I just finished my IRTA year (and now I'm sitting in the lab where I'm doing my first MSTP rotation; w00t!) I highly recommend doing an IRTA. 1. As opposed to an MS, it pays. 2. It's the NIH. Lots of money, awesome equipement, interesting seminars, nice area near DC/metro accessible, 3. with the right PI, it's the perfect job in terms of missing work for interviews, and 4. the MSTP committees eat it up. I feel that especially for me, coming from a small liberal arts all women's school (not exactly a research powerhouse), having the NIH name put a certain stamp of approval on my research abilities. I sensed more interest in my work at the NIH, even at early interviews when I was only 2 months into the project, than in the 2.5 years thesis project I did at my college. Also, so many people have worked at NIH, so it's really a networking thing. I had tons of interviewers ask me what building I was in, and if such-and-such was the same, and if I knew so-and-so. it's like when you luck out with an alum from your college as an interviewer: instant common ground. Plus, you will meet lots of other NIH people at interviews, which is always fun. Oh, and ditto not living in Bethesda; it's way expensive. Live in DC if you can (I lived with my parents in Southern MD... NOT fun ... but hey, it does only pay like $23,000).
