First-Year Medical Student Accepted into Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Summer Pipeline Program

Olivia Means, a first-year medical student at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, recently was accepted into the Memorial Sloan Kettering 2015 Summer Pipeline Program. This program is a highly competitive medical student summer fellowship program at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

For eight weeks, Means will conduct clinical research, shadow in the clinic and operating room, and attend weekly departmental meetings.

"We encourage our students to apply to summer research programs such as the one at Memorial Sloan Kettering to provide exposure to other institutions and research programs. This is an outstanding opportunity for Olivia,” said Dr. Susan LeDoux, associate dean of medical education and student affairs at the USA College of Medicine.

Means will be working with Dr. Bernard Park, the deputy chief of clinical affairs of the thoracic surgery service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, on a project titled “Anatomic Resection for Peripheral Pulmonary Typical Carcinoid Tumors: Is it Mandated in All Cases?”

“I am really excited about the program because I will get a closer look at cancer research and the field of surgery,” Means said.

The program will give Means exposure to experiences and various types of cancer and patient treatment approaches. She begins her project in June.