A couple of days ago, when I started to try to read a scientific paper, I spent one hour frequently putting my head in my hands while trying to digest the myriad of science terms that were littered throughout the descriptions. In the end, I gave up on that paper. I was so utterly confused with all the words that reading slowed down to a sentence per thirty seconds, if not a minute or more.
Yesterday, I attempted to read another paper, but as soon as I saw the unfamiliar names and terms popping up, I decided to seek out advice on how to actually understand the paper. After all, there was no point spending an inordinate amount of time doing something if there was a more efficient and effective way to perform the same task.
In the end, after searching online for tips and asking my sister and my dad, I found my dad to be the most helpful. Fortunately for me, my dad had worked in the research field for a number of years, so reading papers should be much easier for him. I sat down with my dad and went through one paper. After that session, I finally knew how to read a paper easily.
- Read the abstract. This part is pretty obvious, since the abstract is a summary of the paper to come. It helps you understand what you will be reading about so you have an idea of what to look out for.
- Read the introduction. Get an idea of why the paper is written.
- Read the methods. This part may be hard, especially if you have not worked in a lab before and know the protocols used, but this helps you understand what was actually done. Plus, this part is usually short; a paragraph to a page at the most.
- Look at the graphs and legends. Instead of reading through the results, which are basically descriptions, just look at the graphs and legends. These are the actual results. If you understand these, you understand what was discovered. Only if you don’t actually understand the graphs, then look at the description.
- Read the discussion. Finish the paper and look at what the implications of the results mean (the author’s interpretation) and what else can be done in the future.
- If you do not understand the paper, read a review. If you cannot understand the paper at all, read a review paper that goes over the topic first. This will help you build up enough knowledge in order to understand what was being performed and discovered in the actual scientific paper.
This may seem pretty straightforward and obvious, but in the beginning, I just read a paper straight through. I did not look at the graphs to really understand the actual data, since I thought the description should be enough. This was a bad idea. Even if I understood the paper, the failure to look at the graphs allowed me to forget the results much faster. I realized that since people took the trouble of organizing their data in order to help other scientists to understand, the results should be easier to remember in that format as well.
I have to read a couple more papers today, so I will be testing this new found method of mine.
I never really fully understood why the MD/PhD program at medical schools were so competitive. Sure, you have a full ride to the school. Sure, you get a MD and a PhD degree in one go. But, you have to spend twice the amount of time in school than if you just went for a MD program. So, I told myself I would just go for a MD degree. That would only take four more years after college, as opposed to the 7-8years of the MD/PhD programs at most schools. However, as I shadowed a neurologist today, I realized why a PhD degree would not be so bad.
The neurologist I shadowed worked at his own private clinic, so I basically saw him interact with patient after patient. He was really busy thus there was not much time between the breaks to ask questions or interact, but I felt like I learned quite a lot from my morning with him.
- The job of a neurologist is to observe everything the patient does. This can be as small as noticing that a person fills out a form very carefully to testing for memory problems by asking the patient to recite numbers. Basically, anything is game when diagnosing a patient.
- Anything abnormal should raise a flag, which may not be totally mentally related. Be sure to be knowledgeable about other conditions as well.
- Take all information objectively. This may sound easier said than done. We have seen this all on medical dramas such as House or Grey’s Anatomy where the characters stress the importance of listening to info objectively, but I found that when I listened to one of the patients have his caretaker tell information about him, I was influenced greatly by what the woman said. However, the neurologist later said, “You realize I have to take things objectively, so I’ll run a few tests.” I also heard from my advisers that one of the biggest problems right now for doctors is when patients withhold their information or only provide selective information. Doctors have the job of putting together a puzzle with missing pieces and other pieces in the wrong order.
- Being a good doctor is being about to cater to what the patients’ caretakers want. All the caretakers are usually very interested in knowing more about the disease, but some more than others. Be sure to provide enough information without boring the caretakers.
The doctor did not have any new patients come in besides one patient, but that patient already knew his illness. Thus, I didn’t actually see the process of diagnosing anything, so I hopefully will see that later.
However, as the morning went by, I realized how boring diagnosing or treating patient after patient would be every day for a year. Thus, researching is an outlet. Researching allows creativity and close-knit group interaction, which I do like. Also, instead of just diagnosing certain unclear conditions, researching actually allows people to try to figure out what exactly is occurring during each problem.
I definitely have to start researching soon. I have procrastinated way too much in applying for labs. I will be getting that out tomorrow ASAP.
Anyway, I might be shadowing an internal medicine doctor tomorrow, but that is if the weather is not horrible. If it turns out to be snowing, I will be shadowing next week instead.
