On its page on the World Wide Web, the Harvard Medical School (HMS) characterizes its students as those who "bring to the HMS learning community a high level of excellence expressed in a rich diversity of accomplishments, talents, interests and backgrounds."

Every year thousands of pre-med students strive to fit this description, so that they may be accepted at Harvard or at other top medical schools across the country.

Consequently, trying to figure out which summer jobs best boost one's knowledge of the medical sciences or add most impressively to one's resume can be a stressful experience, but according to some of the top medical schools around the country, such anxiety is unnecessary.

Many Paths to Medical School

Contrary to popular belief, the pre-med students interviewed for this article regard their future with calm and reason.

Rather than seek jobs that look impressive on a resume or on a medical school application, Harvard pre-meds say they put their energy into work that interests them personally.

Most students say they regard lab jobs--often in biology or biochemistry laboratories or at HMS--as the most rewarding.

Paul Hahn '98, a biochemistry concentrator, has spent the past two summers working in the Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Department of HMS to gain lab experience. He continues his job there during the academic year in an unpaid capacity and says it helps him gain concentration credits as well as valuable experience that he drew on for his senior thesis.

Hahn says laboratory work is important preparation for medical school as well.

However, others say that non-medical laboratory work or community service suit them better.

Lola M. Fayanju '00-'01, says, "Interaction with people at different levels is great preparation for being a doctor."

To achieve this, she has done summer volunteer work at the Occupation Physical Therapy Division of the Kessler Institute in New Jersey and works with the sickle cell team of Project H.E.A.L.T.H. (Helping Empower, Advocate and Lead Through Health), a volunteer service sponsored by Harvard's Institute of Politics.

Finding the Job

Hahn and other bio-chemistry concentrators say both paying and non-paying job opportunities can easily be found on bulletin boards in the department office.

Other students say the Web page for the Office of Career Services (OCS) is a helpful source.