Hello everybody! First I want to give you a background of what the Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program is all about. It is a program at Weill Cornell Medical College designated for pre-med students by providing us with as many experiences as possible in the field of medicine. We are exposed to either pre-clinical or clinical research in the facilities of the hospital, we are assigned a fourth year medical student to help us find shadowing opportunities, and we have lectures on cardiology, public health, and several fields of medicine. It has a focus on serving undeserved populations in the states and therefore we have a couple of lectures on ethics and minorities as well. 

The program offers free housing in the first year medical student's dorms, which is very convenient and nice because you get to meet some students that are staying here over the summer. 

The first week of the program has been amazing! On the first day, we got to study the anatomy of real human hearts that all ready had been dissected by the medical students of that year! Holding a human heart was incredible, and being in the actual facilities that the medical students use was even more. We were inside the anatomy laboratory with several cadavers around us. If you are unsure of whether you want to become a doctor or not, this program is definitely for you because it exposes you to many of the things you will find in medical school. 

Although we haven's started our shadowing yet, we all have been very involved in our research. During the summer, I will be working with two other people from the program on intra vaginal rings that deliver non-hormonal contraception, anti-HIV medication, and microbicides. This week we were setting up the lab and chemicals in order to have everything organized for the summer project. 

Living in the city is also great! It is really different from Ithaca because it is always crowded and there are a lot of things to do! Yesterday I went to a food festival in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and had delicious food from all over the world. After that, I met with some friends from high school and went to Central Park with them. It has been very fun and I really recommend everybody to come live in the city for a summer, even if it is with another program or internship.