NONPROFIT WORLD IN THIS TOGETHER. Freddy Nguyen had such a hard time learning about M.D./Ph.D. programs that he vowed to help other applicants avoid a similar fate. Last month, the organization that grew out of his frustration, the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA), hosted its fourth annual meeting in Chicago. The group is doing well enough for the 26-year-old Nguyen, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, to step down as president and hand the reins to the next generation. APSA (www.physicianscientists.org) has more than 1000 student members from about 120 medical schools. It organ- izes national and regional con- ferences each year where this rare breed—who face a 10-to- 14-year slog—can meet fellow students, present their research, and learn from senior investiga- tors who have traveled the same path. “It’s really about connect- ing people across organiza- tions,” says Nguyen. “Freddy has a remarkable passion for this,” says Joseph Bast, director of the M.D./Ph.D. pro- gram at the University of Kansas Medical Center, who calls the group “a very worthwhile organi- zation.” The new president is James Pauff, who attends Ohio State University in Columbus.