I am looking at different premed sites. I see a lot of “research for 4 years” and such… can someone enlighten me? How does one get into research? Is it necessary?
My understanding is that a) research is a plus, but not necessary, per se, and b) that it’s a little more difficult for non-trads to get the same research opportunities as ugrads. Ugrads are more attractive for research positions b/c they can start when they’re sophomores and work for 2-3 yrs on a particular project. Many non-trads can’t. (I don’t know this for sure, this is just what I’ve gleaned from the internetz + impression I got from my advisor).
I think, particularly if you want to go into primary care, research is less important than an impressive (see Jaysun0373) collection of clinical experiences. I could be wrong…
Your Universities and maybe CC’s offer research oppurtunities for their students. I would talk with your pre-med counseler and/or academic counseler. There are numerous oppurtunities at school for research. Just get in there and do it!! 
That is a great question…for the past year I’ve been trying to get in a research program. I went on a few interviews. However, most wanted me to volunteer close to 40hr/week before they would even consider me.
Now, I applied for two summer research programs and one I was turned down due to the fact I could not qualify for some grant funding… The second school wants me to volunteer 40 hrs/week for 9 weeks to be a part of the project. They did have some paid positions but I did not get one.
So, Im left wondering the same thing…is research a huge benefit on my application or not. Because if not, I could be spending that time finishing my prereq…
So, I would love to hear the answer to is RESEARCH a huge plus???
I looked at my favorite premed advisory site from the University of Washington. It talks about volunteer work as part of your preparation and journaling your experiences. I have not found any reference to Research.
http://www.washington.edu/uaa/gateway/advising/ pre…
The med school I’ve spoken with says research is an added plus but not a “must have” type criteria, unless you are interested in the md/phd program. In that case, it is a must. I talked to the md/phd program director and asked about opportunities for nontrads volunteering for research AT the med school, since many of us wouldn’t be enrolled full time at a university where we could do research. He said they often have undergrad students do research during the summer. I decided research was not something I was going to be able to juggle in my FT work, nearly FT summer/fall school schedule. Maybe it’s possible for nontrads w/o FT jobs, though.
The science departments that I have been familiar with have research oppurtunities a plus. I am not one-hundred percent certain in other states, however, I know the colleges here all have many options in their science buildings, most all being volunteer, since it is through the school.
I would most certainly contact your science buildings and set up an appointment with their pre-med/science advisors since most of you I assume are on a science degree course of some nature and see what they can offer you. Some times it is as simple as inputing data or recording data, that would constitute as research. Just my .02
My understanding is that it doesn’t always have to do with science or health care either, it could be almost any topic.