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In This Issue:
From left: Ricky Guerra and Kyle Burton
Growing up in St. Louis, Kyle Burton always dreamed of becoming a physician. Even in high school, Burton knew medical school would be part of his plan. Similarly, Ricky Guerra, a Texas native, has been committed to pursuing medicine since high school.
Now, the two alumni of the BWH Summer Training in Academic Research and Scholarship (STARS) program are making their lifelong dreams come true by joining Harvard Medical School's (HMS) Class of 2018 later this month.
The STARS program recruits underrepresented minority college and first-year medical students from around the U.S. for an eight-week mentored summer program. Each summer, students are paired with a mentor, with whom they work directly in the lab, and gain hands-on training in research methods, as well as professional advice. Fifteen students participated in the STARS program this summer and were recognized at a graduation ceremony held at HMS earlier this week.
"Through the STARS program, I gained confidence in myself and my capabilities," said Guerra, who participated in the program last year as a rising college senior at Duke University. "The guidance provided while I navigated the medical school application process was invaluable. STARS played a pivotal role in making HMS tangible for me."
Burton and Guerra are current mentors for prospective medical school applicants in the STARS program, hoping to extend the same help they received as they went through the application process.
"I really appreciate the STARS program for the preparation that it provided me," said Burton, who participated in the program during the summer of 2012, as a rising college junior at Howard University. "HMS seemed like a distant dream, but now it is my reality."
Learn more about the STARS program.