While attending the American Geriatrics Society scientific meeting this past weekend, I had a glimpse of the future: Medical students participating in the MSTAR (Medical Student Training in Aging Research) program were in full force at the conference, showcasing their potential for leading the way in improving the health of older adults through research and clinical practice. I found myself encouraged and enthusiastic about the health care that will be delivered to the older adults of tomorrow, as I could not have been more impressed by the students, their intellectual prowess, and the drive they exhibited to find solutions for health problems facing our aging population.

I met students like Kathleen Abalos, who just finished her second year of medical school at the University of Virginia. Last summer she traveled to Johns Hopkins University through the MSTAR national competition. Over the past 16 years, MSTAR--administrated by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)-- has provided nearly 1,400 medical students like Kathleen with the opportunity for a mentored experience in aging research. (For more information, see also our Grants at Work article on the MSTAR program.) The future Dr. Abalos was passionate and articulate about her scientific project examining the differences between the autopsied brains of older adults who had Alzheimer’s disease and expressed symptoms, and those who were asymptomatic. She, like the other MSTARs, presented during a special “poster session.” This is like the grade school science fairs we all used to attend, only at a much higher level of sophistication—no vinegar and baking soda volcanoes here!

MSTAR’s goal is to encourage more students to pursue aging-related medical careers, and it appears to work. Hopefully, Kathleen will help continue the statistical trend that shows the success of MSTAR—20 percent of the earliest cohorts have gone on to aging-related medical careers, and 9 percent have gone on to pursue academic geriatric careers, far exceeding the 1 percent national average. MSTAR students go on to be the leaders who develop the scientific knowledge and educate other physicians about the best care of older adults. Kathleen, who had already started an aging special interest group at her school, is a promising MSTAR to watch.

Another impressive student is Ganiya Amusa, who is studying at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. He researched the relationship between pain, depression, and disability. He worked with faculty in the department of geriatric psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, one of the national training centers funded by the National Institute on Aging, a vital partner of the John A. Hartford Foundation in supporting the MSTAR program since 2004. Other students remain at their own institutions and are generously supported by private funders, such as the MetLife Foundation.

When I asked him about his interest in aging, Ganiya, like many students I met, spoke about his grandparents as his inspiration. Other students had previous work experience with elders, and others simply thought that “older adults rock!” (a real quote). In all cases, the students are also inspired to work with older adults by getting hands-on clinical experience through MSTAR. Even those students who go on to other specialties carry that experience forward with them. For example, I met one student who had just been matched to a pediatrics residency. She said her experience with the MSTAR program and older adults had sparked her interest in working with grandparents as caregivers, and she was prepared to be the voice of geriatrics in her future program.

MSTAR students are also encouraged to work with older adults by the dedicated, and often nationally renowned, geriatrics faculty members who serve as their mentors. These faculty members show students how rewarding a career in geriatrics and aging research can be. Christina Metzler, for example, a UCLA student who remained at her own institution, worked with Catherine Sarkisian, MD, who is a well-known researcher in the prevention of disability and a former Paul B. Beeson Scholar. Together they and their team looked at older Latinos’ reasons for exercising or not, identifying potential incentives that might prove effective in increasing levels of physical activity. Christina’s admiration for Dr. Sarkisian was evident, and I’m sure not at all uncommon among MSTARs and their mentors.

The MSTARs I met were all remarkable—in fact, 19 of them, Christina Metzler included, were so impressive that their research posters won inclusion in the Presidential Poster Session, alongside posters created by more senior physician-researchers. Although there is reason to be worried about the future of the medical workforce needed to care for our aging population, the medical students supported by the MSTAR program give me hope that at least there will be a cadre of passionate, incredibly smart physicians who can take the lead in aging research, practice, and education. If I were to wish upon a star for a future in which older adults receive the best medical care possible, it would without a doubt be a wish upon an MSTAR.