MD/PhD Students at 2009 Keystone Conference
Nine BUSM MD/PhD students joined approximately 250 other MD/PhD students from across the nation to attend the 24th Annual National MD/PhD Student Conference held at the Keystone Conference Center in Keystone, Colorado July 24-26, 2009. This meeting provided a unique opportunity for MD/PhD students, MD/PhD program advisors and program directors, as well as several prominent and successful physician scientists to meet and interact, to share and discuss scientific research, to explore the multiple career paths of the physician scientist, and to address the various concerns unique to the budding physician scientist.The students kicked off the conference on Friday with dinner and an inspiring talk on gene therapy delivered by Katherine High, MD, the Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the William H. Bennett Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania. This was followed by a student poster session and a social hour. Saturday was filled with various student oral presentations as well as small group discussions covering topics such as “How to Write a Journal Article,” “Transitioning Back to the Clinic,” “Global Health,” “How to Negotiate for a Career Position,”
“Women as Physician Scientists,” “Career Development and Training Opportunities at NIH,” “Grant Writing Techniques,” and “Time and Stress Management.” In addition, students heard inspiring talks on X-chromatin inactivation and small RNAs, respectively, from Jeannie Lee, MD, PhD, a Professor of Genetics and Pathology at Harvard Medical School and from the 1993 Nobel Laureate, Phillip Sharp, PhD, an Institute Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The students finished the evening with another student poster session and an ice cream social.
On Sunday, several students battled the early morning hours, high-altitude, and rocky inclines to hike the Rocky Mountains. In the afternoon, the students returned to the warmth and comfort of the conference center to learn about career opportunities as physician scientists and to pick the minds of five successful physician scientists from various facets of medicine and research. Afterward, students partook in an inspiring talk from the optogenetics pioneer, Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry at Stanford University. The conference concluded with a final student poster session and a well-received talk about dendritic cells and vaccine development given by Ralph Steinman, MD, the Henry G. Kunkel Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology at the Rockefeller University. Overall, the BUSM MD/PhD students enjoyed the conference for its scientific content, its opportunities to present their work in either poster or oral presentation form, its MD/PhD-specific mentoring focus, and its abundance of savory food. This conference also proved to be an excellent forum to network with other students and professors as well as a well-deserved opportunity to enjoy together, a relaxing weekend away from the bustling roar of Boston.
–Catherine Wei, MD/PhD Student
