My name is Clint Allen and I was a 2005-2006 Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP) Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. This year of research training, performed between the third and fourth years of medical school, allows a medical student the opportunity to move to Washington, DC (Bethesda, MD) and experience both didactic and hands-on research training under the mentorship of some of the most well respected and accomplished physician-scientists in the world. During my third year of medical school, I realized that while medical school itself is challenging and rewarding, that I wanted a significant medical experience outside of the standard third year clerkships that everyone matriculating through medical school must go through. I also had a pre-existing interest in research based upon undergraduate experiences, but very little true research experience. To explore this interest, I applied to many of the year-off research programs, including all of the Doris Duke programs and CRTP. I learned about these programs through searching the internet and friends that had been awarded similar fellowships. Ultimately, after a ton of interviews (all expenses paid by the way), I decided to accept the CRTP award and move to Bethesda.
The CRTP program is comprised of 30 students selected from across the country. Students come from all over - UCLA to Harvard and everywhere in between. After being accepted into the program, the first couple weeks in Bethesda are spent meeting with different principle investigators and deciding who you want to work with. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Carter Van Waes, an otolaryngologist investigating the molecular pathogeneses and progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, focusing on the role of the inflammatory cytokine NF-kB. My schedule included weekly journal club meetings with the CRTP group, weekly lab meetings with the Van Waes lab, seeing cancer patients on protocol at the NIH and running experiments. My experience was centered on a translational research project, but students do everything from basic science bench work (no patients) to clinical/epidemiological projects (lots of patient contact).

My year as a CRTP fellow was the most significant education experience of my life. Being at the NIH is an experience that is indescribable. Arguably the most prestigious research center in the world, being on the main campus allows essentially limitless collaboration, attendance at lectures from Nobel laureates, and the opportunity to work with tutors and mentors that can help shape your career plans and life both professionally and personally. I had the opportunity to present my work for the year at three international conferences as both poster and platform presentations (all expense paid of course) and be published many times over. Aside from the educational opportunities afforded by the NIH, Washington DC is a world-class city. My free time was spent going to concerts, amazing restaurants, plays, cooking classes, playing intramural football and basketball, and going out at night. The DC nightlife is in a league of its own. The NIH pays for all relocation costs, subsidizes your housing and gives you a healthy stipend so you have plenty of money to blow in DC. Plus, living and working with 30 other medical students means you going to make some life long friends.

All in all, working at the NIH for the year opened doors in my life both professionally and personally that were not there before. If I had medical school to do over again, I would do CRTP again in a heartbeat. I would encourage all medical students interested in an amazing experience outside of medical school, and especially those students with a pre-existing interest in research, to consider the CRTP fellowship at the NIH. It is literally a life-changing (and potentially career changing!) experience.