Any medical student! While the Summer Scholars and LWGA programs are intended for students between their first and second years of medical school, any medical student can also do research with an external research opportunity or on a volunteer basis. Additionally, third and fourth year students can perform research during their clinical rotations/electives. Students may also have the opportunity to continue summer research projects into their third and fourth years.
The LWGA program funds research in Savannah, although any Mercer MD student can apply. The Summer Scholars program is typically in the same area as your campus. Outside of formal summer programs, you can arrange your own research; if you are interested but do not have anything lined up, contact your campus director of student research for assistance matching with a research mentor. You can also email MUSMStudentResearch@mercer.edu.
Summer research (Summer Scholars and LWGA) takes places during the break with seven weeks total: six weeks of research plus one week of vacation. For summer 2022, the dates will be June 13 to July 29 with vacation July 4-8. Other research experiences do not have a formal timeline. More details can be found on Canvas.
Summer Scholars and LWGA provide stipends. Amounts for the given year can be found in Canvas.
Each campus will have a research symposium at the end of the Summer Research Enrichment program to showcase the research outcomes to peers and incoming first year students. All medical students involved in research are also encouraged to participate in these annual opportunities:
Examples of research areas include clinical research, laboratory (bench) research, literature reviews, analyzing data from clinical studies, community health research, and writing up case reports.
Contact your campus director of student research for more information. For the Summer Scholars program, applications for faculty research projects will be sent out in January.
Please self-enroll in the Canvas course and use the supplied form to report your research experience. You can also include it in your annual report through Watermark.