Student Spotlight: Choosing Your Thesis

 

From the moment I interviewed for a genetic counseling program, the idea of working on a thesis was at the front of my mind. Knowing that at some point you’ll write a paper that’s likely to be the biggest paper you’ve ever written can be daunting to think about. As your time through school progresses, you’ll find that some of your classmates know the topic they would like to research, and some have absolutely no clue. Remember that both of these scenarios are totally fine! I was lucky enough to know what topic I wanted to focus on, but how do you get started on finding ideas if you don’t already have one? I can offer three main bits of advice: 1) make yourself a small note whenever you think something is interesting; 2) talk to your classmates as early as you can; and 3) begin talking to the genetic counselors at your observations and rotations.

When I was trying to think of ideas for my practicum (something specific to the MPH program) I found it very helpful to jot down quick ideas or facts I found interesting that we covered in classes. My computer screen at home was covered in sticky notes of general ideas that I wanted to look into later. I think this is helpful because it makes you start to think about what actually interests you. You’re never going to be able to write an entire thesis on a topic that you don’t find interesting. Even if you don’t end up using one of those ideas, it may be helpful in at least narrowing down what area of genetic counseling you’d like to study with your thesis. Talking to your classmates and discussing thesis topic ideas early on can also be incredibly beneficial. It may feel intimidating at first to hear that some people already have their exact idea, but it can also be helpful to hear what other people are studying because it may spark some ideas for you, or it’s possible someone may have multiple ideas and you’re able to look into an idea they decided not to pursue, or they may know of research ideas that local genetic counselors have mentioned would be good projects for students. That leads me right to my third piece of advice. Talk to your genetic counselors while you’re on observations and rotations. Chances are, they’ve thought of something they think would be an interesting topic for students and they may be willing to share. I work as a GCA in the Division of Genetic and Genomic Medicine at Children’s and over the past few years I’ve heard many counselors mention ideas that they would be happy to explain to students or connect them with the appropriate people if the student wanted to work on the project.

Starting your thesis can be scary. Even when you have an idea, it still takes time to narrow it down to a specific research question. Starting to think about ideas early and using some of the tips I mentioned above will hopefully help to move things along more smoothly and make the process a little bit more manageable. Good luck!

-Julia Knapo

MSGC, MPH Student