Medical Student Research

New to Research? Start here!

Are You a Patient?

You have a number of options for structuring your research experience during your time at Keck. While all students will participate in the longitudinal core research curriculum and complete a scholarly project, you can also participate in the KSOM Summer Research Fellowship, research electives, the Dean’s Research Scholar Program, and the Keck travel fellowship.

We recognize that navigating the medical school research environment can be intimidating. As such, we’ve answered the questions below that most students have when starting research at Keck. If you have any other questions, please reach out to Dr. Riddell (jriddell@usc.edu) or Fiaba (Fiaba.Zakarian@med.usc.edu) at any time. 

  • There are several factors to consider: 

    If you’re likely planning to pursue a competitive specialty, then you probably want to start research early in your first year, as soon as you’re comfortable.

    For most students, it is wise to wait until you are settled into medical school and are comfortable with the schedule and exams. Many students jump in after they return in January from winter break of their first year. 

    If you don’t know what specialty you plan on pursuing, don’t stress too much about it right now. For you, the summer might be a good time to start. If you plan to do research over the summer, start reaching out to potential mentors in the early Spring – the process of finding a mentor and getting started on a project can take several months! Keep in mind that the applications for summer research fellowships, which provide funding for summer research, are due in April.  

    If you have no desire to do research in your preclinical years, that is ok too. You will have to do a scholarly project and present at the Medical Student Research Forum as part of your graduation requirements, but you can begin your scholarly work after you complete your core clerkships.

     

  • Most students don’t know what kind of research they want to do right away. The Office of Student Affairs has resources to help students with career decisions, so you may want to reach out to them. 

    Even if you don’t have a specific specialty in mind, you can seek out research experiences based on the type of experience you want. If you did basic science research in undergrad, you may consider taking on a clinical research project to expand your skills and gain exposure to a specialty or clinical area of interest. 

    You might also choose a research project based on a mentor that inspires you, looks like you, or piques your curiosity in a topic. If you hear a great lecture from one of our faculty, feel free to reach out to them and ask about their research.  

    As always, feel free to reach out to Dr. Riddell or Fiaba to set up a meeting to discuss your research interests.

  • All students are required to do a scholarly project and present it at the Medical Student Research Forum as part of their graduation requirements. Students can engage in numerous forms of scholarship. Here are some of the most common:  

    • Survey studies
    • Case report, case series (do not count toward SP and not accepted for MSRF)
    • Chart review
    • Review Articles
      • Systematic
      • Scoping
      • Narrative
    • Experimental research
      • Basic science
    • Translational
    • Clinical
    • Medical Education
    • Quality Improvement