Summer research experiences for medical students supervised by faculty mentors

描述（由申请人提供）：纪念斯隆-凯特琳癌症中心（MSKCC）暑期学生奖学金计划是一个癌症教育计划，使30名一年级和二年级的美国医科学生能够在MSKCC临床教师的指导下参加为期八周的实验室和临床研究。该项目于1977年启动，目前已有1000多名医学生为某大型学术医疗中心的研究事业做出贡献。项目参与者能够与导师一起工作，并在实验室集中参与基础和临床研究；参加各种会议和教学活动；并学习如何将科学和临床实践的经验结合起来，并将他们的工作呈现给一系列观众。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Summer Student Fellowship Program is a cancer education program that enables 30 first- and second-year U.S. medical students to participate in eight weeks of laboratory and clinical research under the mentorship of MSKCC's clinical faculty. Launched in 1977, this program has allowed some 1,000 medical students to contribute to the research enterprise of a major academic medical center. Program participants are able to work with mentors and in laboratories centrally involved in both basic and clinical research; attend a wide range of conferences and didactics; and learn how to blend lessons from science and clinical practice and present their work to a range of audiences. For some students, the program offers their first biomedical research experience; for many, it is their first exposure to oncology. Laboratory research projects concentrate on molecular biology, cell biology, cellular biochemistry and biophysics, immunology, molecular pharmacology and therapeutics, clinical research, and cancer control and prevention. Clinical research projects focus on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, cancer epidemiology, cancer control and prevention, psychosocial studies, supportive care and quality of life issues, and cancer information outreach. A key goal of the program is to increase students' interest in careers in academic medicine and oncology. Another key goal is to increase participation by underrepresented minorities. The Summer Student Fellowship Program partners with MSKCC's Office of Diversity Programs in Clinical Care, Research and Training to increase the number of minority participants. There are four specific aims for the upcoming grant cycle: (1) to provide the highest quality summer research experience which exposes students to the rigors of scientific investigation within the context of an academic medical center; (2) to promote training opportunities and programming which increase students' understanding of translational research, (3) to maintain the strong representation of highly qualified minority students in this program, and (4) to expand ongoing contact and tracking tools in order to better support the efforts of program alumni to pursue cancer research.