Coop or not, alas, that is the question

[Guest Paulchemguy]

Hello everybody!

 

I can't decide whether to do coop or not. I tried to find some some posts on the cons/pros but I couldn't find any. That's why I'm making a new thread.

 

I thought of doing it cuz it might get me reference letters and that I will have more experience to talk about. Also, it can also serve as a backup in case I dont get in and want to find work.

 

However, I'm doing summer lab stuff right now and don't really find lab that appealing so I probalby shouldn't even contemplating life in the lab. So, I'm thinking coop wouldn't work that well as a backup anyway. In addition, maybe with my summer lab stuff, it might be as good as coop. And I might as well get reference letters from the summer positions anyway.

 

But anyhow, I need some advice, guys! Do you think summer lab positions would be enough to find a job after grad if I don't do coop? Also, will Coop help my med application in terms of my experience? Do most people in med don't have coop experience?

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

(I'm in UBC Microbiology, going into 3rd year)

 

***I appoglize for posting in the other forum. sorry! ***

[Guest physiology]

Hello,

 

I did COOP for 4 months last year before I got into med school.

 

It's a great experience - it's a backup for medical school, it gives you work experience, you get paid, you get a chance to meet new supervisors and obtain reference letters, you get to learn how to write and re-write your resumes, cover letters, etc, so all in all, I think it's good.

 

If you apply to medical school, just be sure to let your supervisors know that you did so, so they know ahead of time.

 

You may not find the work appealing because it may not have any clinical applications, the area isn't the one for you, or you don't just like the techniques that you have to use. I for one, hate doing cell culture.

 

So if you can find something more appealing it may work out for you. I also believe you can do clinical research while on COOP, so if you could find something like that, it's very much related to medicine because you often get patient contact.

 

I have no idea who did COOP and who didn't. But summer research seems to be a common theme among my classmates.

 

Will it help for med school? Sure - probably.

 

By the way, next time, avoid cross-posting to multiple forums (You posted exactly the same message in the temporary pre-med forum). It makes things confusing and you get replies all over the place. Thanks.

 

 

Cheers,

Physio

[Guest TKP 123]

I think there are some people who get into med without doing Coop, as long as you have some research experience. So, what you are doing - working as a summer research student - is fine for medicine. Just make sure your supervisor is willing to support you by becoming your ref.

 

Like physiology said, Coop will give you the working experience, which will benefit your chance to medical school as well as your potential to get a job. However, if you don't find yourself enjoying lab work, then you may not want to work in the science field anyway (either as a graduate student or a researcher in industry). The goal of Coop is to train people with extensive research experience. On the other hand, the nature of research from one place can be drastically different from another. As a Coop student, you have the opportunity to work at different labs (academic and industry), and I am sure that there will be somewhere more flavourible to you than the others. You just have to work at different places and taste if you like this kind of job.

 

Overall, I think Coop is an excellent program, which allows you to find out whether you want to pursue further in the scientific field, while you gather life experience for medical school at the same time. You also make a lot of connections with your future employers, who will tell you something that you never find out as an undergrad.

 

[Guest kakashifan]

hey!

i think if you keep on working during your summers, you would not have a hard time competing with those who have done coop. however, this might be different in different research areas. for me, microbiology), i didn't do co-op but always worked in the summer in a lab. this allowed me to find that i didn't want to work in a lab the rest of my life and that i wanted more patient contact. and i know those in micro who did not do coop and still managed to find a job after graduation (and actually hadn't worked during the summers in a lab either).

 

perhaps instead of another year in coop, you can make your education unique by doing a double major? e.g. my friend is good at math so he did a double major in stats and micro - a field needing many people - he's currently doing grad school in an ivy league school.

 

all the best!

=0. k

[Guest kupo]

i did coop in microbiology and immunology.

 

for me, a great experience. it wasnt the research experience that was the most valuable, it was the life experience(s) i got. when i chose co-op, i was able to do things i was reluctant to do. and i dont regret my choice one bit. in fact, it was a cornerstone of my essay.

 

I also got strong references as well. and hell, i met my girlfriend too and that is now a long term relationship.

 

i guess you could say my experiences reflect the good things about coop. i do know people that have hated their experiences. that being said, its what you make of the coop program. the value of it will depend on what you want out of the program.

 

Kupo

[Guest adduction]

I think there are some people who get into med without doing Coop, as long as you have some research experience.

 

 

Summer (or any) research isn't necessary to gain admission into medical school. Everyone does it anyway, but it isn't by any means a pre-requisite for medical school. I just thought I should point that out since a few posts seem to imply that no research experience = no admission. It is definitely possible to get into med school without any research experience (I myself am an example of this, as are numerous 2nd yrs I know of). Though to maintain your competitiveness, it's most likely in your best interest to do something...

[Guest TKP 123]

Very true.

 

The more research experience, the more competitive you become as both a med school applicant and a job applicant.

 

TKP

[Guest notamedic]

I didn't do a COOP work term, but I did find research jobs in academic labs for 4 summers straight. It looks good for med if you've done some research (and if you can get an award for it along the way), but COOP is not required. If you're resourceful and keen, you should be able to get a summer lab position even with minimal experience. After that first summer, you can always say that you've done it once before!

 

NAM

[Guest geckok]

I highly recommend doing CO-OP. I truly feel that it helped me to get in! You learn a lot and you make wonderful contacts. It also puts good perspective on going in to medicine versus research. Or maybe you will MD/PhD etc...

[Guest notamedic]

I accomplished the same things that geckok listed without being in COOP. I guess it depends on what your strengths are: if you're keen on doing things on your own or having things set up for you.

[Guest geckok]

I was not saying that you HAVE to I just really recommend it:)

I found all except one of my COOP placements myself (found the job and got myself hired), but some placements like the Federal Labs have money set aside for COOP students that I could not have accessed if I was not in the program. I also worked in labs while not on coop (part time during the school) so COOP is not a MUST for research experience by any means. I just had such a good experience with most of my COOP placements and UVIC Biochem (Dr. Rozanne Poulson) is an outstanding coop advisor, so that also helped.

[Guest physiology]

Hello,

 

Let me just reiterate that research is NOT mandatory. However, research is a HUGE part of medicine as you'll find that there are funds available during medical school for you to pursue research and during MOST residency programs, research is mandatory.

 

So, the sooner you start learning what the hell p < 0.05 means, and how to do student's t-tests, ANOVA, use SPSS, Prism, and other statistical software, the better.

 

Also, don't forget:

 

1) the interview panel contains an academic professor - these individuals almost always come from research backgrounds

2) The bank of questions this year and last year contained a "explain your research in layman's terms" type question.

 

Research is an important part of your application too I believe, as are other categories like working with others, independence, leadership, responsibility, etc.

 

So definitely - I think research, in any form, be it a summer student grant or COOP is a valuable asset on the application.

 

Physio

[Guest Malikar]

When kupo said he knew people who hated their co-op experience, I think he meant me. Among others, probably.

 

I should say that I had both good and bad experiences. All in all, co-op was definately worth it though. It taught me that I hate molecular microbiology and much prefer people-oriented work, and variety in my work. That and I pulled in enough cash to pay for my UBC tution, housing and buy a brand new car with cash... sweetness.

 

Cheers,

 

Mal