WIKIMEDIA, NHGRIDuring my first years of undergraduate study, I perceived biomedical research as a rather nebulous concept, involving white lab coats, surly postdocs, and long hours tending to lab equipment owned by a principal investigator (PI) whom I was unlikely to ever meet.
I found this sentiment shared amongst my fellow science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. Most of us had—at best—limited exposure to biomedical research in high school. We might have visited a nearby university lab, for example, observing the research process as spectators.
When we arrived at college, the prospect of contributing to research seemed daunting. And our lack of confidence persisted when senior lab members were too busy with their own projects to provide proper fundamental instruction for the benchwork we were assigned, or to explain the big picture behind the lab’s many projects. Internet searches and watercooler talk about the research process were somewhat educational, but far from the learning experience many of us had expected.
Knowing that there was more to experience ...
