I needed to wait for the right time, and to make sure all the peices were going to fall into place......

Research! That's right, AUC now has an active research group, which I have been involved in since last semester. 8)

Some details:

Most of the research thus far is in the field of anatomy. We have studied the various anatomical differences between cadavers with information collected here at the school's anatomy lab and some information brought by Dr. Marios Loukas from Harvard. Dr. Loukas is in charge of this particular group, and he is in love with research. Keep in mind, yes it is anatomical, but everything we are doing has clinical correlations, mine involves cardiac surgery!

Now, you may think to yourself, "I hate research!" I don't blame you, I held the same stance when I got here, and I was actually happy to be in a school where research wasn't an issue. But in the last few months, I have seen how much research can help you! Look into some of the benefits....

Some benefits:

Publishing. Yes, publishing papers looks good as part of your CV, as part of a residency application, and it is gonna make me personally feel pretty cool. I know my mom is gonna be showing off these papers left and right so much that people are gonna get sick of her around town!

Presentation. A group from AUC (including myself) of 7 students will be leaving for 9 days to travel Graz, Austria to present our research in the first ever Joint Meeting of the American Assoc. of Clinical Anatomists (AACA) and European Association of Clinical Anatomists (EACA). This Congress is obviously an international event. While initial expectations projected around 1500 participants, actualy early registration figures looked more like 4000! And some rumors have circulated that as many as 10,000 anatomists from around the world could be there! Can you tell I am excited?


Since this is AUC's first foray into the research field (first in the Caribbean, to my knowledge to have students present at a Congress), we have to prove ourselves. We recently held the First Annual AUC Student Research Symposium at the school, where we all presented our research. We had 7 poster presentations and 4 oral presentations. This was merely from the initial group of students who were recruited into the program. Next year, we expect to have 30+ presentations from students, just based on those participating now, not counting those who join up in the interim. Also, several other professors are looking into putting together their own research groups in different fields. I can't say who is going to be doing it, as it isn't set yet, so I can't comment on which fields.

We had to foot the bill for our own flight and hotel rooms in Austria, which was a major drag, but as time has gone by, we were able to convince the school what a major step this is in getting AUC's name out there in the academic international community. At the symposium on Monday, there were 5 awards given out, with cash values from $500 to $1500! I personally won $1000 for the 2nd place in the oral presentations. That certainly helps offset some of those costs, and I was informed today that we rec'd another major contribution to help divert some costs, so it is going to be much cheaper than we originally had expected. The total cash value at the awards ceremony Monday was over $6000! And we are still getting more contributions!

The point is.... AUC is movin' on up! This is going to make a big splash (bad pun) in the Caribbean, and I am proud to be part of it! I'll be glad to answer any questions regarding this, and since it is such a big announcement for the school, I think I am going to make this a sticky for about a week or so. When I return from Austria on July 13th, look for a big post about our accomplishments there, and the elbows we rubbed.

Also, we will probably be repeating the symposium on July 21st, at the AUC clinical fair, where all the clinical people from the different sites come down to check out the school and recruit students to their hospitals for clinicals. I am going to suggest to Dr. **** and Dean Thurman that they might fly in some other prospective clinical site coordinators to wow them with our new developments! Who knows?

Let me know what you all think! Of course, participation in the program is entirely voluntary, for both professors and students, so it is a no-pressure kind of environment. But we are having a blast, and I feel like I am really accomplishing something important, publishing and presenting at a major international Congress..... I can't wait!

For us lab rats out there, this is heaven(well, 2nd next to med school). Now if only they can also have immunology or biochemistry research...

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Finally beat Super Mario Bros within 7 mins.

Funny you should mention that.... as I know at least one of them is looking into it, and I suspect the other will do so very soon... But those are expensive labs to set up, so it may take some time to get off the ground. Who knows?

There was a reason anatomy was first... it's easy and we already have the stuff we need.... cadavers!

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bleh

Definitely exciting news! I am happy to see that AUC has something new to potentially offer current as well as prospective students. Kudos to all of those involved with this project and best of luck to all with their symposium presentations (ah, I remember those days....). Hmmmm.....any chance for a combined degree (M.D./Ph.D.) in the (not so near) future?

Aloha,

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Pathology
PGY-1.75

Oh wow... you guys are so far ahead of the game... well, let's just say it's a ways off, but it has been discussed. Nothing definate yet, and like I said, alot of the future of research at AUC is dependant upon how things go in the next year. Lotsa pressure, but that's when I usually do my best.... now back to cramming for my Genetics test tomorrow!

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bleh

I remember them talking about a guy interested in research when I was there in July. I think that does a lot for the university, as well as for the students. It legitimizes AUC as a University. If you guys can publish some good original research, that will reallydo wonders for the school's reputation. It is also great for the CV, as you pointed out, *****. There are a lot of research oriented program directors out there, and they tend to be at the larger/more prestigious programs. This should help AUC studs get into better programs. Good luck in Austria! Say hi to Arnold for me. G

__________________
AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
(They're right)

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

Debating about whether I should maybe put this in the Main Foreign Medical School Forum, too, just so that some prospectives who don't regularly visit the page will be aware of it. I don't want it to seem like I'm spamming it all over the forums or crowing about it, I just want potential candidates to know there are research opportunities at AUC...

Maybe I'll just leave it as it is for now.

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bleh

I think it is a good thing to put on the Main forum. The purpose is to inform people what the various med schools have to offer. I think that it may be a very big deal to some people to attend a school that supports and publishes original research. Who cares if people think you are spamming. G

__________________
AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
(They're right)

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

slight erosion of credibility when you are preceived to be a "spammer"

Depends what that's worth to you.


dt

That settles it..... it's getting posted.

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bleh