I was lucky enough to spend three weeks in the historic Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, the U.S. as a student of the summer programme. This programme allows high school students, who have at least finished ninth grade, to complete a one-week to seven-week course at Brown University, in any field of interest, over the summer vacation. As I am interested in pursuing medicine as a career, I decided to attend a course called “So You Want to be a Doctor?” to help me finalise my decision about my career and my higher education. The course, which served as an introduction to the medical profession was structured in a very comprehensive and engaging manner, helped me understand the concepts discussed and the path to medicine in a unique way.
A typical day began with a Professor Dr Smith, who retired from Brown's Alpert Medical School and now is in charge of this summer course, talking about a specific aspect of the path to medicine, such as college admissions, MBTI personality tests to gauge what specialisation best fits us, assessment criterion in medical school, the USMLE (medical entrance test), etc. We then spilt into small groups of around 10-15, accompanied by a teacher's assistant, who was a student in Brown's Alpert Medical School, to diagnose and treat “virtual patients” (computer-generated simulations of patients, with given history, and symptoms). In addition we worked in laboratories and shadowed doctors in the Rhode Island Hospital. In addition to being academically rewarding, the summer school is a great way to make new friends and spend the holidays pleasurably, yet productively. Living in a dorm is a great opportunity to develop one's independence and ability to do one's work (laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.) on one's own.
Providence is a beautiful city with many places to explore. As a student, one has a lot of mobility and freedom to explore the city as much as possible. Most importantly, despite the short tenure at the program, I made excellent friends, due to the fact that living together in a dorm enables a closer bond. I am still in touch with my friends, and am sure to be for years to come.
Programs such as these are very rewarding in many different ways and I highly recommend to all my peers that they try something akin to this during their summer. You will not regret it!
Abhik is a Std XI student at Oakridge International, Hyderabad.
