Student Life

Each year, up to 25 highly talented individuals from across the country join WashU’s Medical Scientist Training Program, making it one of the largest in the country. While our MSTP students come from diverse backgrounds and have wide-ranging interests, all are united by their collective goal to become the next generation of leaders in academic medicine and biomedical research.

MSTP students are leaders in both the medical and graduate programs, they serve on various university committees, and they are members of extramural organizations. In the lab, MSTP students are highly productive, with authorship on more than 400 journal articles over the past five years. MSTP students’ interests are not limited to biomedical research; over the years, MSTP students have established Sling Health, the Young Scientist Program and the Mad Scientist Network. In addition, they have collaborated with traditional medical school students to institute the Saturday Morning Clinic (the first student-run free clinic in the nation) and the Public Health Plunge (a program to expose entering students to the challenges of public health).​

Student perspectives

Chinwendu Amazu’s perspective

I have spent my life in three major places: Nigeria, Maryland and Missouri. Each location provided me a different environment to grow, learn and mature. But I would have to say living in St. Louis has been a major place of growth because of the MSTP training I am pursuing currently. St. Louis has provided […]

Derek Barisas’s perspective

The WashU MSTP staff is the glue that holds the MSTP community together. Year-round they work hard to organize events that help connect us with our peers. Individual MSTP classes meet each week to go to their lunchtime journal club, and on Thursdays MSTPs of all years descend upon seminar for dinner, science, and advice. […]

Britt Andersen’s perspective

It is great being an international student in the Washington University MSTP! There are multiple international students in my class, signifying that the program truly admits students based on merit irrespective of citizen status. The Washington University community is very diverse and includes nationals of many different countries; however, St. Louis and particularly Missouri, is […]

Kayla Berry’s perspective

While I undoubtedly have become very close to my MSTP classmates, I developed very close and deep ties with my MD counterparts that have lasted even beyond their graduation. I spent many hours and late nights studying with them, collaborating with them to lead student groups and service projects, exploring the St. Louis area and […]

Jeffrey Hansen’s perspective

The transition from college to the WashU MSTP meant eight more years of learning cool facts with like-minded people, albeit the facts were cooler and the people were even more like-minded. While my college classmates dreaded the transition into corporate America, I skipped gleefully towards more opportunities to learn and grow as a physician scientist. […]

Life in St. Louis

St. Louis is an affordable and fun, vibrant city in which to live, work and learn, offering a plethora of activities, cultural experiences, cuisines and neighborhoods to explore throughout your eight years (or more!) here. The Central West End neighborhood, adjacent to the medical campus and where many students choose to live, is walkable and has almost everything you need: grocery stores, restaurants, fitness centers, access to public transit, coffee shops, public library and more. Plus, Forest Park, nestled between the Danforth and Medical campuses, has abundant green spaces, sports fields, recreation trails, and museums of art, history and science — all FREE.

Explore St. Louis »