Questions about Stanford

celestial605
Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:27:23 +0000

I can answer 2 questions for you.

3) I have found that it is not that hard to get a research opportunity at the medical school. At the beginning of my sophomore year, I decided I wanted to try neurobiology or neurosurgery. I looked on the medical school website and then emailed every doctor/researcher listed in those departments, telling them about myself and why I was interested in joining their lab. Out of about 15 emails, I got 5 replies, and I eventually chose one. I have now been a happy member of a neurosurgery lab for a year =]

4) There are multiple programs at Stanford that allow you to shadow. I was in SIMS, which stands for Stanford Immersion in Medicine Series (or something like that), in which a student can select a doctor (ex. heart surgeon, gynecologist, anything) and shadow them for a quarter. The thoracic surgeon I shadowed was extremely accomodating; she took the time to teach me about the diseases she often saw, and when I went into the OR, I was allowed to scrub in and help by holding a retractor and even tying the sutures. I highly recommend this program! There’s also SCOPE, in which students work in the OR, and some other programs.