MD/PhD students generally face two difficult transitions.  The first is when they begin graduate training after the first two years of basic science work.  The second comes when they return to medical school after their dissertation is completed.  We try to ease these passages by providing a clinical advisor for each MD/PhD student during the PhD training period.  These clinical faculty help students maintain patient skills (by attending ward rounds and clinics) and by discussing the clinical applications of their doctoral research.  We try to help students hit the ground running with respect to their graduate research projects by arranging research opportunities in the summers before and after the first year of medical school.  Students are also encouraged to attend lab meetings of prospective mentors and to design their research projects before actually entering the lab.