Expanding Knowledge, Decreasing Debt
For some medical students, taking a year off from school could
interrupt the momentum so critical in learning clinical and scientific
skills. For Leah Kim Sieck, taking time off from her studies was
an invaluable experience that not only broadened her research skills
but also reduced her medical school debt.
Leah Kim Sieck, MS, received a continuing fellowship award this
summer from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes
of Health Research Scholars program. This nationwide program allows
medical students who have completed either their second or third
year of school to work with scientists at the NIH laboratories in
Bethesda, Md. Only forty-two medical students are selected annually
for the program.
Last year, Sieck worked on a project probing the effects of a drug
designed to arrest the growth of cervical cancer cells. The work
was conducted in the lab of principal investigator David Gius, MD,
PhD.
Upon her return to IUSM, she applied for a continuing fellowship
and recently learned she will receive the HHMI-NIH $37,000 award.
The fellowship will pay for tuition, living expenses and books for
her third year of medical school and is renewable for the fourth
and final year.
"I'm surprised and grateful for this award," says Sieck,
who is married and the mother of a two-year-old daughter. "Right
now, a very low number of MDs conduct biomedical research, and this
program gives students an excellent opportunity to gain experience
in that area." She plans to specialize in radiation, radiation
oncology or ophthalmology after graduation and to pursue a research
fellowship following residency.
Students in good standing at U.S. medical and dental schools are
eligible to apply to the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars program. Those
selected spend nine months to a year on the NIH campus, conducting
basic research under the direct mentorship of senior NIH research
scientists.
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute provides the administration
and funding for the program, including the salaries and benefits
for the research scholars. The NIH provides advisors, mentors, laboratory
space, equipment and supplies for laboratory work.
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