Pre-Medical Institute
The ever-changing world of medicine is a fast-paced and exciting atmosphere in which to spend your summer. You will spend your days discussing current issues confronting the medical community, learning about medical research, and participating in hands-on labs and skills sessions. There is limited space available in this Institute, so submit your application early. Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Program Dates
June 9-June 29, 2013 or
July 28-August 16, 2013
Journal Club
You will listen to a basic lecture on medical history then read recent articles on current topics in a journal-club format similar to what med schools use. The lectures will help get you started on your quest to learn about cutting-edge science techniques, but it’s up to you to apply that knowledge to clinical problems in our assignments. You will learn how to navigate through various scientific search engines and to think beyond standard Google or Wikipedia searches. By the end of the institute, we expect you to be conducting quality, college-level research using the primary literature by choosing topics that excite and interest them.
A&P Connections and Pre-Med Labs
For A&P Connections, you will listen to a lecture on basic anatomy and physiology, and participate in dissections of organs and fetal pigs. You will also be lead in a variety of hands-on labs to teach you about medical diagnostic tests and experiments (PCR, IHC, bacterial culturing, etc…). You will be encouraged to make predictions and given the opportunity to design ways of testing those predictions. No “cook-book” labs here!
Clinical Techniques
Led by current WUSM medical students, you will have the opportunity to practice basic medical techniques including taking vital statistics, learning to suture, taking patient histories, etc… These sessions will take place in the simulation rooms used by medical students, and will help you apply basic scientific knowledge to the techniques you will encounter in your day-to-day medical school experience.
Lectures and Field Trips
Faculty from the medical campus of Washington University will visit to give brief lectures. We encourage you to ask questions and to do further research into topics that pique your interest.
We will take tours of medical school facilities and visit areas of interest for local scientists including the St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis Zoo, and Missouri Botanical Garden.
Meet the Instructors
Sarah Van Vickle-Chavez received her B.S. in Biochemistry from University of Missouri – Columbia and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Washington University School of Medicine. Her areas of research have included animal cloning and nuclear transfer, abdominal aortic aneurysms, circadian rhythms and photoreception, and breast cancer. She also has extensive experience as a science writer, having written several textbook supplements and acting as a writing instructor for upper-level science courses at Washington University. Currently, Dr. Chavez is a lecturer in the Department of Biology, where she teaches classes in General Biology, Modern Genetics, Cancer Biology, and Problem-Based Learning in Biomedical Science.
Lincoln Muhoro is a M.D./Ph.D. candidate at Washington University School of Medicine. He received his B.A. in Biochemistry, and Masters in Biology from Clark University in Worcester, MA. After graduation, Lincoln worked for 3 years at Abbott Laboratories where he was involved in structural characterization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and other small molecule therapies that target different autoimmune disorders (MS, Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis). Lincoln taught MCAT classes and also tutored high-school students in Math, Chemistry, Physics and Biology before entering medical school. His M.D. interests currently include radiation oncology, internal medicine and anesthesiology. His Ph.D. research involves the discovery, development and optimization of tumor-specific monoclonal antibodies and peptides that target radiation inducible neoantigens (Dennis Hallahan Lab).
Craig Smith received his B.S. in Biology and Biochemistry from Purdue University and his Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics from University of Michigan. His research interests include protein chemistry, structural and computational biology, and microbial pathogenesis. Dr. Smith has extensive experience teaching high school and undergraduate students. He has served as an instructor for Upward Bound Program at Forest Park Community College. This program helps prepare first generation high school students to go to college. Also, he has taught several Chemistry and Biology courses at Lindenwood University. Currently, Dr. Smith is a Lecturer in the Biology Department, where he teaches Principles in Biology I and II Lab, Principles in Microbiology, and Bugs, Drugs and the Global Society.
Lindzy F. Dodson received her B.S. in Biology and Basic Chemistry from the University of Evansville and her Ph.D. in Immunology from Washington University School of Medicine. She has experience in cancer research and strong passion for undergraduate teaching as the instructor for Introductory Biology, scientific literature based classes, and upper level Biology courses. She also has teaching experience in Immunology, Anatomy, and Biochemistry. She is currently an Assistant Professor at St. Louis University where she teaches undergraduate Introductory Biology, Genetics, and Histology.