Research and Service Symposium Highlights Medical Student Research

The Internal Medicine Student Interest Group and the Office of Student Affairs in the College of Medicine sponsored the sixth annual Research and Service Symposium on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016. 

The symposium is an annual event that highlights the summer research and service activities of medical students in their second year of med school. It has a two-fold purpose—to provide first-year medical students a look at what kinds of summer opportunities are available, locally or globally, and to give faculty and staff a glimpse of student achievements and interests. It concludes Summer Opportunities Week, which allows first-year medical students to experience daily activities, lectures and lunch talks that focus on the eight-to-10 week summer break after their first year of med school.

"The symposium allows first-year students to see what kind of research second-year students performed and also to possibly get some contacts if they find something that truly interests them,” explains Rebecca Greenstein, a second-year medical student, who helped organized the symposium. "I think it also helps them realize that research does not necessarily mean sitting at a bench in a lab. Not only did we have basic science posters, but we also had individuals who did research in the clinical, service, and quality improvement fields as well.”

Greenstein says 49 students made presentations during the symposium.

"I think the symposium also helps many second-year students as well,” says Greenstein. "It allows them to practice their presentation skills. Many of these students plan to present their research at larger academic conferences in the future.”

More about the symposium is available online.