Summer Research Opportunities Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF School of Medicine From: Patricia Robertson, M.D. Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology I wanted to let you all know about opportunities in obstetrics and gynecology this summer, from time in a basic research lab, to a clinical research project, to clinical community experiences, to international health opportunities. I am continuing to put together a list from faculty who are willing to mentor a first-year student this summer. For those students interested in a full-time research project, I would encourage you to apply for a stipend from the Dean's research fund, from which many MS 1's were funded last year. (It is unlikely an investigator can put you on his or her grant for two to three months in terms of financial support). For those of you who want less of a full-time commitment for a research project, other projects are also available. There are also clinical opportunities to shadow a community ob-gyn in his or her office for a half-day every week, or one day, but the deal with the clinical experience is that you have to pay tuition for the summer to have malpractice insurance in effect. You can get elective credit for both the research and the clinical experiences. There are some international opportunities in women's health as well. In terms of those students who may be interested in ob-gyn as a career, this is a great opportunity for you to work on a research project prior to the match, as you will not have this type of uninterrupted time in your curriculum again (although your fourth year is currently under construction, which may allow time but that will generally be after interviews). However, I want to emphasize that you do not need a research project to match well in Ob-Gyn, as we match all kinds of students who spend their time in interesting ways. Even if you are not sure about Ob-Gyn, we would love to have you spend some time with us this summer, part-time or full-time. Just email me, let me know what you are interested in, and I will give you faculty contact information. So far, here is a sample list of possibilities: do research in women's health in Mexico, full-time work with Leslie Cragin, Ph.D., CNM (midwife), on one to two clinical research projects, each about eight hours per week, at SFGH work in the lab with Sindy Mellon, Ph.D., full-time work in the lab of Richard Weiner, Ph.D., full-time in hormone research work with perinatologist and geneticist Mary Norton, M.D., on a clinical research project with some clinical time/experiences in prenatal diagnosis, full-time work with Jeanette Brown, M.D., with clinical research projects at Mount Zion in urogynecology, part-time or full-time work with faculty and fellows under the direction of Phil Darney, M.D., at SFGH in contraceptive and/or abortion research, full-time or part-time work Looking forward to hearing from you!