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APPENDIX D 65 I feel that the NRSA program could be used to help foster a network of dialogue and contact between research scientists and students at all levels. Often something as simple as an hourâs visit can be enough to help a student realize that someone similar to them is making a career out of science. Outreach programs can be established to send graduate students and faculty to speak at schools, bring interested students to research facilities, and provide opportunities for high school students to work in laboratories where they can interact with career scientists. Such programs focusing on minorities and women can make great strides in influencing more of them to pursue science, as role models for them are often hard to find. Moving down the educational path, what are the needs for the college student who wants to make a career in science? As many students weigh the option of entering research science, a major factor in their decision is often the opportunities they have been given to explore first hand what research projects entail. That was how I learned that research was for me, but I was fortunate enough to attend a school that required all students to do independent research. For many students at other colleges and universities, however, the opportunities to âtry outâ research are much harder to come by. I feel that there is much the NRSA can do to give more students a chance. Each Spring thousands of college students search for something to do for the summer. I was once one of these students, and was amazed at how hard it was to get the information on available programs. It took me months of searching on the lab hallways and collecting those little cards off of posters before I could get enough leads. Something as simple as publishing a comprehensive guide of information on summer research programs will increase the number of students interested in them and make the search much easier for students. More importantly, there is always a need for more funding for summer and year-long research experiences for undergraduates. Areas and schools lacking the research support of larger Institutions should be targeted. Expanding these programs can immensely improve the quality and quantity of the students in research. I am currently taking classes in the University of Michigan Medical School. Many of my classmates have strong research backgrounds and I have asked them why they chose medical school instead of research. Beyond the normal âblah blah blahâ about their dreams about healing people, the most frequent response I get is that the current atmosphere of competition for funding and positions turned them away from research. Many of my classmates state that they are definitely planning on being involved in research, but only after they have completed medical school. This shows that studentsâ training strategies are definitely changing in response to employment opportunities. Also reflective of this is the choice that hundreds of students have made, including myself, to enter combined M.D./Ph.D. training programs. I think that a factor in every studentâs decision to undergo such extensive training is the opportunities for employment that can open up with a combined degree. For students that have already established firmly in their minds that they want a career in biomedical research, an M.D./Ph.D. program provides the best way for them to improve their chances of remaining employed as a researcher. I encourage you to continue support for the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). The programs provide an invaluable source of support and guidance on an academic level and beyond. The MSTP is a program that is much more than just a source of funding. MSTP students are, in general, weird people in that we arenât truly medical students, nor are we graduate students, despite our involvement in both areas. My experience at Michigan has shown me that the program is a focal point for students of a common interest that works for the benefit of all. STATEMENT BY THOMAS E. MALONE On behalf of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), I am pleased to be with you today to discuss research training and the National Research Service Award program. With some 62 percent of all National Research Service Award funds conferred on academic medical centers or their trainees, issues of research training are of great interest to the 126 medical schools, more than 400 teaching hospitals, and 89 professional societies included in the membership of the AAMC. The task facing this committee--to advise the National Institutes of Health and the Congress on the future direction of the NRSA program--is a formidable one, and made all the more so by the existence of a
