Summer Question

[premed414]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I was wondering what are the advantages of certain summer programs:

My options for the summer include working in a lab at my school, doing research that will continue on from my Spring semester. In the mean time I can do a program at Bellevue which is around ~20 hours a week in the Emergency Department, great clinical exposure.

Another option would be to apply to one of the Amgen/SURF scholars programs and do the program for 10 weeks. Are there any benefits in these programs that I would not get out of a typical lab? Do they look better in anyway, or is there something I am missing?

What option should I pick?

Thanks!

 

[NickNaylor]

You'll probably get a better stipend and/or get to go somewhere different with a SURF program. Depending on what undergrad you go to, you also might be able to go to an institution with significantly better resources. I would go to a SURF program personally.

 

[premed414]

I attend a school that is research intensive, forgot to mention that! So other than resources, what are the benefits of doing a SURF program in comparison do just doing research in a lab? Because I feel like if it isn't much, my time maybe could be better spent working in the ER ~ 20 hours a week as well.

 

[NickNaylor]

I wouldn't say there's much of one. However, I would say that there's definitely an advantage to research full time versus part-time. In other words, I think research is much more enjoyable if you dedicate all of your attention to it. I don't think you'll be able to do that by volunteering 20 hrs/week in addition to research, but who knows.