Whether you’re an MD/PhD student in the Medical Scientist Training Program or an MD student taking a year to pursue a research project, many students welcome the opportunity to push discoveries forward alongside WashU Medicine’s world-renowned faculty mentors.
Total Research Phase length: Up to 1 year for MD students and up to 4 years for MSTP students
Explore a day in the life of MSTP students at various points in their research years »
Hi! I am a fifth-year student in the Medical Scientist Training Program. I am originally from Jabalpur, India, but did my undergraduate work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I joined WashU in 2011 and am so glad I made that decision. Check out what my usual day looks like in the lab! 
8 am: Preparing for a long day with some morning coffee from Kaldi’s. 
8:30 am: Doing an RNA extraction in a hood for a next-generation sequencing reaction downstream. 
10 am: Looking under the microscope to make sure my primary cell cultures are healthy and ready for a transfection experiment later in the day. 
11:30 am: Planning to knock out a gene using Crispr technology by reading relevant literature and designing the necessary constructs. 
12:45 pm: When possible, I grab a quick lunch with my husband at St. Louis Children’s Hospital cafeteria, where all students get a discount! 
2 pm: Discussing exciting new data with members of the lab in the break room. 
4 pm: Speaking with a nurse at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to identify new patients to enroll and consent into an ongoing study in the lab. Data from patient samples helps guide our more detailed molecular studies in animal models.