Thoroughly enjoyable experience learning a vast array of new techniques with some fantastically kind and patient lab members.

Great opportunity and the financial support provided by the DCAT team meant that I had an amazing opportunity for research that otherwise would not have been available to me.

It was a great opportunity to engage in medical research over the summer to see how a lab works on a daily basis and learn some new research skills.

I really enjoyed my vacation studentship – it allowed me to see and think about medicine in a completely new light and has made me appreciate how much weight ethical guidelines and ethical views influence clinical care.

It was a great experience to pick up lab skills, and to understand better how lab-based research works. 

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring an area of medicine I knew little about and having the freedom to follow areas of personal interest throughout the vacation studentship with support from my supervisor.

My supervisors and colleagues in the lab were all very nice, incredibly helpful and patient with me.

Overall, this vacation studentship strengthened my interest research and academic medicine and I find the outcome of my vacation studentship to be an encouraging first step towards a scientific career.

The experience was interesting and rewarding and I feel it was a good use of my summer vacation.

I thoroughly enjoyed working in this project throughout my summer holidays – it was something very different to anything I have ever taken part of and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I feel that taking part in this summer project has given me more confidence and I have gained a bigger insight into how another side of Medicine works. It has made me better appreciate the equipment that we as clinicians use on a daily basis.

Everyone was very friendly, I was immediately incorporated in all group discussions and I got a good sense of the project goal from the start.

During the course of this 6 - week summer studentship, the skills I have gained have been so valuable.

It was a good use of the summer break, being exposed to clinical environments I have previously not experienced.

Was a very interesting opportunity to have learned and applied valuable skills that cannot be obtained anywhere else in a standard medical school curriculum.

It was a great opportunity to conduct a laboratory - based research project.

Spending 6 weeks of my summer working in a research environment was a valuable experience and I truly enjoyed it.

In my project, I was given the opportunity to be involved in multiple projects, explore the literature and ask questions which I thoroughly enjoyed. I received tremendous support and guidance from the staff in the department which enhanced the learning experience.

DCAT is a very good scheme for students with no prior experience to know more about conducting a research project and personally I think I got a lot out of my project. DCAT really reinforced my goal to get involved in more research studies in the future and it also made me feel more confident in conducting a data analysis project, which I have never done before. My supervisor spent a lot of time teaching me skills required to conduct a data analysis project and he provided me with loads of opportunities to present my work. I feel very honoured to work with the research team and I am very grateful for this project.