December 15, 2008

Greetings,

My name is Dr. Jabbar Bennett and I�m writing to tell you about a new and exciting summer research opportunity at Brigham and Women�s Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School for your underrepresented minority (URM) undergraduate juniors and seniors or first year medical students.  The Office for Multicultural Faculty Careers at BWH is recruiting its inaugural cohort of scholars to participate in the Summer Training in Academic Research and Scholarship (STARS) Program. 

Briefly, students are invited to join us for 8 weeks to engage in basic, clinical or translational research projects under the supervision of BWH and Harvard Medical School faculty advisors.  At the end of the 8 weeks students will share their findings during a program ending research presentation day. 

As well as conducting laboratory research, students will also receive professional development training, meet faculty from across the hospital and medical school, and participate in social networking events.

The BWH STARS Program will cover students� travel costs to and from Boston , provide housing free of charge, and give them a stipend for the summer.

This is a great opportunity for your students to train in the Harvard Medical School environment.  Please review the attached brochure and visit the program website at www.brighamandwomens.org/cfdd/omc/stars.aspx for more information and to download an application.  The application deadline is Monday, February 9, 2009 and students will be notified of their selection by Monday, March 16, 2009.          

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at [log in to unmask] or call (617) 525-9324.

We look forward to hearing from you and your students.

 

Jabbar R. Bennett, PhD

Lecturer on Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Director, BWH STARS Program

 

2009 BWH STARS Program Overview

 

Eligibility Requirements

The applicant must:

• Be a member of an underrepresented minority group [Per Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) guidelines, at BWH, this means African-American, Alaskan/Hawaiian Native, Hispanic American, Native American]
• Be a US citizen or non-citizen national with a permanent residence visa
• Be an undergraduate junior or senior, or 1^st year medical student
• Express an interest in pursuing a career in academic medicine

Program Details

Duration	8 weeks (June 15 � August 6, 2009)
Participants	6 � 10 URM undergraduate juniors and seniors, and 1st year medical students
Housing	Included (Vanderbilt Hall, Harvard University Student Residence Housing)
Travel	Included (To and from Boston )
Stipend	$3200
Learning Materials	Included

 
Program Components

Advising

Clinical Shadowing (Optional)

Community Building � Social Networking

Laboratory Research

Reflections � Professional Development

Research 101 � Instruction

Roundtable