Research isn’t a requirement for every dental school, but I decided to try it out to see if I liked it or not! There are also several different types of research you can pursue, from structured classes, to applying for first-year programs, emailing professors, or starting your own project. Graduate schools often like to see commitment in one activity over a long period of time, but I’m an individual who loves testing the waters of many different things. By networking with older students and members in the Dental Science Club, I found three different opportunities that I ended up loving!
Freshman year I opted to take SEA-PHAGES instead of regular bio lab, and we all got to discover our own novel bacteriophages, isolate, and name them. A bacteriophage is a tiny, tiny virus that can infect and kill bacteria, so they can be beneficial in phage cocktails/therapy to treat bacterial infections in patients. We not only developed our wet lab skills such as precision and manual dexterity, but we got to dive into biotechnology and use databases like NCBI to sequence genomes and assign functions to each protein sequence. We also got to do two formal poster presentations for other students and professors! (Check out my project here: https://phagesdb.org/phages/SmolDot/) I ended up loving this class so much that I served as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for it for two semesters later on!
Sophomore year I was involved with the DRDR (Dental Registry and DNA Repository) at Pitt Dental, and they study the link between genetics and oral diseases! My job was to recruit patients from clinics and collect saliva samples. I also performed some data entry and learned how to navigate a new dental software. One of my favorite aspects was attending research meetings and luncheons with the head of the program, and seeing the projects other graduate students were working on! They were so inspirational, that I am considering pursuing a similar research project of my own one day.
Junior year I participated in a dental student-led research program about artificial intelligence in anesthesia. We learned about charting, got to attend lectures with an actual professor of anesthesia at the dental school, and learned about all the different drugs that may be administered during complex procedures!
Research is often perceived as something mundane and time-consuming, but there are so many options like performing bench work or data entry, surveying participants, and analyzing studies/papers. Even if you don’t think it’s for you, it’s a great way to explore something new, form new connections, and build up your professional skills. I’d love to hear about your own research experiences or any questions you have @life.with.ankita on Instagram!
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