Takeaways from the 31st Annual National MD/PhD Student Conference
The 31st Annual National M.D./Ph.D. Student Meeting took place in Keystone, CO from July 15-17 and was hosted by the University of Colorado-Denver MSTP. This conference brings together students and invested faculty from across the country to not only talk about the cutting-edge science and medicine being practiced by current trainees, but also the aspects of training and current state of affairs for physician scientists-in training. Keynote speakers for the meeting included Robert Seder MD, Anirban Maitra MBBS, Katherine High MD, Rob Knight PhD, and Michael Shadlen MD/PhD, highlighting examples of successful biomedical scientists that cross the spectrum from basic to translational to clinical science. In addition to student oral presentations and two poster sessions, two series of breakout sessions were held. The first covered pertinent topics of interest physician scientists-in-training and included Women in Academic Medicine, Research Ethics, Clinic Trials, Interfacing with Industry, and Giving a Scientific Presentation. The second breakout session was a career panel separated by stage in career from 4th year medical students up to PSTP Directors, including Lawrence “Skip” Brass MD/PhD (UPenn) and Arthur Gutierrez-Hartman MD (UC-Denver). The PSTP Directors talked about advocating for the physician scientist career path through engagement of students at all levels, from pre-college students to medical students and residents, highlighting the importance of activities like the Mini-MSTP and other undergraduate outreach events through the MSTP Office. The Vanderbilt MSTP was represented at the conference by M3s Jacob VanHouten and Blair Stocks, as well as G3 Nick Harris, each of whom gave poster presentations on their graduate school work. Jacob, Blair and Nick enjoyed the many opportunities for networking at the conference and exploring Keystone, including a Barnyard Dinner/Trivia Night and a hike through the nearby mountain range.