NATCHEZ — Trinity Episcopal Day School student Ananya Bhargava is hoping a trip to Washington, D.C, in the fall will help him decide if a career in medicine is right for him.

Bhargava, who just finished his freshman year at Trinity, was nominated to attend the Congress of Future Medical Leaders in the nation’s capital in November.

The congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields.

The purpose of the event is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country who aspire to be physicians or medical scientists and to help provide a path, plan and resources for those students to reach their goal.

Bhargava said he is currently torn between entering the medicine or technology fields.

“Technology is just one of those things that allows you to create these amazing and advanced things that can help a lot of people,” Bhargava said. “My interest in anatomy and my mom being a physician is kind of how I got interested in the medical field.”

During the three-day event, Bhargava will join students from across the country to hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science winners talk about leading medical research, be given advice from Ivy League and top medical school deans on what is expected in medical school and learn about cutting-edge advances in medicine.

“I think this will be a great opportunity for me to get an idea of if this is truly what I want to go into or if I should go with technology,” Bhargava said. “It’s going to be a great experience.”

The Congress, Bhargava said, will also allow him to meet and connect with students similar to him from across the country.

“I’ll get to meet all kinds of young people who are inspired to go into the medical field and talk to them about what they think about it,” Bhargava said. “I can’t wait to meet new people from all over the nation.”

One of the things Bhargava will get to do during the trip is watch a live surgery performed by top medical professionals.

“That’s going to be cool,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

Richard Rossi, executive director for the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists, said the event would be a critical part of a student’s decision to enterthe medical field.

“This is a critical time in America when we need more doctors and medical scientists who are even better prepared for a future that is changing exponentially,” Rossi said. “Focused, bright and determined students like Ananya Bhargava are our future, and he deserves all the mentoring and guidance we can give him.”

But Bhargava won’t be twiddling his thumbs this summer waiting to make a decision between medicine and technology.

Bhargava will begin this week a six-week online robotics course sponsored by Duke University that he hopes will expose him to his other interest.

“It’s going to be a busy summer,” he said.

Bhargava is a member of the Key Club at Trinity and plays on the school’s basketball team.

He is the son of Vivek Bhargava and Anubha Jati of Natchez.