summer research in industry vs academia

[ee1025]

Hi,
long story short I am a junior at WashU planning on applying to medical school during the 2019-2020 cycle during my gap year after undergrad.
I started working part time in a lab at the med school in August for class credit.
I received an offer to do a research internship full time with Pfizer this summer in a small lab studying gene therapy and viral infection. I think this is a great opportunity, but they want an answer in 3 days, and I am also applying for a summer stipend from my university to continue working my lab at the med school full time for the summer. I do not find out if I got the stipend until April 1st. I also applied for a couple clinical research options at WashU and at Northwestern (Chicago is home.)

Bottom line: Are pharmaceutical companies looked down upon by medical school admissions committees, or could this diversify my resume and make me stand out? I think I would learn a lot of new techniques at Pfizer, but staying with my current lab would demonstrate commitment.

Thank you in advance for all advice!

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[21Rush12]

You’re doing great work for your resume either way. I would say stop worrying and pick what you like better.

Congrats on building such a good app!

 

[Countdown117]

Pfizer by far. Go for it!

 

[Microbug]

Pfizer!!!

 

[Lucca]

Industry research will be fine. 60% of research funds for biomedical research come from private industry these days. Whether or not that’s a good thing, it means that it will become increasingly common to have to collaborate with industry for $$$. If anyone has any concerns (they won’t) you can spin it as taking an opportunity to see a different research environment.

Also Pfizer probably pays better.

 

[ee1025]

Haha yes Pfizer's salary is double the school's stipend

Industry research will be fine. 60% of research funds for biomedical research come from private industry these days. Whether or not that’s a good thing, it means that it will become increasingly common to have to collaborate with industry for $$$. If anyone has any concerns (they won’t) you can spin it as taking an opportunity to see a different research environment.

Also Pfizer probably pays better.

 

[ee1025]

Do pharmaceutical companies publish scientific journal articles? I know they publish the results of clinical trials, but probably fewer hard science journal articles than university programs

 

[Lucca]

Do pharmaceutical companies publish scientific journal articles? I know they publish the results of clinical trials, but probably fewer hard science journal articles than university programs

Depends on the research. In my field: Much less likely to publish, but papers do come out of industry every now and then. Not usually basic science.

 

[Deleted member 750603]

You're not going to get a paper out for a summer internship working on something as hot as gene therapy. There's ins't enough time nor would they want their work out there anyway.

Chances are slim you will get a paper out period in a year unless you have a magic wand I don't know about. It's not as easy as running a few gels and even if you get good data and put together and come back with comments from reviewers it can take well over a year just for the publishing process. But maybe you have tons of data already.

You should do what is more interesting for you so you can talk about it deeply and have a meaningful experience. Pfizer will make you stand out more for sure but will be more than just "oh ok cool he did that" after they talk to you is a different story.

Your summer internship will not taint you as the "pill man". I WORKED for a pharmaceutical company and got into med school just fine. All of them were interested about other aspects of my application rather than the nature of job.