Sink or Swim Podcast · Sink or Swim Podcast

Research Without a Roadmap: How to Stand Out From a Small School

·54 min·3 clips

One project can turn into five ERAS entries through abstracts, posters, and the final paper.

1. Sink or Swim Podcast centers this episode on research pathways for medical students and how Christian and Tiffany got involved. 2. Christian introduces himself from San Jose, California, and Tiffany adds her Scottsdale, Arizona background, UCLA psychobiology degree, and University of Miami biomedical sciences master's because those details explain their different research starting points. 3. The episode asks how med students stand out in research without a formal roadmap, and the answer comes through concrete tactics like programs, cold emails, and rotation-based networking. 4. Tiffany says her first meaningful med school research came through the MSTAR program, which Dr. Bachman introduced with application strategies during the first summer after MS1. 5. She applied to multiple affiliated sites, chose UCLA because it was her alma mater, and then matched with a mentor after acceptance. 6. Tiffany says she did not have a strong preference for wet lab work, but she still accepted the project because the opportunity came from the program. 7. Her project focused on cytokine profiles in Cutibacterium acnes, which forced her back into ELISA work and a refresher on basic immunology. 8. Christian explains that he did little research before graduate school, then learned SAS during his UCLA public health and epidemiology master's program. 9. He worked with Dr. Simon at LA County on obesity, COVID, and demographic flu work, which gave him biostatistics experience before medical school. 10. Christian says that background made him feel he could contribute to research early in med school, especially because many classmates did not know statistics. 11. Christian describes cold emailing mentors by reading their work, finding their biographies, and tailoring messages to the topics they were actually studying. 12. He says he kept seeing the same names across craniofacial, breast, and general surgery projects, which led him to contact the researchers directly. 13. He says one mentor responded during M1 year and gave him a summer at Stanford, which became the start of a long-running research relationship. 14. Christian argues that residents and attendings often need student help because they are busy with patients, learning, and publication requirements. 15. Tiffany and Christian both say that research feels daunting because no one teaches the process cleanly, and med students are also juggling classes and Step preparation. 16. Christian pushes back on the idea that 30-plus research items are impossible, saying one project can yield several conference presentations before the final paper. 17. Tiffany adds that keeping an Excel spreadsheet matters because project status changes, classmates may present on your behalf, and CV entries are easy to forget. 18. The episode stays conversational and practical, with both hosts interrupting, laughing, and checking each other's examples while moving between med school and residency realities. 19. Listeners interested in med school research, cold emailing, and ERAS strategy will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who want a purely technical methods discussion without career advice may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical, conversational look at how research opportunities are found.

Research is framed as a practical way into the field, with mentors, established programs, cold emails, conferences, and other openings all treated as usable routes in.

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Why you'd press play

Need a realistic map for getting research started without a perfect setup?

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