TL;DR
You’ll find a list of medical internships below, each with its cost or stipend, dates, most recent deadline, location, and exactly who’s eligible to apply. Twelve pay every intern. Most applications close between November and February, so find your group and get those deadlines down now. An internship puts you inside a hospital or lab for a summer and shows you what the work looks like up close. Horizon gives you a research question of your own. You’ll work one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor in a course like Medical Sociology, and finish with a research paper that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions. It’s fully online; cohorts start several times a year.
What is a medical internship?
A medical internship places you inside a hospital, medical school, or research institute for a few weeks. You aren’t treating patients. Most of the time you’re working in a lab on a mentor’s project, sitting in on clinical meetings, or helping a hospital team with its day-to-day work.
These programs come in a few shapes. Some are research internships, where you spend eight weeks at a lab bench and give a poster talk at the end. Others are hospital programs that mix shadowing, simulations, and career workshops. A few are paid jobs in health care offices, with no patient contact at all.
Can you do a medical internship in high school?
Yes. But the door usually opens at 16, and some programs wait until you’re 18.
How old do you have to be?
Sixteen is the most common floor. SIMR, STaRS, UCSF, Fred Hutch, MCW, Harvard Project Success, St. Jude, PIPS, KP LAUNCH, and ResearcHStart all require you to be at least 16 by the start date. A few programs go higher:
| Age rule | Programs |
|---|---|
| 16 or older | Most programs on this page |
| 18 or older | Children’s Colorado, MD Anderson |
| 18 by September 30 (or 17 and living near a campus) | NIH Summer Internship Program |
| Under 16 allowed for dry lab work only | CHESS |
If you’re 14 or 15, you’re not stuck. Look at hospital volunteer programs near you, or start with a camp. Our guide to medical camps for high school students lists options that take younger students.
What grade do you need to be in?
Most programs want juniors applying for the summer before senior year. Some are narrower. Fred Hutch only takes students entering 12th grade. Magee-Womens only takes current sophomores and juniors. MD Anderson and NIH are really built for graduating seniors.
Will you work with patients?
Probably not directly. High school interns rarely touch patients. You might shadow doctors on rounds (Duke STAR allows this at 18), watch simulations (MCW AIM), or work in a hospital office (KP LAUNCH). But most of these internships are lab research, where the patient connection comes through the disease you’re studying.
How to get into a medical internship
These programs are small, and most get far more applicants than they can take. Here’s what actually helps.
- Start in October. The earliest deadlines hit in late November. STaRS closed on November 30 for its 2026 cycle. Most others close between January and March.
- Check the grade and age rules first. A missed birthday cutoff ends your application. Many programs set the age date at the first day of the program, not the deadline.
- Ask for recommendations six weeks out. Fred Hutch asks you to give recommenders at least three weeks. PIPS wants a science or math teacher. Harvard wants a science teacher. Ask early and tell them the deadline in writing.
- Write about why medicine, in plain words. Short-answer essays carry a lot of weight. Say what you want to learn and what you’ll bring. Skip the dream-of-being-a-doctor opening.
- Keep your resume specific. List hours and dates. “Sorted supplies at a clinic for 2 hours a week for 10 weeks” says more than “volunteered at a clinic.”
- Plan your transportation. None of these programs house high school interns. If you can’t get there every day for eight weeks, the program will say no.
- Apply to several. Pick three to five programs you actually qualify for. Add one that doesn’t depend on location at all.
If you’re aiming for the most selective research programs, our guide on how to get into a top high school research program goes further.
Which medical internship is right for you?
| If you… | Look at |
|---|---|
| Can travel and want the widest choice | Internships open to students from any state |
| Live near a major hospital and want clinical exposure | Hospital and health system internships |
| Live near a cancer center and want lab research | Cancer center and research institute internships |
| Can’t get to any of these, or want your own project | Online option |
Looking for something shorter? Our biology summer camps and medical programs for high school students pages cover camps and pre-college courses. If you’re leaning toward nursing, see nursing internships for high school students.
Medical internships open to students from any state
1. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)
Location: Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
Cost: No cost to participate. General stipends weren’t offered in 2026, only a very small number of need-based awards.
Dates: June 8 to July 30, 2026 (8 weeks)
Application deadline: February 21 for the 2026 cycle. The application opened December 19, 2025.
Eligibility: High school juniors or seniors, 16 or older by the start date, living and attending school in the US, and US citizens or permanent residents
SIMR places you in a Stanford School of Medicine lab for eight weeks. You pick from areas like immunology, cancer biology, stem cells, neuroscience, cardiovascular science, genetics, bioinformatics, and bioengineering. You’ll work on a real project under a mentor, then present it at the end of the summer.
SIMR says it strongly prefers students who live within about an hour’s drive of Stanford. It’s open nationally on paper, but a local address helps. Our complete guide to applying to SIMR walks through the application.
Who is it right for? A junior or senior near the Bay Area who wants lab research at a top medical school.
2. Stanford STaRS Internship Program
Location: Stanford Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford, CA
Cost: Not published on the application page. No housing is provided.
Dates: June 15 to August 7, 2026 (8 weeks, Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
Application deadline: November 30, 2025 for the 2026 cycle. The 2027 date hasn’t been posted yet.
Eligibility: High school or community college students, 16 or older, from anywhere in the US and its territories. No international applicants.
STaRS (Science, Technology, and Reconstructive Surgery) puts you in a Stanford lab with clinician-scientist mentors. You’ll learn techniques like histology, imaging, and genotyping, then present your findings at a final showcase. Prior lab experience isn’t required.
This is the earliest deadline on the page. If the 2027 cycle follows last year’s timing, applications will close in late November, so check the site now. You’ll need a letter of recommendation, and you’ll need to arrange your own housing.
Who is it right for? A student who can live near Stanford for the summer and wants surgery-related research.
3. Duke STAR Program
Location: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, NC
Cost: Free. A stipend is paid. The high school amount isn’t published.
Dates: June 22 to July 24, 2026
Application deadline: January 2 for the 2026 cycle
Eligibility: Rising seniors and current high school seniors. US citizenship or permanent residency is required.
STAR (Summer Training in Academic Research) teaches clinical research methods and medical writing. You’ll join a team with undergraduates and medical students and work on a project with a Duke faculty mentor. The goal is for every student to qualify as a co-author on a peer-reviewed paper. Duke reports that more than 95% of participants since 2013 have been authors on papers indexed in PubMed.
Students who are 18 or older can also shadow a doctor on hospital rounds.
Who is it right for? A rising senior who wants clinical research and a real shot at a published paper.
4. UCSF Summer Student Research Program
Location: UCSF labs and local clinics, San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Cost: $3,000 stipend for high school students
Dates: June 15 to July 31, 2026 (7 weeks, in person)
Application deadline: Not posted for 2027. UCSF expects the application to open in December 2026.
Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, or seniors, 16 or older by June 1, with at least one year of math and biology, who are economically, educationally, or medically disadvantaged
This program has run for more than 45 years. You’ll pair with a mentor on a clinical or basic science project, attend weekly seminars and journal clubs, and give both a poster and an oral talk at the final symposium.
The 2026 cohort was high school students only. The program doesn’t list a state residency rule. You do need to attend every session in person for the full seven weeks.
Who is it right for? A student from a disadvantaged background who can be in the Bay Area all summer.
5. NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP)
Location: NIH campuses, including Bethesda, MD
Cost: Free. Pay rates for high school graduates aren’t listed on the eligibility pages we checked.
Dates: At least 8 weeks in summer. Start dates vary by lab.
Application deadline: February 18 for the 2026 cycle. The application opens in early December.
Eligibility: High school seniors who graduate before the internship starts, are US citizens or permanent residents, and will be 18 by September 30. If you’re 17 on June 1, you must live within 40 miles of an NIH campus.
The NIH Summer Internship Program places you in a federal research lab, where you’ll work alongside NIH scientists on biomedical research. You’ll attend lectures, career workshops, and Summer Poster Day.
Important change: NIH’s separate high school program has been merged into SIP. Juniors can’t apply anymore. It’s now a program for graduating seniors heading to college. After you apply, you contact labs whose work interests you, so do your homework on NIH’s institutes before December.
Who is it right for? A graduating senior who wants a summer in a federal lab before starting college.
Hospital and health system internships for local students
6. KP LAUNCH High School Program
Location: Kaiser Permanente medical centers and business offices, Northern California
Cost: Paid at $24 per hour
Dates: June 15 to July 31, 2026 (7 weeks, full time)
Application deadline: January 9 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened November 17, 2025.
Eligibility: Ages 16 to 19 by June 1, current high school students or graduating seniors, with a permanent address in a Northern California Kaiser Permanente service area and legal authorization to work in the US. Juniors and seniors get priority.
KP LAUNCH is a real summer job inside one of the country’s largest health systems. You’ll work in administrative and support roles with a supervisor, and attend weekly skills workshops. You won’t take part in patient treatment. What you get is a clear view of how a hospital runs, plus a paycheck.
Who is it right for? A Northern California student who wants paid work experience in health care.
7. MCW Apprenticeship in Medicine (AIM)
Location: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Cost: Free. A stipend is paid. The amount isn’t published.
Dates: Mid June to early August (6 weeks)
Application deadline: March 1 each year. Applications open November 1.
Eligibility: At least 16, a rising junior, rising senior, or June graduate, with a 2.75 GPA in high school science and math, attending a Milwaukee-area public, charter, private, or nearby suburban school
AIM is one of the few programs here with weekly clinical shadowing. You’ll be mentored by current medical students, practice clinical simulations, and learn about health problems that affect your own community. You’ll finish by writing an abstract and giving a talk on a disease you choose. Interviews happen during Milwaukee Public Schools spring break.
Who is it right for? A Milwaukee-area student who wants to see what medical school and clinical work feel like.
8. Stanford Pediatrics Internship Program (PIPS)
Location: Stanford University, Stanford, CA (in person, with some remote work possible)
Cost: Free. A $3,000 stipend is available to students with financial need.
Dates: June 8 to July 24, 2026 (7 weeks, 30 hours a week)
Application deadline: February 23 for the 2026 cycle
Eligibility: Rising juniors or seniors, 16 or older, living in and attending school in San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, or Santa Cruz County, with at least a 3.0 unweighted GPA
PIPS is built for students with little or no research experience. You’ll complete a research project in maternal and child health with Stanford faculty, postdocs, and researchers. It’s one of the friendliest starting points on this list if you’ve never worked in a lab. You’ll need a recommendation letter from a science or math teacher.
Who is it right for? A Bay Area student new to research who’s curious about pediatrics.
9. Children’s Hospital Colorado Child Health Research Internship
Location: Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO
Cost: $4,400 stipend
Dates: June 1 to July 31, 2026 (9 weeks)
Application deadline: February 1 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened December 1, 2025.
Eligibility: High school seniors who are 18 or older before June 1, and Colorado residents
You’ll work in a lab with Department of Pediatrics faculty from Children’s Colorado and the University of Colorado. You list your top three mentor choices when you apply. Every Friday there’s a required research seminar, and you’ll finish with a written summary and a presentation.
If your work is accepted at a scientific meeting, the program pays for your travel and registration. That’s rare at this level.
Who is it right for? A Colorado senior who’s already 18 and interested in children’s health.
10. Harvard Medical School Project Success
Location: Harvard Medical School and affiliated labs, Boston, MA
Cost: Free. The internship is paid. The amount isn’t published.
Dates: June 29 to August 14, 2026 (full time, 7 hours a day)
Application deadline: February 4 for the 2026 cycle
Eligibility: Boston or Cambridge residents in grade 11 or 12 with at least a 2.70 GPA, 16 or older by the start date, who have completed algebra, biology, and chemistry
Project Success has run since 1993. You’ll do a paid internship in a Harvard Medical School lab, with group STEM learning and career guidance on top. Recent student projects ranged from Alzheimer’s disease to bone health in type 1 diabetes. The 2026 cohort was small, with nine students presenting at the end.
Your application needs a science teacher recommendation and a transcript sent by your school counselor.
Who is it right for? A Boston or Cambridge student who wants a paid lab placement at Harvard.
11. Magee-Womens Research Institute High School Summer Internship
Location: Magee-Womens Research Institute and Magee-Womens Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: Free. Stipend details aren’t listed in the program overview.
Dates: June 15 to July 24, 2026 (6 weeks, 240 hours)
Application deadline: February 9 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened December 1, 2025.
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores or juniors, over 16 by the start date, with a permanent address in Greene, Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Washington, Beaver, Lawrence, Mercer, Butler, Armstrong, Indiana, or Cambria County
Magee-Womens is one of the largest research institutes in the country focused on reproductive biology, women’s health, and infant health. You’ll work on your own project under an investigator, in basic, translational, or clinical research. Lunch and Learn sessions let you hear how scientists built their careers.
Who is it right for? A sophomore or junior in southwest Pennsylvania interested in women’s and infant health.
Cancer center and research institute internships for local students
12. Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)
Location: Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Seattle, WA
Cost: Free. You receive a financial award if you complete the internship, plus a free ORCA transit card. The amount is shared with applicants invited to interview.
Dates: June 22 to August 14, 2026 (8 weeks, full time)
Application deadline: March 13 for the 2026 cycle. Fred Hutch will post 2027 details in November.
Eligibility: Students entering their senior year, 16 or older by the start, living in Greater Seattle or nearby. No out-of-state or international students.
SHIP starts with two weeks of lab training: pipetting, sterile technique, tissue culture, DNA isolation, PCR, and gel electrophoresis. Then you’re paired with another intern and placed in a Fred Hutch research group for six weeks. It’s designed for students who haven’t done much research before.
You’ll need two recommendations, four short essays, a resume, and a transcript.
Who is it right for? A Seattle-area rising senior who wants full training before joining a lab.
13. Memorial Sloan Kettering Summer Student Program
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Cost: Free. The 2025 cycle paid a $1,200 stipend. No housing is provided.
Dates: 8 weeks in summer, full time and on site
Application deadline: February 6 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened December 1, 2025.
Eligibility: Current high school juniors with a permanent address within 25 miles of New York City
You’ll spend eight weeks in an MSK lab on a biomedical or computational project. You must complete all eight weeks on site, with no exceptions. MSK also asks applicants and parents not to contact faculty during the application process, and doing so disqualifies you.
Your application needs two recommendation letters, short essays, a one-page resume, and transcripts from every high school you’ve attended.
Who is it right for? A New York City-area junior who wants cancer research at one of the world’s top cancer centers.
14. Broad Summer Scholars Program
Location: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA
Cost: Free to apply and attend. $3,600 stipend, plus partial transportation reimbursement.
Dates: June 29 to August 7, 2026 (6 weeks)
Application deadline: January 21 for the 2026 cycle. The application opened November 24, 2025.
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors at a Massachusetts school within commuting distance of the Broad, with a B or better in science and math, who are US citizens, permanent residents, or have work authorization
You’ll be matched with a Broad scientist on an original project in areas like cancer biology, psychiatric disease, infectious disease, or computational biology. There’s an on-staff tutor to help with the science, poster training, and a college fair. No previous research experience is needed. You can’t hold another job or take classes during program hours.
Who is it right for? A Massachusetts junior who wants original research at a major genomics institute.
15. ResearcHStart
Location: Labs at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University, and Rush University
Cost: Free. $3,000 taxable stipend.
Dates: June 15 to August 7, 2026 (8 weeks, 35 to 40 hours a week)
Application deadline: January 20 in the 2025 cycle. The 2026 date wasn’t on the page we checked. Materials are released each fall.
Eligibility: High school juniors or seniors at the time of application, living in Illinois or Lake County, Indiana, and 16 or older by the start date
ResearcHStart is a cancer research internship run across five Illinois universities. You’ll work full time in a cancer lab, attend a faculty lecture series and career workshops, and present at a symposium. Recent cycles have picked no more than 30 students across all sites. You’ll need two recommenders, and at least one must be a teacher.
Who is it right for? An Illinois junior or senior who wants full-time cancer research.
16. CHESS: Cancer Health Engagement Summer Scholars
Location: University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL
Cost: Free. $3,000 stipend, paid in two parts.
Dates: June 15 to August 7, 2026 (8 weeks, 40 hours a week)
Application deadline: The 2027 application opens in November and closes in mid-January.
Eligibility: Cook County residents in 10th, 11th, or 12th grade with an interest in health care or biomedicine. You must be 16 by the start date to work in a wet lab.
CHESS starts with a boot camp week, then places you in a UIC faculty lab on your own project. You can work in any area of cancer research, from molecular biology to biostatistics. Students under 16 can still join and work in a dry lab. That makes this one of the few options for younger students. The program was renamed for 2026 and now focuses on Cook County.
Who is it right for? A Cook County sophomore, junior, or senior, including students who haven’t turned 16 yet.
17. St. Jude High School Research Immersion Program
Location: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN
Cost: Free. The 2027 stipend amount isn’t listed on the page we checked.
Dates: May 31 to July 24, 2027 (8 weeks, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
Application deadline: Not posted yet for 2027
Eligibility: Current juniors at a high school in the Memphis-Shelby County area or nearby counties in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, 16 or older, with at least a 3.0 GPA, who are US citizens, non-citizen nationals, or permanent residents
You’ll work in pairs with a mentor on a project in lab science, psychology, epidemiology, clinical research, or data science. At the same time, you’ll work with a science educator to write a personal statement about how the program changed how you see yourself as a scientist. That statement is built to go straight into your college application. You’ll finish with a poster at a community exhibition.
Who is it right for? A Memphis-area junior who wants research at a world-famous children’s hospital.
18. MD Anderson High School Summer Program in Biomedical Sciences
Location: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Cost: Paid at $18 per hour, about $7,200 for the full 10 weeks before taxes. You arrange your own housing and transportation.
Dates: June 1 or June 8 to August 7, 2026, depending on your graduation date
Application deadline: January 14 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened November 17, 2025.
Eligibility: Texas high school seniors (public, private, charter, or home school) who are 18 by the start date, graduating that spring, and accepted to college for the fall. The program prefers students interested in allied health careers.
This is the highest-paying program on the page. You’ll work full time in an MD Anderson lab under a faculty mentor and join seminars, workshops, and presentation events. It’s built for graduating seniors, so you apply in the fall of senior year. MD Anderson will post 2027 details in October.
Who is it right for? A Texas senior headed to college who wants a paid summer in a cancer lab.
Online medical research option
19. Horizon Academic Research Program
Location: Online
Cost: $6,950 per course. Need-based aid is available for households earning under $75,000.
Dates: Fall and spring terms run 15 weeks. Summer runs 10 weeks.
Application deadline: November 22, 2026 for the winter cohort
Eligibility: High school students with at least a 3.67 unweighted GPA. Horizon accepted 26% of 6,539 applicants.
Every other program on this page puts you on someone else’s project. Horizon is different. You pick a research question and work one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor to answer it. You’ll finish with a research paper of about 5,000 words that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions.
For medicine, the closest fits are the Medical Sociology Lab (how patients, doctors, and society shape health care), the Neuroscience Lab, and the Neurodegenerative Diseases Seminar. Horizon doesn’t have a clinical track, and you won’t work in a hospital. What you get is a finished piece of research, with no age floor beyond high school and no zip code rule.
Who is it right for? A student who can’t get to any of the internships above, or who wants a project of their own.
Frequently asked questions
What are the deadlines for medical internships for high school students?
Most close between late November and March. Here are the most recent deadlines we could confirm.
| Program | Most recent deadline | When to watch for the next cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Stanford STaRS | November 30, 2025 | Now (fall 2026) |
| Horizon | November 22, 2026 (winter cohort) | Rolling cohorts |
| Duke STAR | January 2, 2026 | Fall 2026 |
| KP LAUNCH | January 9, 2026 | Opened mid-November last year |
| MD Anderson | January 14, 2026 | Details posted in October |
| CHESS | Mid-January | Opens in November |
| ResearcHStart | January 20, 2025 | Materials released in fall |
| Broad Summer Scholars | January 21, 2026 | Opened late November last year |
| Children’s Colorado | February 1, 2026 | Opened December 1 last year |
| Harvard Project Success | February 4, 2026 | Winter |
| MSK Summer Student Program | February 6, 2026 | Opened December 1 last year |
| Magee-Womens | February 9, 2026 | Opened December 1 last year |
| NIH SIP | February 18, 2026 | Opens early December |
| SIMR | February 21, 2026 | Opened December 19 last year |
| Stanford PIPS | February 23, 2026 | Join the mailing list |
| MCW AIM | March 1 (every year) | Opens November 1 |
| Fred Hutch SHIP | March 13, 2026 | Details posted in November |
| UCSF SSRP | Not posted | Expected to open December 2026 |
| St. Jude | Not posted | Check the program page |
Yes. Sixteen is the most common minimum age on this page. KP LAUNCH, MCW AIM, Fred Hutch, Harvard Project Success, and St. Jude all accept 16-year-olds. A few programs, like Children’s Colorado and MD Anderson, require you to be 18.
Very few. CHESS lets students under 16 work in a dry lab. Otherwise, look at hospital volunteer programs, medical camps, or research programs for complete beginners.
Real hospital internships are almost always in person. If you need something online, look at research mentorship instead. Horizon is fully online, and our guides to online research mentorship programs and online medical research opportunities list more.
You still have options. Five programs on this page take students from any state, though you’ll need a place to stay. You can also find a research lab near you and email a professor directly. Or you can do research online. Horizon pairs you with a mentor one-on-one, and where you live decides nothing.
An internship usually runs six to ten weeks, is free, and often pays you. You work inside a real lab or hospital team. A camp runs a few days to two weeks, usually charges tuition, and teaches skills like suturing or CPR in a classroom setting. Our medical camps page covers the camp side.
Usually not. Fred Hutch, PIPS, Broad, and STaRS all say prior experience isn’t required. What they want is clear interest in medicine, solid grades, and strong recommendations. If you want to build some experience first, try one of these disease research project ideas.
For several programs, yes. SIMR, Duke STAR, NIH SIP, and St. Jude require US citizenship or permanent residency. Broad also accepts students with work authorization. STaRS and Fred Hutch don’t accept international applicants.
Resources
Finding more programs
- Summer research programs for high school students
- 20 summer medical research programs
- 15 public health research opportunities
- Health science summer programs
- Biotech internships for high school students
- Online biology research programs
- Harvard medical summer programs
- Medical summer programs in Chicago
Paying for it
- Free medical programs for high school students
- 14 free university science summer programs
- Free research mentorship programs
- Grants for high school research
- 12 paid research mentorship programs
Getting in
- 10 ways to get research opportunities in high school
- The most competitive research programs
- Prestigious STEM programs
- Top research mentorship programs
- 7 steps to turn your paper into a competition submission
After your internship
- How to publish research in high school
- 15 research journals for high school students
- 15 research competitions
- What you can do with a high school research paper
Image source: University of Illinois Chicago