Summer programs and maybe a Doctor?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>Hi! It’s my first post so bare with be, if you’re an exhibitionist, or bear with be, if you’re a kindhearted, helpful soul.</p>

<p>Later this moth, I begin college as a freshman. I’ve always loved research, and hope to continue researching biophysics in college. But, as of late, I’ve found myself growing out of my childhood phobia of blood, while also wishing to take a more active role in the applications of my research. My college counselor has suggested I may be interested in pursuing a (an?) MD/PhD or MS(TP) program.</p>

<p>So, my first question is “How would I go about seeing if I would really enjoy being a ‘doctor-scientist’. Currently, I plan on working at a local hospital, and maybe shadowing there in later years. Also, I plan on earning CPR certification, followed by EMT certification.</p>

<p>My second –and last- question involves summer programs. I was wondering if programs like Notre Dame’s REU (NanoBio2008) and Harvard/MIT’s summer program (HST Summer Institute: Overview) are any good?
Both of them contain topics of great interest (particularly the nanotechnology research offered at Notre Dame) to me. Sadly, I fear that I am in no way competitive for either program. Further, it is my understanding that one applies for medical during his/her junior year; this means that I only have the 2009 and 2010 summers for medical programs. I fear I will be unable to do all of my desired programs, and become competitive enough for a MD/PhD\MS(TP) program. Help? Advice?</p>

<p>In Summary:
Good programs/ways to see if a medical scientist is right for you?
Ways of becoming competitive for summer research programs (provided one would actually benefit from going. I.e. I am not interested in fluff on my application, as fluff tends to be boring, and I hate wasting time) ?
Advice from people who have been to summer research programs ?
Other summer programs I might like (I am especially interested in a summer research program that offers optional clinical exposure.)?</p>

<p>Thanks very much to anyone who contributes.</p>

<p>P.S. I am looking through the other posts on similar topics, and I apologize if this is a duplicate.</p>

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<p>I don't think there's one program that will answer whether you want to be a physician-scientist. To me, you just have to prove to yourself you enjoy doing both research and clinical work, probably leaning more towards research. You also have to think about why you want to do both, why one isn't good enough. MD/PhD programs are 7-10 years, then you have residency, then usually post-docs and/or fellowships. It can easily be over 10 years between when you graduate college and when you get your first, real, legit job.</p>

<p>I think especially if you're looking to do MD/PhD, you'd be better off doing research in a lab at your school over the summer such that you could continue working there through the school year too.</p>

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<p>You need to shadow physicians and continue doing research, but when you continue doing research, see if you are good at it. Take up a grad school level project and see it through. If you can handle the stresses and are good at solving an arising problems and are enjoying yourself doing it, then go for MSTP. A typical MD/PhD performs 80-90% research and 10% clinical and their salary is capped at 200k.</p>