Student feedback
“The POP was an amazing experience. It allowed me to see what science is really about and how those who work in this field operate. I felt honored learning under those with so much passion for science. I was able learn about how chromatin structure is affected by cardiovascular disease in a hands-on environment. I enjoyed my time in the lab, whether I was watching and aiding in experiments or simply learning new things (heart physiology, chromatin, etc.) With the help of my mentors, I now have a deeper understanding about what science is. Overall, I enjoyed everything about this program and this was the perfect way to spend my summer.”
— Matthew Chen
(Tom Vondriska lab, 2014)
“The very first day I was immersed in [the Khakh lab’s] culture I was introduced to various departments and slowly I began to regain my confidence in myself…it no longer mattered that I had made mistakes it was my chance to build on my previous failure and charge forward. It was an eye opening experience…[learning that] scientists worked diligently and patiently to find answers. It gave me insight as to what it really meant to work in a research lab and the educational background necessary.”
— Miriam Otieno
(Bal Khakh lab, 2012)
“Throughout my time in the lab, I gained an immense amount of knowledge. Knowledge that ranged with what my doctor was searching for and in general about what I needed to know to learning about lab equipment, safety, and cautiousness. Overall, I had such an amazing experience in my time in the program.”
— Victor Banuelos
(Ernest Wright lab, 2012)
“The [Physiology Outreach] Program made me see that science is more than just learning about biology; it is about being capable of using it in a way that will answer questions that are yet unknown.”
— Lizbeth Teyuca
(Tom Vondriska lab, 2013)
“I greatly enjoyed how hands-on the POP program was. It gave me great insights into what working in an academic laboratory environment would be like, fostering great personal interest in academia. The POP program felt, for me, very in depth, ingraining concepts and procedures I would have struggled to learn in a classroom environment. There is no real point that I disliked about the POP program. The amount of students the program can take at once felt small enough that everyone was able to also get to know each other, giving a communal feel among those in the program, which was great.”
— David Lu
(Yousang Gwack lab, 2014)
“The Physiology Outreach Program gave me a much clearer understanding of how the scientific method is applied in a laboratory setting. It is one thing to learn about biological processes in a classroom. It is quite another to see how researchers use that knowledge to make new discoveries. Although I had learned the mechanism of PCR in my biology class, I did not truly understand why it was so important to molecular biology researchers until spending a month in Wang lab. Most importantly, I gained an immense appreciation for the complexity of life. Each cell has millions of processes, each which require their own set of enzymes and substrates. It is truly a miracle that we are alive.”
— Benjamin Antin
(Yibin Wang lab, 2013)
“My time at the labs during the UCLA internship really highlighted my summer. I never thought I would gain such a fun experience from working and learning about science as much as I did. Doing hands on experiments really allowed me to understand what science is all about and that is curiosity as well as knowledge of what is around us. This internship really allowed me to consider going into the medical field or possibly the biochemistry major for my future studies. It is an experience that I will never forget. Thank you for the opportunity!”
— Minerva Paramo
(Nancy Wayne lab, 2012)
“This experience in the Physiology Outreach Program was truly amazing. I learned so much even though it was only for a short period of time (4 weeks) in the Papazian lab. Although one can learn about PCR and the development of zebrafish from a textbook or the Internet, it is totally different when you experience it first hand. Holding a pipette in one hand and a PCR tube in the other was something that I got to experience for the very first time because of this program. Furthermore, I also got to hear advice personally from doctors, medical students, graduate students, and nurses which changed my views on careers in the science field. ”
— Emily Kim
(Diane Papazian lab, 2013)
“Working in the UCLA Physiology Outreach Program provided me with a life long experience that taught me about myself and the world. The scariest moment was the very first time I walked into the lab because I walked in blind without knowing anyone or anything. That fear slowly diminished as the environment was very friendly and all of the scientists in the lab took me in as their own right away. I took the initiative to dedicate myself to the lab and contribute the most I could. The one thing you need to succeed in this course is self-motivation. You must push yourself to engage in fascinating experiments and research to be able to understand everything that’s happening in the lab. This program gave me an early look into the medical/ scientific route and it gave me ideas of what I would like to become. Science is a hard subject but when you have amazing people in a lab working side by side with you anything is possible. In the end I left with a better understanding of what I could accomplish and what it takes to get there. I truly recommend this program to any young people in search of a medical or scientific field.”