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Post By

Ryan Brownlee

– Founder of AspiringMD

Learn how to find undergraduate research as a premed, choose a mentor, apply to summer programs, present your work, win research funding, and build meaningful research experience.

Research became one of the most important parts of my own premed experience, but when I first started college, I had no idea how undergraduate research actually worked. I did not understand how students found professors, what the difference was between clinical and basic science research, how summer research programs worked, or how people eventually ended up presenting at conferences and publishing papers.

Over time, I became involved in multiple research environments, participated in competitive summer research programs, presented at local, regional, and national conferences, published both basic science and clinical research, applied for research funding, and eventually received the Goldwater Scholarship. Those experiences taught me that building a strong research background as a premed is usually much more gradual than it looks from the outside.

This section of AspiringMD is where I organize my guides for premed students who want to get involved in undergraduate research or take an existing research experience further. You can learn how to find a mentor, how to email professors, how to choose between different types of research, how to apply to REUs and summer programs, how to get the most out of a lab, and how to eventually pursue presentations, grants, publications, and other opportunities.

If you are completely new to research, I recommend starting with my premed guide to undergraduate research. That page gives you the broader overview, while the guides below go deeper into each part of the process based on where you are right now.

A premed’s guide to undergraduate research, what research medical schools look for, and summer research programs for premeds

Are you asking yourself what summer and REU programs are there for premeds, what is undergraduate research, what research do medical schools look for, and more?

Well, you’ll learn it all here.

Get started below!

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How Do Premed Students Get Involved in Undergraduate Research?

Getting involved in undergraduate research usually starts with finding a faculty mentor or research group that is willing to train you. That sounds straightforward, but I remember how confusing it felt when I was first trying to figure out who I should contact and what I was even supposed to say.

You do not need to already understand the professor’s entire research program before reaching out. What matters more is showing that you have taken the time to learn what the lab studies, that you have a genuine reason for being interested, and that you are willing to learn.

Some students find research through formal university programs, while others email professors directly, ask instructors after class, attend research fairs, or get introduced through another student. I eventually learned that there is no single correct route into a lab, and being persistent without sending generic mass emails can make a major difference.

If you are at that stage right now, start with my guide on how to email a professor about research. I break down how I approached professors, what I would include in the email, and how I would follow up if I did not receive a response.

What Kind of Research Is Best for Premeds?

One of the questions I hear frequently is whether a certain type of research is better for medical school. Premed students sometimes assume they need to work in a biomedical wet lab or that clinical research automatically looks more relevant because it involves patients, but I do not think that is a useful way to choose a project.

Medical schools are generally much more interested in whether you became meaningfully involved in the research process than whether the project happened to be in oncology, neuroscience, public health, chemistry, psychology, or another field. You want to understand the question your lab is asking, contribute to the work, develop some independence over time, and be able to explain what you learned from the experience.

My own background included both basic science and clinical research, and I found that the two environments taught me different things. Basic science gave me experience with experimental design, laboratory techniques, troubleshooting, and working through projects where progress could be extremely slow. Clinical research helped me think more directly about patient data, outcomes, study design, and questions that connect closely with healthcare.

If you have several options, I would choose based on the mentor, the environment, the level of involvement you are likely to receive, and whether the research actually interests you enough to stay with it. A supportive mentor in a field you enjoy is usually much more valuable than joining a famous lab where you spend two years doing work you barely understand.

How Important Is Research for Medical School?

Research is helpful for many medical school applicants, but it is not equally important for every school or every career goal. Research-intensive medical schools may place more emphasis on sustained scientific involvement, while other programs may focus more heavily on clinical service, primary care, community engagement, or other parts of the application.

The reason I think research can still be valuable even for students who do not plan on becoming physician-scientists is that it teaches you how to deal with uncertainty. Experiments fail, hypotheses are wrong, data are messy, and projects can move much more slowly than you expect.

That process helped me develop patience, problem-solving skills, scientific communication, and comfort with not knowing the answer immediately. Those skills translated well beyond the laboratory and helped me later in medical training too.

I go into this in more detail in my article on whether being a research assistant is helpful for medical school, especially if you are trying to decide how much research should matter in your own application.

Finding the Right Research Mentor Matters More Than Finding the “Best” Lab

One of the biggest things I learned through several research experiences is that your mentor can shape the experience more than the prestige of the lab.

A strong mentor can teach you how to think scientifically, help you understand why the project matters, give you increasing responsibility, encourage you to apply for grants and summer programs, help you present your work, and eventually support you with strong letters of recommendation.

A poor mentoring environment can make even an impressive research program frustrating.

That is why I would not choose a lab based solely on the professor’s publication count or whether the university name sounds impressive. Try to understand how the lab works, how often you will interact with the mentor, who will train you day to day, what previous undergraduate students have accomplished, and whether students seem to remain in the lab for more than a semester.

I learned over time that the best research environment is the one where you can actually grow. My finding and maintaining research mentorships guide goes much deeper into how I would evaluate mentors and research groups before committing.

Summer Research Programs Can Accelerate Your Experience

Summer research programs and REUs can be excellent opportunities if you want a period of full-time research without balancing an entire course load at the same time. I participated in competitive summer research experiences during college, and the structure made it possible to become much more immersed in a project than I could during a normal semester.

These programs often include a research stipend, mentorship, seminars, poster presentations, housing support, or other professional-development opportunities. They can also expose you to a new university, field, or research environment that you would not otherwise encounter at your home institution.

However, I would not treat them as mandatory for medical school. If you already have a strong mentor and meaningful research at your own university, staying with that project for the summer may be just as valuable.

If you want to explore these opportunities, use my Premed Summer Programs and Research Experiences Database along with my guide to summer research programs and REUs for premeds. I also have a separate guide on writing an essay for an REU or summer research program once you are ready to apply.

Getting More Out of Research Than Just Hours

One of the mistakes I think premed students can make is treating research the same way they sometimes treat volunteering or clinical experience by focusing almost entirely on accumulating hours.

The number of hours matters far less than what you actually did with the time.

As you become more experienced, try to move beyond simply following instructions. Ask why experiments are being done, read papers related to your project, understand the methods, learn how the data are analyzed, and ask your mentor whether there are opportunities to take ownership of a small part of the project.

That progression is what made research much more meaningful for me. I became more confident discussing the science, applying for research opportunities, presenting results, and eventually contributing to publications.

My guide on how to get the most out of undergraduate research is where I go deeper into that process.

Research Conferences, Grants, and Publications Usually Come Later

When you first join a lab, you do not need to immediately worry about publishing a paper or presenting at a national conference. I think students sometimes see the final résumé of someone who has been doing research for several years and assume all of those accomplishments happened at once.

They usually do not.

In my own experience, the more advanced research opportunities came after I had already spent time learning the project and building relationships with mentors. Once you understand your work well enough to contribute meaningfully, opportunities for abstracts, posters, conferences, grants, and publications become much more realistic.

I eventually attended more than 20 research conferences during college without personally paying for them, and I learned that universities, departments, student organizations, research grants, and conference travel awards can all help cover the cost. If you reach that stage, my guide on how to attend research conferences for free walks through the funding strategies I personally used or encountered.

The same progression applies to research grants. I would not pursue funding simply because you want another award on your résumé, but once you understand your project and can explain why the work matters, student grants can become a great way to support your research and demonstrate greater ownership.

Research Can Lead to Strong Mentorship and Recommendation Letters

Some of the strongest professional relationships I developed during college came through research because I spent so much time working with the same mentors.

A professor who watches you troubleshoot a project, deal with failed experiments, learn new techniques, write an abstract, and eventually present your work gets to see parts of you that may never come across in a large lecture course.

That is one reason long-term research can eventually lead to very strong recommendation letters. Your mentor has actual examples of your persistence, curiosity, independence, teamwork, and growth.

I would not join a lab simply because you want a letter, though. The letter becomes strong because you invested in the relationship and contributed meaningfully over time.

Keep Track of Your Research Hours and Accomplishments

One practical thing I wish every premed started doing earlier is keeping track of research hours and milestones as they happen.

Research schedules can vary significantly from week to week, especially during semesters when experiments, classes, exams, and breaks overlap. Several years later, it can be difficult to remember exactly how many hours you spent in the lab or when you transitioned from one project to another.

I created a free Premed Research Hours Tracker so students can record hours, projects, conferences, manuscripts, presentations, and other milestones before application season arrives.

Keeping those records also makes it easier to see how much your role has grown. Research is not just the hours you spend at the bench or computer, and presentations, abstracts, manuscripts, leadership, grants, and mentoring younger students can all become part of the larger experience.

Research Can Help You Decide Whether an MD/PhD Is Right for You

If you become deeply involved in research and start imagining a career where scientific investigation remains a major part of your professional life, you may eventually start considering MD/PhD programs.

I would not make that decision simply because you enjoy research or have a publication. MD/PhD training is a much larger commitment and is designed primarily for students who want research to remain a central part of their careers.

The best way to figure that out is usually through sustained research experience. Over time, you begin to understand whether you enjoy not only doing experiments but also developing research questions, working through long periods of uncertainty, writing, presenting, mentoring, and building projects that may take years to complete.

If you are trying to decide between the two paths, my guide on MD vs. MD/PhD programs explains the major differences in training, funding, research expectations, and career goals.

Building a Strong Premed Research Experience Takes Time

When I look back at my undergraduate research experience, the accomplishments that eventually ended up on my résumé were not the most important part of the process. The publications, conferences, summer programs, grants, and Goldwater Scholarship were meaningful, but they came from spending years learning how research actually works.

I started by trying to find a place where someone would let me contribute. From there, I learned how to work in a lab, understand a project, build relationships with mentors, become more independent, communicate my research, and look for opportunities that made sense at each stage.

If you are just starting, you do not need to have the entire path figured out today. Find a research environment where you can learn, show up consistently, ask questions, and give yourself enough time to become genuinely involved.

Use the research guides above based on where you are in that process, and as your experience grows, move into the more advanced AspiringMD resources on conferences, grants, publications, summer programs, and medical school applications.