will need to earn a Medical Degree ( MD ) or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree, from a quality institution such as the Windsor university school of Medicine.

After that, the newly minted doctor of medicine (MD) may choose to complete a three-year residency program in a specialty related to medical research, such as internal medicine, pediatrics, or neurology, in addition to a doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree—the part that provides the research expertise. In some  medical school  programs, students may pursue a dual MD-PhD at the same time, which provides training in both medicine and research. They are specifically designed for those who want to become research physicians. Last but not the least, all physician-scientists must pass the first two steps of the United States Medical Learning Examination (USMLE).

Use your fellowship years to hone the research skills necessary to carry out independent research. You may also take courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, and other related fields. In order to publish your research in peer-reviewed journals to establish yourself as a medical researcher. To apply for a faculty position at a medical school, research institute, or hospital. To maintain your position as a medical research doctor, you must publish your research and make significant contributions to the field.

How Much Do Medical Researchers Make?

Having a clear idea of what to earn when you become a medical researcher can help you decide if this is a good career choice for you. The salaries of Medical Researchers in the US range from $26,980 to $155,180, with a median salary of $82,240. There is also room for career advancement and higher earning potential as you gain experience.

The Most Popular Careers in Medical Research

• Medical Scientists  – conduct research and experiments to improve our understanding of diseases and to develop new treatments. They also develop new medical technologies and techniques.
• Biomedical engineers  – design medical devices, such as pacemakers, prosthetics, and imaging machines. They also develop and improve existing medical technologies.
• Clinical Trial Coordinators  – oversee and manage clinical trials, which test new drugs and treatments. They are responsible for recruiting participants, collecting and analyzing data, and ensuring the trial is conducted in compliance with ethical standards.
• Medical Laboratory Technicians  – analyze bodily fluids and tissues to diagnose diseases and conditions. They perform tests using specialized equipment and techniques, and report results to physicians.
• Biostatisticians  – collect statistics to analyze data and test hypotheses in medical research. They design and analyze clinical trials, and use statistical models to understand the causes and effects of diseases.
• Epidemiologists  – study the causes, distribution, and control of diseases in populations. They collect and analyze data, and use their findings to develop strategies for preventing and controlling diseases.
• Pathologists  – diagnose diseases by examining tissues and bodily fluids. They use microscopes and other diagnostic tools to identify and study the changes in tissues caused by disease.
• Genetic Counselors  – help individuals understand and manage the risks associated with inherited genetic disorders. They educate patients about genetic tests and help families make informed decisions about their health.
• Health Services Researchers  – study the delivery of healthcare and identify ways to improve it.
• Medical writers  – write articles, reports, and other materials related to medical research.
• Microbiologists  – study microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, to understand their behavior and impact on human health.
• Neuroscientists  – study the brain and nervous system to understand the underlying causes of neurological conditions.
• Toxicologists  – study the effects of toxic substances on living organisms and the environment.

Skills You Need to Become a Medical Researcher?

To be a successful medical scientist, you need a range of soft and hard skills to excel in your work. First things first, medical researchers must be able to analyze data, identify patterns, and draw conclusions from their findings. They must be able to think critically, ask relevant questions, and design experiments to answer those questions. Additionally, you should also have the knack of articulating your findings clearly and effectively, be it writing research papers, grant proposals, or technical reports that are clear, concise, and free from errors.

Medical researchers must be proficient in using various computer programs and software to collect, manage, analyze and interpret research data. They must be able to use laboratory equipment and techniques, as well as statistical analysis software and other tools for data analysis. Since medical research involves precise and meticulous work, so you must also pay close attention to detail to ensure that your findings are accurate and reliable. Not to mention, medical researchers often work in teams, so it pays off if you are good at collaborating with others effectively, sharing ideas, and working together to solve complex problems.

Lastly, medical researchers must have a thorough understanding of regulations and ethical guidelines that govern research, such as obtaining informed consent from study participants, ensuring data confidentiality, and adhering to safety protocols.

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Prerequisites and Requirements

Before applying to the Ph.D. Program at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, review our full list of prerequisite information and complete admission requirements. The admissions committee reviews all completed applications through a holistic review process to select candidates for interviews.

Prerequisites

Candidates for the Ph.D. Program must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Completion of a bachelor's degree, preferably in the biological or physical sciences, from an accredited institution. 
• A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. 
• Degree conferral before the program begins (program begins in July).

Suggested undergraduate coursework:

• Applicants to our Ph.D. program are encouraged to have completed coursework with demonstrated proficiency (B average or above) in their math and science courses. Additionally, advanced courses in biology, chemistry, and physiology are encouraged.
• Applicants interested in applying to the Biomedical Engineering and Physiology Track are advised to take courses in quantitative science and engineering, such as signal processing, computer science, and instrumentation.

Holistic review

Our Ph.D. program prepares students to translate scientific discoveries into applications that improve patient care. This requires a wide range of skills, aptitudes, and characteristics. Along with the basic set of prerequisites, the track admissions committees take a holistic approach to admissions; meaning, they take into consideration the many factors that make up an applicant. These acceptance factors include:

• Academic performance
• Letters of recommendation
• Personal statement
• Research experience

Transfer student policy

The only pathway to matriculation at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is through application during the annual application window, September 1 - December 4.

The Ph.D. program does not accept transfer students; however, transfer credits for graduate courses taken at another institution may be considered if appointed to our Ph.D. program.

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To get in touch with the Ph.D. Program, fill out the form on the Contact Us page .

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A Closer Look: Why Is Research Essential at a Children’s Hospital?

Medicine is an ever-changing field. Treatments evolve from basic and translational research, advance to clinical trials and if successful, are introduced into the clinic. But it doesn’t stop there. It can’t. There’s always the potential to get diagnoses sooner, to make treatments more effective and to turn what we learn into a more personalized approach for individual patients.

The ambitions of pediatric researchers are global in scale: Beyond patients at their own hospital, they look to shape national and international standards for pediatric care. These goals are best achieved through the very special relationship between research and clinical care. True change comes from an environment that fosters thought and innovation as much as it values treating disease. It comes from a culture of constantly questioning—always searching for better ways to do things.

The following stories showcase researchers who are changing the landscape of pediatric medicine and answering the question: Why is research essential at a children’s hospital?

Because discovery can be fast-tracked to the kids who need it.

The next big medical breakthrough might be taking place right this very minute. But here’s the thing: It may not look anything like a medical breakthrough. That’s because discovery starts with basic research that investigates the mechanisms of pediatric diseases. It can take years before these discoveries lead to therapeutics and more years before these advances make their way into the clinic. That’s why research at a children’s hospital is so crucial. Here, investigators are steeped in a research environment that’s directly informed by patient need. And in this environment, discoveries can benefit patients more quickly.

Meet Laura Perin, PhD , and Stefano Da Sacco, PhD, two scientists in the GOFARR Laboratory for Organ Regenerative Research and Cell Therapeutics in Urology . Drs. Perin and Da Sacco study diseases of the kidney, the body’s main filter for toxins and wastes. “Learning exactly how renal filtration occurs has been difficult,” says Dr. Perin, “because we don’t have a good laboratory model.” This is no small point. Accurate modeling of how human cells work in the body is critical to studying any disease.

Recently, Drs. Perin and Da Sacco developed a revolutionary model in which healthy human kidney cells grow into a filtration barrier, just as they do in the human body. This tool—which fits in the palm of your hand—is much more powerful than the sum of its parts. The device mimics the filtering action of the kidneys. The model has many potential uses, like testing the safety of new medications prior to clinical trials.  

An individual patient’s disease progression can even be monitored by running serum samples through the device, allowing researchers to see how certain factors circulating in the blood affect kidney function. This, in turn, can set the stage for more personalized care.

“Doing this research at a children’s hospital is critical,” says Dr. Da Sacco. There are many reasons for this, including access to healthy and diseased tissue samples for research. But there’s something about being in a pediatric hospital that doesn’t translate to any other lab. “We’re in this environment where people are working on so many different levels to help these kids live longer, healthier lives,” he says. “What better motivation to work hard could there be?”

Because existing treatments can be made better when the people who treat patients also do research.

Leukemia—specifically acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL—has one of the highest survival rates of any cancer. Up to 90% of children are in remission at their five-year follow-up appointment. So why do doctors like Etan Orgel, MD, MS , choose to work on improving therapies for cancers like this? For one thing, 90% isn’t 100%. “Even though this is the best success rate we’ve ever had in treating leukemia, not every child beats the disease,” says Dr. Orgel. If existing chemotherapies could be made more effective, more patients could go into remission.

Basic and translational research shows that the body’s fat cells can actually get in the way of treatments by shielding cancer cells and making chemotherapy less effective. Based on this knowledge, Dr. Orgel and his team initiated the IDEAL study (Improving Diet and Exercise in ALL). Patients reduce their calorie intake and participate in light exercise during the first phase of chemotherapy. This change alone reduced the risk of detectible cancer cells—known as minimal residual disease—at the end of the first phase of chemotherapy.

What’s more, this reduced risk involves no additional medications or treatments. “These kids are already going through so much during chemotherapy,” says Dr. Orgel. “The goal is to improve their chances without adding in more pills, more side effects and more stress on the body.”

Based on the success of the first phase of the IDEAL study, Dr. Orgel and his team have initiated IDEAL 2, which is currently enrolling patients across the United States.

When asked why it’s important to conduct research at a children’s hospital, he says that there would be no other way. “Children aren’t just small adults, and we can’t treat their cancers the same way,” he says. Pediatric cancers are often very different from adult cancers, and treatments required are different, too. This necessitates special research. “Unfortunately, because pediatric cancer is relatively rare, it is underfunded and under-resourced,” says Dr. Orgel. “Children’s hospitals play a crucial role in bridging this gap. The goal is to improve their chances without adding in more pills, more side effects and more stress on the body.”  

Because sometimes, the clinic is where the most pressing research questions—and solutions—are born.

Jesse Berry, MD , didn’t set out to do research. She went to medical school so she could help children in need. After all, she says doctors were quite impactful in her own upbringing. But help comes in many forms, and in Dr. Berry’s case, help turned out to be discovering a better way to diagnose retinoblastoma. This cancer—which develops at the back of the eye and can lead to blindness—has always been a problem to diagnose.

“You can’t biopsy it like other cancer,” she explains. “Performing the biopsy can help the cancer spread.” Instead, doctors must rely on imaging to diagnose the disease. When it comes to retinoblastoma, arriving at a definitive diagnosis sooner could mean saving a child’s vision.

Enter Dr. Berry, the A. Linn Murphree, MD, Chair in Ocular Oncology, whose drive and curiosity led her to think outside the box. She uncovered a way to find genetic material from the tumor in the aqueous humor, the fluid available at the front of the eye. This method (the liquid biopsy) allows clinicians to diagnose retinoblastoma more quickly and more accurately—on the molecular level. Dr. Berry’s research shows that the genetic information coming from the aqueous humor can actually help doctors predict which treatment a child might best respond to. Personalized medicine like this leads to better, more individualized care.

Dr. Berry’s discovery will have an impact beyond the patients she sees. The National Cancer Institute’s Pediatric Match program aims to better understand genetic alterations in all known pediatric cancers. Retinoblastoma—being rare and poorly understood on the genetic level—is not in this data repository. But that will likely change very soon.

This discovery wouldn’t exist if Dr. Berry wasn’t at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which is one of the largest referral centers for pediatric eye cancers in the western United States. As a clinician, she grew frustrated with the limitations in diagnosis. This led her to study the problem and work toward a solution. “If I wasn’t seeing patients every day who needed something better,” she says, “this research would not have happened.”

Because who better than a pediatric surgeon to make care after surgery safer and more effective?

If Lorraine Kelley-Quon, MD, MSHS , were a chess player, she’d be the type to think multiple moves ahead. Although she’s a pediatric surgeon, she not only focuses on the immediate medical needs of her patients, but she also thinks about how to improve children’s recovery after surgery.

“My work extends beyond surgery to the child or adolescent healing at home,” she says. Dr. Kelley-Quon is making sure pain management is not only effective, but also safe.

While people don’t tend to think the opioid epidemic affects children and adolescents, it absolutely does, she says. Prescription opioid misuse and abuse in teens continues, due in part to the frequent prescribing of opioids after surgery. A few decades ago, opioids were rarely given to children for pain. Fast forward to 2018, when a staggering 1 in 10 adolescents were prescribed opioids. Along with continued sharing and recreational use of prescription opioids, there is an upward trend of teen deaths due to opioid-related overdose. To call today’s opioid problem a crisis is not hyperbolic.

It’s understandable that potential risks of pain meds are upstaged when families are managing something as big as their child’s surgery. Although opioids can help a child safely recover after surgery, they should be prescribed judiciously and not necessarily as the default when managing a patient’s pain. This is why Dr. Kelley-Quon led a team of health care providers and community advocates to establish the first-ever guidelines on the safe use of opioids in children.

“It’s not that opioids should never be prescribed,” she says. “We just want it to be done in a thoughtful and consistent way to minimize risks and maximize recovery.”

Eventually, we may see policy changes regarding prescription of opioids. For now, Dr. Kelley-Quon is laying the groundwork. And it wouldn’t be possible anywhere else.

“Being at a children’s hospital means thinking about one patient at a time,” she says, “focusing on each family with everything I have. But sometimes it also means thinking bigger—not only for the safety of our patients but for the safety of a child’s community, and for children across the country and beyond. It’s up to us and that’s why we work here.”

Learn about The Saban Research Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

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StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

StatPearls [Internet].

How to write and publish a scientific manuscript.

Martin R. Huecker ; Jacob Shreffler .

Affiliations

Last Update: October 31, 2022 .

• Definition/Introduction

A clinician should continuously strive to increase knowledge by reviewing and critiquing papers, thoughtfully considering how to integrate new data into practice. This is the essence of evidence-based medicine (EBM). [1]  When new clinical queries arise, one should seek answers in the published literature. The ability to read a scientific or medical manuscript remains vitally important throughout the career of a clinician.

When gaps exist in the literature, clinicians should consider conducting their own research into these questions. Though typically performed by academic doctors or physician-scientists, medical research is open to all clinicians in both informal and formal methods. Anyone who treats patients can collect data on outcomes to assess the quality of care delivered (quality improvement is research). [2]  Though beyond the scope of this chapter, instruction for clinicians on how to conduct research and contribute to medical science is provided by many resources. [3] [4] [5]

Additionally, a clinician who integrates a new practice can study effects on patient outcomes, retro- or prospectively. Continuous practice improvement need not be shared with the larger population of treating providers, but dissemination to the entire scientific community allows widespread adoption, criticism, or further testing for replication of findings.

• Issues of Concern

Clinicians who seek to conduct retrospective chart reviews, prospective studies, or even randomized, controlled clinical trials should access the many resources to ensure quality methodology. [5] Once you have followed the appropriate steps to conduct a study (Table 1), you should complete the process by writing a manuscript to describe your findings and share it with other clinicians and researchers. Other resources detail the steps in undertaking writing a review article, but this StatPearls chapter will focus on Writing a Scientific Manuscript for original research. See also the StatPearls chapter for the different types of research manuscripts. [6]

• Clinical Significance

Steps to Conducting Research

• Develop a research question
• Perform a literature search
• Identify a gap in the literature
• Design a study protocol (including personnel)
• Submit to an institutional review board for approval
• Collect, responsibly store, and then analyze data
• Write a manuscript to interpret and describe your research.

After conducting a quality investigation or a study, one should put together an abstract and manuscript to share results. Researchers can write an abstract in a short amount of time, though the abstract will evolve as the full manuscript moves to completion. Many published and presented abstracts do not reach full manuscript publication. [7] [8]  Although journals and conferences do often publish abstracts, studies with important results should be published in full manuscript form to ensure dissemination and allow attempts at replication. [9]

IRB protocols, study design, and data collection and aggregation require a team effort. Those involved in the research should discuss who will contribute to the full manuscript (i.e., qualify as an author) and thus the planned order of authorship to reduce complications at the time of manuscript submission. The author, who devotes the most effort to the paper, is typically the first and corresponding author. In contrast, the last author is often the most senior member of the team, often the principal investigator of the study. All individuals listed as authors should contribute to the manuscript and overall project in some fashion. [10]

The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist is perhaps the most valuable tool in the process of preparing your manuscript for submission [11] . 

Original research manuscripts have the following sections (in chronologic order): [11]

Title and Abstract

Introduction (Background and Objectives)

Methods (Design, Setting, Participants, Variables, Statistics)

Results (Participants, Descriptives, Outcomes, Subgroups)

Tables and Figures     

Discussion (Key findings, Limitations, Interpretations)

Conflict of Interest (COI), Author affiliations, Acknowledgments, Funding

Individuals involved in the IRB submission (prior to data collection) can write the introduction and methods of the manuscript before and during the process of data collection and analysis. This head start on writing makes the full manuscript composition task less formidable. The content of the introduction and methods should be well known to the study group prior to data collection and analysis. The introduction should be organized into a “problem/gap/hook” order: what problem does this study address, the precise gap in the literature, and the objectives of this study (in addressing the gap). [12]  The methods should provide enough detail such that readers who would like to replicate the study could do so.

Once data is collected and analyzed, authors can write an abstract to organize major themes of the research, understanding that the abstract will undergo edits once the manuscript is complete. Similarly, the title can change with revisions, as authors determine the most salient trends in the data. Most readers will only read the title +/- abstract. Thus these are the most important sections of the paper. The title should be concise and should directly describe the results of the trial– this correlates with more citations. The abstract must convey the crucial findings of the paper, ideally divided into sections for easier reading (unless the desired journal does not allow this). [13]

With the larger picture in mind, authors should create tables and figures that visually convey the themes of the data analysis. Working with statisticians or data experts, authors should devote a great deal of time to this component of the manuscript. Some general concepts: [14]

• Only include tables/figures that you believe are necessary.
• Make sure tables/figures are of high quality, simple, clear, with concise captions.
• Do not repeat language in results that appear in tables/figures, i.e., the tables/figures should stand alone.
• Consider how the figure will look in grayscale (in case the journal if not in color)

As with the abstract and title, the tables and figures will likely undergo further edits prior to the completion of the manuscript. The abstract and tables/figures should intuitively evolve together to convey the ‘story’ of the research project.

At this point, refer back to the introduction and methods composed during data collection. Make revisions as necessary to reflect the overall narrative of the project. Ensure you have adhered to the originally determined objectives or hypotheses. 

Next, focus on the results and discussion. The results should contain only objective data with no interpretation of significance. Describe salient results than do not already receive explanations within the figures and tables. The discussion section begins with a lead paragraph highlighting the most important findings from the study. Then the discussion interprets the current results in light of prior published literature. Ensure citation of keystone papers on this topic, including new papers that have been published since embarking on the current project. Frame your results, describing how this study adds to the literature. The discussion section usually includes study limitations. Attempt to anticipate criticisms of the methodology, the results, the organization of the manuscript itself, and the (ability to draw) conclusions. A stronger limitations section preempts journal reviewer feedback, potentially simplifying the revision/resubmission process.

The conclusion section should be concise, conveying the main take-home points from your study. You can make recommendations for current clinical practice and for future research endeavors. Finally, consider using citation management software such as Endnote or Mendeley. Though initially cumbersome, these software platforms drastically improve revision efforts and allow for easy reference reformatting.  All authors should review the manuscript multiple times, potentially sharing with other uninvolved colleagues for objective feedback. Consider who should receive acknowledgment for supporting the project and prepare to disclose conflicts of interest and funding.

Although authors should have an initial idea of which journal to submit to, once the manuscript is near completion, this decision will be more straightforward. Journal rankings are beyond the scope of this StatPearls chapter. Still, generally, one should devise a list of the journals within a specialty in order of highest to lowest impact factor (some sites categorize into tiers). High-quality prospective research and clinical trials have a higher likelihood of acceptance into the more prestigious journals within a specialty or to the high-quality general science or medicine journals. Although many journals have an option for open access publication, and numerous legitimate, open access journals now exist, beware of ‘predatory journals’ that charge a fee to publish and may not be indexed in Pubmed or other databases. [12]

Journals have diverse guidelines for formatting and submission, and the manuscript submission process can be tedious. Prior to submission, review Bordage’s paper on reasons for manuscript rejection. [15]  Most journals require a title page and cover letter, the latter of which represents an opportunity to lobby for your paper’s importance. When (not if) you experience manuscript rejections, take reviewer comments and recommendations seriously. Use this valuable feedback for resubmission to the original journal (when invited) or for subsequent submission to other journals. When submitting a requested revision, compose a point by point response to the reviewers and attach a new manuscript with tracked changes. Attempt to resubmit manuscripts as promptly as possible, keeping your work in the hands of journals (allowing you to work on other research). [14]

• Nursing, Allied Health, and Interprofessional Team Interventions

The above logistic steps will differ for review articles, case reports, editorials, and other types of submissions. [16]  However, the organization, precise methods, and adherence to journal guidelines remain important. See work by Provenzale on principles to increase the likelihood of acceptance for original and revised manuscripts. After submission, revision, resubmission, and proofing, you may experience the fulfillment of an official publication. Academics should promote their scientific work, enhancing the dissemination of research to the wider scientific community. [17] [18] [17] [19]

• Review Questions
• Access free multiple choice questions on this topic.
• Comment on this article.

Disclosure: Martin Huecker declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Jacob Shreffler declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

This book is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits others to distribute the work, provided that the article is not altered or used commercially. You are not required to obtain permission to distribute this article, provided that you credit the author and journal.

• Cite this Page Huecker MR, Shreffler J. How To Write And Publish A Scientific Manuscript. [Updated 2022 Oct 31]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.

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Introduction to legal research.

• Introduction

How to Start

• Regulations
• Constitutions
• Legal Dictionaries
• Legal Encyclopedias
• Antitrust Laws

Before you Begin

Good research, especially legal research, begins with knowing what it is you are researching. Never feel embarrassed to ask questions during any point of the legal research process. Relying on assumptions, rather than asking questions, may lead to errors in your research.

Understand the scope of the research project . Ensure you have a full understanding of the legal issue under research by taking thorough notes on the assignment. Carefully read, and reread, any materials related to the research project your professor provided.

Initial communications . Confirm your research project meets the expectations of the assignment by emailing or speaking to your professor. In addition, ask your professor if there are ways to improve your research project. Finally, do not forget to confirm the due date of the project.

Create and adhere to a timeline . You will want to create and adhere to a timeline to ensure adequate time is available for you to research a legal issue and to write your analysis. Performing at lease a little research each day is an easy way to adhere to a timeline. 

Continuing communications . Make certain to respond promptly to any communications from your professor. And if you have questions during your research, reach out to your professor to ask for assistance.

Suggested Research Strategy

Ask relevant questions .  Any research into legal matters should begin with a review of the facts of the case.  To make certain you have a thorough understanding of the details at hand, ask yourself the 5Ws: who, what, where, when, why.

Determine the jurisdiction . After you have established the necessary details of the legal issue, you will need to determine what jurisdiction is involved. Is the matter under research governed by federal or state law? For legal questions arising from the states, which state or states issued the law? For federal legal questions, you will need to determine the relevant Circuit and District courts .

Consult secondary sources .  Secondary sources are sources which analyze, critique, or discuss legal issues. In other words, these are resources about the law, not the law itself. Common forms of secondary sources include articles published within legal periodicals, legal dictionaries, and legal treatises.

Consult primary law . Primary law is the actual text of the law as issued by official government bodies. These laws include  statutes , cases , and  regulations . Constitutions , such as the U.S. Constitution , are also considered primary law.

Confirm your authority is still good law . Use a citator, such as Shepard's , in Nexis Uni , to confirm your case remains good law.

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• Next: Primary Law >>
• Last Updated: Jun 28, 2024 10:29 AM
• URL: https://libguides.utdallas.edu/legal_research