On Keeping Pre-Meds Away From the Lab

Terry McGlynn, commenting at Small Pond Science:

What criteria do you have for bringing in premeds to do research in your lab? 
There are so many reasons to keep away from premeds. For starters, premeds are more prone to:

1. Want research “experience” but don’t want to do actual research
2. Drop lab duties at the drop of a hat whenever an A- might happen
3. Walk away as soon as they think their stellar recommendation letter is a lock

Ouch. Then again, I too have seen these things happen.. more than once.

I'm not really sure why Reason #1 is the most common; I've always imagined that people on medical admissions committees see through "research experience" that's spun to the benefit of the applicants a kind of window dressing, especially when it might span only four months.

The main positive feature of having premed research experience might be to say "been there, tried that" in an admissions interview and that you're there because you didn't research that much.  It's not world-changing but at least it's honest.