What kinds of kids enjoy lab work/research?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I’m trying to decide whether I enjoy research because I’ve thought about it and the things I like about my lab (wherein I work about 16-20 hours a week) are:

  1. Making up experiments and learning about the cells
  2. Improving upon lab procedure
  3. Working by myself but still being able to talk to people who are working around me on topics that we’re all doing research on.
  4. Peace/quiet and ability to problem solve on my own (I have an internal reward system I guess and I’ve always been somewhat of an introvert). That feeling when you just “get it”.
    Things I don’t like:
  5. Tedious work (like counting cells - does this get better/do you get used to it as you get better?). :confused:
    …I’m sure there are more things I don’t like but I can’t come up with them at the moment.
    Anyhow, I’ve been working for about a month and a half to two months along with a 6 credit courseload (this is my summer).
    What are the traits of kids who enjoy working in a lab (I’m looking into academic research vs. an MD program now too)? How did you know you enjoyed working in a lab (if you’re into academic research)?
    Additionally, I’m quite young - I’m a rising sophomore (this is my freshman summer) - so there’s still some time to explore different venues.
    Thanks!</p>
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<p>Tedious work exists in EVERY FIELD OF LIFE. There is no such thing as a job without tedious work, the key is to keep it in perspective as part of your bigger goals, and realizing that its still important.</p>

<p>I dont think you can group people who like research into one type, especially since “research” is such a big field. If I really stretch my mind though to try and isolate the characteristics that are shared by all, the most important thing I can think of is an appreciation for exploration and how/why things work, not simply just that they do. The 2nd most important thing is dealing with failure. Scientific research usually fails. The people who succeed are not the ones who simply keep trying, but are the ones who can identify why it might have failed and determine alternatives to avoid such failures in the future.</p>

<p>The best way to determine if you like research is to try it.</p>