Hope College sophomores Sarah Bettag of Mukilteo, Wash., and Jacob Boersma of Grandville have each been chosen to participate in a competitive summer program in France for students interested in careers in medicine.

Organized by the French department at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., the “Summer Study in France for the Pre-Med Student” is designed for students in a broad spectrum of health-related fields and interests, and will run from May 25 through June 29 this year.  Through the program, which is based in Nice near the Italian border, students enroll in courses focused on health care and participate in an internship at a major local hospital, veterinary clinic, nursing school, bio-analysis laboratory or large pharmacy.  They also become immersed in the culture by living with a host family.

Bettag intends to major in French and minor in chemistry.  She is a 2012 graduate of Archbishop Murphy Hospital and the daughter of Jurgen and Elaine Bettag of Mukilteo.

“Medicine and French are two interests of mine, so diverse that I always thought I would eventually have to choose between them,” she said.  “But, the Pre-Med Program in Nice has made it possible for me to simultaneously explore both of the subjects I love.”

Boersma is majoring in biology and minoring in French.  He is the son of Brian and Beth Boersma of Grandville and a 2012 graduate of Grandville High School.

He also noted that the program offers “the best of both worlds by integrating both my interest in medicine as well as my appreciation for the French culture and language.”

In addition to Hope and Washington University, colleges and universities participating in the program have included Binghamton, Brandeis, Brown, California-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Oberlin, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Virginia, Wisconsin and Yale.