Last week, a counselor made an odd request of the teenage residents in the Roth House on Stanford University's campus. Please do not get up before 5 a.m.!

    What brand of teens were these? Motivated ones.

   With time winding down in a five-week program that ends Aug. 3, some were getting up at 4 a.m. to work on their projects. And all along, they had haunted the Stanford medical library.

   Twenty-three low-income high school students with academic potential who are interested in the health field are participants in the 10-year-old Stanford Medical Youth Science Program.

   The names on the banner in the hallway announce their diversity: "SMYSP - Welcome Rhys, Maricela, Vahek, Erick, Cam, Jose, Marilyn and Shauna...."

   That Wednesday, most rose early, exercised, had breakfast and took a brisk fitness walk to the medical anthropology lecture.

   At 10:30, they worked on their projects. They ate lunch and then attended a lecture on homelessness by Marilyn Winkleby. Later, there was a neurobiology lecture.

   Winkleby, who has a doctorate, is a senior research scientist and epidemiologist in the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention, and she is a founder and director of SMYSP. The program is sponsored by the School of Medicine and Stanford Health Services.

   The hope is that these students will one day ease the medical care shortage in rural and underserved urban areas such as their neighborhoods.

   Each week, the theme centers on a basic science such as human anatomy, organic chemistry or physiology. In addition, students work side by side with physicians and other health professionals in hospital and clinic internships.

   "I feel so honored to be here," said Joanne Sandoval, 17, who lives with her mother in San Jose and wants to be a pediatrician.

   "You don't really hear about minorities going to these types of programs," she said. "I never in my life had such an opportunity."

   Someone who did have such an opportunity was one of SMYSP's 10 Stanford undergraduate student staffers. DeLise Cousins, a human biology major from a low-income background in inner-city Richmond, VA, was helped by scholarships to attend summer medical programs at state universities in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

   "I know the struggles these kids are going through," she said. "One of the biggest things for me now is service, and being a part of this program allows me to give back. It's a blessing."

   Khalil Abdullah, 16, of Sacramento says his mother is a single parent and is his inspiration.

   "I told a few other people that I was coming to Stanford, but they don't value education like I do," said the young man, who says he has a natural talent for math and science. "My mom told me that men have to accept responsibility, and so I believe a responsible man does what he has to do."

   This year's program is directed by Gautam Deshpande, a human biology major from East Windsor, NJ, and Cory Yeh of Mission Viejo, associate director.

   The hardest thing, they said, was having to select only 23 from the huge number of hopefuls.

   Wednesday evening, they sat in the living room talking about everything from the waltzing they had learned to the homelessness and Alzheimer's disease.

   At the meeting's end, a counselor announced: "Professor Gabrieli is coming for dinner, so if you have more questions about the brain...."

   "Yeah!" some shouted, and excitement rippled throughout the group.

   What kind of teens? Motivated.