Every summer for the past forty years, thirty to fifty high school and university students have spent ten weeks conducting original biomedical research at City of Hope. Most of them seek a career in the health sciences but are unsure what path to take. Should they aim at medicine, nursing, public health, bioengineering, bioinformatics, or scientific research, perhaps even aspiring to earn a doctorate at the City of Hope Graduate School of Biological Sciences?
Spending a summer at City of Hope helps them to discover their aptitude and interests, and can serve as a foundation for their future career paths in medicine or biomedical research.
The Way to Learn About Research
"The way to learn about research is to do research,"
says Paul Salvaterra, Ph.D., academic adviser of the Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy. Unfortunately, even students taking biology and chemistry courses with a lab component rarely spend more than a few hours a week at the bench, usually following protocols designed by their instructors. At City of Hope, by contrast, the students are given their own projects and enjoy the challenge this provides.
To learn about the research being conducted at City of Hope, browse the departments and lab sites at http://bricoh.coh.org/Dept.asp and faculty members at http://gradschool.coh.org.
What Students Say
"I really liked the fact that I was given a chance to responsibly complete my particular role in the research project," said one student. "I felt I was working independently, as well as with the scientists directing the project."
"What I like best about the program," said another, "was the freedom it offered to examine various aspects of a project. The work was not routine."
Summer students join the laboratory team. Their experiments are usually related to on-going lab projects, stretching back in time and projected into the future. To gain background, they read lab notebooks and journal articles. If they have a question, they can ask a technician, postdoc, graduate student or the principal investigator. Students are pleasantly surprised to find how patient and helpful their colleagues are. "I learn more in a week here," said one student, "than in an entire semester in school."
Outside the Lab
Besides lab work, students attend weekly meetings to present the results of their research. The talks give presenters valuable public speaking experience and provide the audience with an 
overview of the research going on across the campus. The program hosts special seminars, symposia, and parties, planned by the students themselves. At the end of the summer, students submit a short written report on their research results. Despite the work, the program stresses that "research should be fun."