59 Great Medical Programs for High School Students + Advice

59 Great Medical Programs for High School Students + Advice SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Thinking about a career in medicine? I highly recommend trying out some medical experiences in high school before committing to a pre-med track. Many of my high school friends whohoped to go into medicine ended up changing their major duringcollege when the pre-med courses got too difficult. Doing a medicalinternship, summer program, or community service projectin high school can help you decide if medicine is the right track for you before you waste time and money goingpre-med in college.This guide will explainwhat experiences are open to you as a high school student, what those experiences involve, andhow youwill benefit from them. What Medical Experiences Are Available to High School Students? There are lots of ways to get a taste of it's like to work in medicine.In my opinion, the best time to do this is over the summer. You have the most free time during the summer, and there are more experiences available. There are many summer medical programs and summer medical internships for high school students across the country. These opportunities range from research experiences to in-hospital experiences. Some of these programs and internships charge you a fee to attend, some are paid for, and some even pay you to attend. I’ve compiled a list of over 50 summer medical programsfor high school students.Severalof these programs and internships are just for students from a specific state or area.Check specific programs for application requirements and fees. I've provided links to each program below. If you’d like to get experience during the school year (on weekends and after school), you should consider shadowing a doctor or volunteering at a hospital.I’ll discuss the details of volunteering and job shadowing later in the article. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. List of Summer Medical Programs for High School Students I've divided up the summer medical programs into three categories: Medical Programs, Medical Research Programs, and general Science Research Programs. Medical Programs In the medical programs category, I list programs that offer high school students the chance to get hands-on experience in medicine (non-research related) such aslearning simple medical procedures, watching surgeries, shadowing doctors, workingin hospitals, interacting with patients, and more. There are very few programs that offer this type of experience to high school students, and Ihighly recommend them since they'll give you the most realistic look atwhat life's like as a pre-medstudent,medical student, and medical professional. Program Host Institute/Hospital Location Cost Program Length High School Senior Summer Internship Program Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH No cost. Interns are paid up to $1,368 8 weeks Medical Immersion Summer Academy Mentoring in Medicine and Science Oakland, CA $1,000 5 days Medicine Health Care Program National Student Leadership Council Various universities throughout the US $3,195- $3,495 9 days Stanford Medical Youth Science Program Stanford University Stanford, CA No cost 5 weeks Summer Medical Academy Rady Children's Hospital and UC San Diego San Diego, CA $2,450 12 days UPenn Medicine Summer Program for High School Students University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA $7,995-$8,510 4 weeks Medical Research Programs If you're unable to do one of the above medical programs, the next best thing is a medical research program. In these programs, you'll be working in a lab and helping with medical research that's in progress (i.e. looking at slides under a microscope, recording changes)or assisting with on-going clinical research (i.e. interviewing participants in an on-going trial of new medication, logging participant information in the computer). Many of these programs pair you with a mentor who works at your location. Also, several of these programs require you to give a presentation at the end of the program. These medical research programs are extremely valuable because, as a pre-med student, you'll likely end up doing lab work either for class or as an extracurricularforyour medical school application.If you do one of these programs in high school, you'll be a step ahead of your pre-med classmates. (One quick note: many of these programs are free or pay stipends, but not every program provides free housing. Make sure you check each program's housing accommodations before you apply!) Program Host Institute/Hospital Location Cost Program Length Summer Science Internship Program Arthritis Foundation California No cost. Interns are paid $1,500 7weeks Summer Scholars Biology Research Immersion Program Buck Institute for Research on Aging Novato, CA $2,500 8 weeks Disease Detective Camp Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC Atlanta, Georgia No cost 5 days Summer Child Health Research Internship Children's Hospital Colorado Aurora, CO No cost. Interns are paid $3,500 8 weeks Summer Research Program Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute Oakland, CA No cost 9 weeks Biomedical Research Internship for Minority Students Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, OH No costs. Interns receive a stipend of up to $3,078 9 weeks City of Hope Cancer Center Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy Duarte, CA No cost. Students receive a stipend of $4,000 10 weeks Summer Experience for Students Coriell Institute for Medical Research Camden, NJ No cost. Students receive a stipend of $1,000 3.5 weeks Initiative to Eliminate Cancer Disparities, The Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences CURE(Summer Only) Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Boston, MA No cost. 8-12 weeks Summer Research Program Indiana University Cancer Center Indianapolis, IN No cost. 8weeks High School Summer Internship Program Magee Women's Research Institute Pittsburgh, PA No cost. 4 weeks Summer Research Internship Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience Jupiter, FL No cost.Students are paid $.50/hour. 6 weeks Summer Internships for High School and College Students McLaughlin Research Institute Great Falls, MT No cost. 8 weeks High School Summer Program MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX No cost. 6weeks Diversity Summer Enrichment Programs Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI No cost. Students receive a stipendat the end of the program. 6 weeks Werner H. Kirsten Student Intern Program National Cancer Institute Frederick, MD No cost. Students receive a $3,600 stipend 8 weeks NEI Summer Intern Program National Eye Institute Bethesda, MD Rockville, MD No cost. Students receive a monthly stipend. 8-12 weeks Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research NIH Bethesda, MD No cost. Students receive amonthly stipend of $1,930. minimum of 8 weeks Summer Student Program National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Bethesda, MD No cost. Students receive amonthly stipend of $1,930. minimum 8 weeks National Institute on Drug Abuse: Summer Research with NIDA NIDA Various universities throughout the US No cost. Interns are paid $12 an hour. 8 weeks NIDDK Short-term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons STEP-UP - High School Program National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Bethesda, MD No cost. Students receive a stipend (amount varies) 8-10 weeks Summer Internship Program National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research Triangle Park, NC No cost. Students are paid per hour (salary varies) 8 weeks Summer Program in the Neurological Sciences National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Bethesda, MD No cost. Students receive a stipend. minimum 8 weeks Summer Cancer Research Experience Program for High School Students Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo, NY No cost.Limited, need-based stipends available. 7 weeks Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford, CA No cost. Students receive stipends from $500 to $1500 8 weeks Summer Student Program The Jackson Laboratory Bar Harbor, ME andFarmington, CT No cost. Students receive a stipend of $5,250 10 weeks Helios Scholars Program Translational Genomics Research Institute Phoenix, AZ No cost. Students are paid $10.50 an hour 8 weeks High School Student Research Apprentice Program University of Connecticut Health Center Farmington, CT $2,050minimum, with discounts for students who enroll in multiple sessions. 1-4 weeks Summer Cancer Research Internship for High School and Undergraduate Students University of Hawaii, Cancer Center Honolulu, HI No cost. Students are paid $10.60 an hour. 8weeks Summer Research Scholars Program University of Minnesota Medical School, Lillehei Heart Institute Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN No cost. Students receive a stipend of $3,000. 9 weeks Travis B. Lewis High School Scholarship Award Program University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Pharmacology Experimental Neuroscience Omaha, NE No cost. Students receive a stipend of $1,500. up to 10 weeks Biomedical Research Training for High School Students University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX No cost. 8 weeks Summer Fellowship Program in Biomedical Research Wistar Institute Philadelphia, PA No cost. Students receive a stipend (amount varies). 8weeks Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Science Research Programs If you can't do one of the medical research or medical programs, you should consider trying to do a science summer program/internship. These programs are not medicine-specific and cover a wide range of science topics (from plant life to space). However, these programs are still very valuable because as a pre-med student, you'll be learning a ton ofscience. As a part of your pre-med track, you'll be required to take Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, and more. Doing one of these science programs willgive you a preview of the coursework ahead of you. Also, many of these programs are lab work, and, although they're not focused on medical research, they will still give you good general insights into how to do lab work. As I said before,as a pre-med student, you'll likely end up doing lab work either for class or as an extracurricularforyour medical school application.If you do one of these programs, you'll bewell-prepared to do that research. Program Host Institute/Hospital Location Cost Program Length Plant Genome Internship Cornell University Boyce Thompson Institute Ithaca, NY No cost. Students receive a stipendof $1,050. 7weeks Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia No cost. 8-10weeks Army Educational Outreach Programs Department of Defense Washington, DC Varies. Some scholarships and grants are available. Varies depending on program Internship Program J. Craig Venter Institute Rockville, MD No cost.Students are paid $13.00 an hour 8-12 weeks Maine Research Internships for Teachers and High School Students MERITS Maine Space Grant Consortium Augusta, ME No cost. Students earn a stipend (amount undisclosed). 6 weeks Research Science Institute Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Cambridge, MA No cost. 5 weeks Monell Science Apprenticeship Program Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia, PA No cost. Students receive a stipend (amount varies). 8weeks Summer Research Program Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ No cost. Students are paid about $9 per hour. 12 weeks Summer Youth Internship Program Museum of Science Boston, MA No cost. Positions can be paid or unpaid, depending on program. Varies National Space Club Scholars Program National Aeronautics and Space Administration Greenbelt, MD Wallops Island, VA No cost. Students receive a stipend of $2,100. 6 weeks OARDC Research Internships in Wooster ORIP Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Wooster, OH No cost. Students receive a stipend (amount varies). 10 weeks Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE) program Saturday Academy Oregon Southwest Washington $250 8 weeks High School Student Research Education Program Scripps Research Institute Jupiter, FL No cost. Students are paid $.50 per hour 8weeks Howard Hughes Medical Institute Program University of Maryland College Park, MD $200 1 week Howard Hughes Medical Institute High School Scholars University of Miami Miami, FL No cost. Some students receive stipends. 7 weeks Internships for High School State University of New York College at Oneonta Cooperstown, NY No cost. Interns receive a stipend of $1,750-$2,000 10 weeks Educational Outreach Program The Forsyth Institute Boston, MA No cost. Students are paid an hourly wage (amount varies) 8 weeks Geosciences Bridge Program University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center Princess Anne, MD No cost. Students are paid $500 per week. 6 weeks Bioscience Summer Research Program for High School Students University of Utah, Department of Biology Salt Lake City, UT No cost. 8weeks Summer Research Apprentice Program University of Wyoming Laramie, WY Varies depending on program. Varies depending on program. What Are the Pros and Cons of These Programs? These medical programs can be a great experience for many high school students, but they can have some drawbacks. In this section we'll look at the pros and cons of medical programs for high school students. Pros These programs and internships provide a real look atwhat life's like asa researcher, scientist, or medical student. You'll have a great sense of whether or not you'd like to pursue a career in the medical field after you finish your program. If you do a college campus program, you'll geta preview of college life. You can experience living away from home, and you can decide if you like the college. I did a summer program at UCLA during high school, and it made me realize that UCLA was not the school for me. As I said before, these opportunities give you the chance to evaluate if pre-med is the track you want to go down before you wastetime and money in college. If you love your program, you'll be even more motivated towork hard to become a medical professional. You'll meet like-minded students who’re interested in medicine/science. You'll have a great program or internship on your college application. By actually participating in a medical/science program, you'll show colleges that you're committed to pursuing a career in the medicalfield. If you attend a college campus program, and you’re interested in going to college at the school that hostedthe program, you’ll have shown real interest in that college (which admissions officers always like to see). Cons These programs can be expensive (depending on the program you choose,some can cost almost $10,000). However, some programs pay you! Make sure you check out the individual program websites to find out the cost. And like we mentioned before, pay careful attention to housing! Some programs might offer stipends, but they may not cover housing costs. Also, they canbe highly competitive (some admit very few students or have special qualifications such as having a 3.5 GPA or higher). Some may not provide you with the best insight into medicine, especially those that are less hands-on or only offer research exposure (which is not what you’ll necessarily be interested in). Other Options: Hospital Volunteer orShadowing a Doctor Volunteering and job shadowing are both great ways to participate inmedical experiences at your local hospital. You can do themduring the school year or the summer. Also, both opportunities are free! What's the difference between volunteering job shadowing a doctor? As a hospital volunteer, you'll have to apply (and likely interview) to be a volunteer (along with getting a TB test and filling out paperwork). You'll attend a hospital volunteer orientation and be assigned a specific "job" at the hospital (such as assisting the nurses or assisting hospital visitors in navigating the hospital). As a volunteer, you'll be required to commit to volunteering for a certain number of shifts per week. You also may have to commit to volunteering for six months or more. Job shadowing is a shorter experience and much less formal. You can shadow a doctor for as little time as a few hours or a day or two. While shadowing, youfollow adoctor around while theygo about their normal activities. They may ask you to help them with basic tasks (grabbing a chart or taking notes), but probably not. You'll be there to see what a doctor does in their daily routine to determine if it interests you. To sign up to be a hospital volunteer, apply through the hospital's website. If you're having trouble locating the hospital's website or contact information, check with your school academic advisor.They may have a connection to the local hospital or might know another student whohas volunteered or job shadowed there andwho could help you get involved. To find ajob shadowingopportunity, reach out to any friends or family whowork in the medical field. See if they know any doctors whomyou could shadow. Also, ask your school's academic advisor if they know other studentswhoshadowed a doctor andcould give you more information.If your school can’t help you, get in touch with the hospital directly to see if they can help you set up a job shadowing opportunity.If you need more advice onjob shadowing, read our other guide. What Are the Pros and ConsofShadowing a Doctor orBeing a Hospital Volunteer? Shadowing a doctor or being a hospital volunteer is a significantly different experience than participating in a summer medical program, and they have their own set of pros and cons. Pros As opposed to summer programs, these experiences are always free.As I said above, some medicalprograms and internships can cost up to $10,000 (so much!). Job shadowing and being a hospital volunteer arefree experiences that will only cost you your time. These are great options if you can't afford the cost of a summer program. Job shadowing and being a hospital volunteer can provide a real look into life as a doctor or nurse. By following them around or working in a hospital, you'll get a sense of the work environment and what life is like on a day-to-day basis fora medical professional. As I said before, these opportunities give you the chance to evaluate if pre-med is the track you want to go down before you spendtime and money in college. If you don't like your experience job shadowing or as a volunteer, you might realize pre-med isn't the right path for you. However, if you love your experience, you'll feel more motivated to work towards your goal of becoming a medical professional. Job shadowing is a great experience if you don't have a lot of time to commit. You can choose to job shadow for a few hours, a fullday, or for severaldays. It's very flexible. If you want to be pre-med, volunteering at a hospital is a great extracurricular activity for your college application. While volunteering elsewhere (at a homeless shelter, animal shelter, etc.) can be great for a college application, it's goodto keep your extracurriculars focused on your future goals. Volunteering at a hospital will show colleges that you're serious about a career in medicine. Cons Volunteer experience may not provide you with quite the medical experience you're looking for. Volunteering may not be very hands-on, and your duties may be repetitiveand not directly related to medicine,such as answering phones, filing papers, and helping visitors find where they're going. If you only job shadowfor a day, it's not a great experiencefor your college application. It's notan extracurricular activity if you only do it once because that doesn't show enough commitment. However, I recommend doing job shadowing just to get insight into the medical field. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. How to Choose the Right Medical Experience for You Eachof the medical experiences listed in this article hasvalue, but to decide which is right for you, you shouldask yourself three questions: #1: What Is Your Main Medical Interest? Are you more interested in research or patient care?If research, look into one of the summer research programs.If patient care, look into one of the hospital-based programs, job shadowing or being a hospital volunteer. #2: How Much Money Are You Willing to Spend? Do you have money to spend, do you have no money to spend, or do you need to have a job that pays? If you have money to spend, you can consider all of the options.If you have no money to spend, look into an all-expenses paid program (or one with financial aid). Also, consider volunteering or job shadowing since both arefree experiences.If you need a job that pays, look into the programs with stipends for participants. #3: How Much Time Do You Want to Invest in Your Experience? Do you want to spend a day, a few hours per week, or a few weeks full-time on this experience?If you want a quick experience, consider job shadowing a doctor for a day or two.If you’d like an on-going experience to use as an extracurricular, consider volunteering since you could do that a few hours per week throughout the school year.If you’d like an intensive experience, consider doing one of the summer programs or internships. Also, alwaysmake sure toresearch a program or experience before you commit to it. Doing so will help avoid a bad experience (such asa program that's not very hands-on or volunteer work that's mostly grunt work). Whatever you're interested in doing, try to find another student who did it previously and ask them about their experience. For the programs, get in touch with the program coordinator to see if they can put you in contactwith a program alum you can speak with. How Will Colleges View These Experiences? Colleges mainly look for extracurriculars that show your commitment, passion, and ability to handle responsibility and leadership. As I mentioned briefly above, job shadowing isn't a great experience for your college application because it's not enough of a commitment if you only do it for a few days. On the other hand, volunteering at a hospital is a great extracurricular activity for your college application because it shows a commitment to medicine. The summer programs and internships are also great experiences for your college application because they show that same interest in and commitment to medicine. Also, many of these programs and internships are competitive,and colleges know that. If you're accepted into one of those programs or internships, colleges will view it like you won a prestigious award. What’s Next? Doing a medical program is a great step, but what else do you need to do to prepare for med school? Check out our step-by-step guide to preparing for med school as a high school studentand our list of the best books for pre-med students. Also, you should learn about how to write about extracurriculars on college applications. Check out fouramazing examples of extracurriculars forcollege applications. Interested in a BS/MD program? They can be a great way to save some time and get your medical degree sooner. Read our guide on getting into BS/MD programs to learn more. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: