Office for Multicultural Faculty Careers

STARS

(Summer Training in Academic Research and Scholarship)

Program

In Pursuit of Research Excellence

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

1. To provide underrepresented minority (URM) medical and undergraduate students an opportunity to engage in exciting basic, clinical and translational research projects during the summer at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS).
   

2. To enhance the research capabilities of URM students.
   

3. To encourage these scholars to pursue advanced medical and graduate education and training at BWH and HMS.

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

The focus of activity during the summer is participation in a research project.  Students are assigned a medical school faculty mentor who will work closely with the student to ensure completion of a project over the 8-week summer period.  Additional activities include:

• Education and training sessions (see Research 101)
  

• Social networking opportunities
  

• Weekly roundtables with BWH Faculty and the Office for Multicultural Faculty Careers
  

• Community health center/clinic shadowing

• Brigham Internal Medical Associates (BIMA) Clinic
  

• Brookside Health Center
  

• Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

We are looking for students who express an interest in pursuing a career in academic medicine and meet the following criteria:

• Member of an underrepresented minority group (African-American, Alaskan/Hawaiian Native, Hispanic, or Native American)
  

• US citizen or non-citizen national with a permanent residence visa
  

• Undergraduate junior or senior, or first-year medical student

Click here to read an article featuring the 2009 STARS Program from the BWH Bulletin.