The program offers a unique opportunity for pre-doctoral students preparing for careers in the biomedical sciences, medicine, and pharmacy to gain biomedical and oncology research experience. Students participate in basic or clinical oncology research, research and clinical conferences, and a core lecture series designed specifically for them. All participants make a PowerPoint presentation on their research project and submit a report on their research project written in the style of a journal in which their faculty mentor publishes.

A primary goal of the POE program is to encourage students to pursue a career in cancer research. Thus, we are particularly interested in highly qualified students with a serious career interest in cancer research, either as a clinical scientist or laboratory-based research scientist. The St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was recently established to offer training in leading-edge scientific fields paired with unique mentoring in the St. Jude clinical experience. Highly motivated POE students would have opportunities to join the third class of the Graduate School.

All POE program applicants must have research experience at the time they apply. The POE 2018 class average undergraduate GPA was 3.85. Our POE 2018 class of 55 students from 44 schools in 25 states were selected from over 500 applicants. POEs must be United States citizens, non-citizen nationals, or possess a visa permitting permanent residence in the United States (required by the funding agency). All must have completed at least their college sophomore year by the time they participate. POE medical students spend a minimum of 10 weeks in the program. The minimum tenure requirement for all others is 11 weeks. All POE applicants must have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.40 (on a 4.0 scale) in math and science (biology, chemistry, and physics) and at least a 3.40 overall. The subsistence allowance will be $400/per week for undergraduates, and $480/week for all others. Fully furnished group housing will be provided at no cost for non- local participants.

The POE home page contains links to the program application. The deadline for receipt of all application materials is February 1. Early application is highly recommended, since completed applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Members of under-represented ethnic minority groups and women are particularly encouraged to apply, since one of our major long-term program goals is to increase the diversity of persons engaged in oncology research and practice.