5 DAYS until FDSRP Students arrive in BOSTON!

We asked the incoming FDSRP students to send us what they are looking forward to most during their summer in Boston.  We will post their responses as they are received. 



Victoria, 2012 FDSRP Participant



"I am honored to be accepted into this excellent and highly influential summer program at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women's Hospital. There are plenty of exciting opportunities this summer such as working in collaboration with our mentor, befriending other premed Native students and being able to explore some of the East Coast!"

Ask, Ask Again!

I must admit, stepping onto HMS campus is a bit terrifying. That's a silly concept now that I have been here for a mere seven weeks. Since the program will soon be coming to a close, I will highlight what stood out for me the most.

Since this was my first lab experience, the trickiest obstacle I had was minuscule--handling a pipet. This shows how helpful and reassuring my lab mentors were. Although I never, at this point in my education, could understand the depth of knowledge thrown at me on a daily basis, the eagerness to listen to instructions, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, and embrace failure goes very far in the lab. Did I mention asking questions? I can't say lab life is sunshine at every moment, for instance my first independent project failed again and again and again. But it is science. I admire the diligence scientists pursue their research with. It takes a special kind of person to put in laborious hours and string together tiny results into a glorious finding.

As laboratory research was my "job description" for the summer, FDSPR schedules special events for the students to attend. In a nut shell, we had inmate talks with highly regarded faculty and administrators who are passionately involved in medicine and scientific research. The spectrum of speakers ranged from Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership Dr. Joan Reede (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_261.html) and Department of Genetics pioneer Cliff Tabin, Ph.D. (http://genetics.med.harvard.edu/faculty/tabin). I suggest future program participants to fully engage in these opportunities and again, ask questions. We also attended weekly sessions with our program director, Dr. Sequist (Tom, as he prefers). The objectives of our "talking circle" is to address our progress and maintain contact with each other during the weeks. Dr. Sequist also explains his research (http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/people/faculty/hcp_affiliated_faculty/thomas_sequist) and tailors it to our interests, Native American health care disparities, during the talks. I suggest you again, ask questions because such critical information is covered and don't worry if you don't fully understand everything, Tom is more than willing to explain.

On the weekends, my time was spend between the FDSRP events for the students, exploring Boston, and lab work. Such outings included a trip to Harbor Islands, a BBQ with some program supporters, a Duck Boat Tour, and staying late after a Red Sox game to scope out Ellsbury. Boston is a wonderful city from its historical standpoint to its vibrant culture and future participants should make every effort to see the city. There can never be a dull moment. Also, make sure you check out the free events which is helpful when living on a budget.

I do not have the words for my appreciation to the program, Tom, Lisa, the STARS program, and my lab mentors. These 8 weeks have been the best experience of my career so far.

-Tristin Moone, 2011 FDSRP Participant
Columbia University

2 Week Recap

"The past two weeks have been getting down to business. I've been keeping longer hours, and I've put as little time as possible between scheduled experiments on my calendar. Last week I finally started my main project in earnest. Prior to this, I had been experimenting with my experiment -- 'dialing' in every last variable on my project to make sure everything would go as planned. I had many, many trial runs to see what worked and what worked even better.

This last week I produced my first 'final' results, which were notably better than any I had produced before for the iron chelation experiment I have been working on. My main experiment has me chelating iron from two different types of cells and looking at their reaction. The side-effect of having a project based on cells is that I got to learn how work-intensive cell culture really is. You don't just experiment on your subjects: you have to keep them alive and thriving too.

This next week holds the possibility of working with fish, which will be super exciting! I will also be finishing up my primary experiment with iron chelation. If it goes well, I may have time to do a follow-up experiment based on the results of my iron chelation experiment. The next experiment would still involve iron chelation, but it would be more targeted in applying my work to cigarettes. I will also be shadowing a surgery with a fellow Four Directions student. It will be my first surgery, so I hope I don't pass out!

My main experiment only comprises about half of what I do in the lab. I've been running and re-running a PCR for my post-doc. It hasn't worked after four tries, but it taught me a lot about science. I've also done DNA isolation, slide staining, and other activities that serve an auxiliary function in the projects of people in my lab.

Last week we had a marathon-length seminar on how to get into med school. I would be seriously disadvantaged if Dr. Sequist had not put all that information together for us. I had not realized how long and arduous medical school applications were.

If there is one activity you do in Boston, you should go to the Museum of Fine Arts. It is amazing. I went two weekends ago, but I only had a little time there. I want to go back again because there is so much there, including The Fog Warning by Winslow Homer! The Aquarium is also great -- be sure to watch an IMAX 3D movie there."

-2011 FDSRP Participant, Layton Lamsam