If you are a high school student in Maryland interested in exploring medicine, healthcare, nursing, and other related fields over the summer, you should consider enrolling in a medical program. The state has a few health and educational institutes that offer high schoolers a chance to explore medical specialties and subject areas.
Why should you participate in a summer medical program for high school students?
- As a participant, you may get to learn more about medicine and health-related fields, like biology, neurology, genetics and genomics, immunology, and more, beyond the school curriculum.
- You may also get to explore these fields through live instruction, shadowing medical professionals, individual and group projects, field trips, seminars, and/or lab work.
- A medical program can offer some hands-on experience, research work, and shadowing to allow you to witness the real-world application of core concepts in the field.
This is also a chance to figure out the skills you would need to pursue a career in medicine!
To help you get started, here we have listed 14 summer medical programs for high school students in Maryland:
Subject areas: Multiple fields, including medical technology, medical sociology, and psychology.
Location: Virtual
Cost: The program has a registration fee. You can get the cost breakdown by raising an interest form here.
Eligibility: High school students with a GPA of at least 3.67 on a 4.0 scale can apply. Most students who are accepted are high school sophomores or juniors. Only a couple of tracks come with formal prerequisites, further details regarding which can be found here.
Application deadline: The applications for the summer cohort typically close on May 21.
Program dates: The summer seminar runs from June 24, 2024–September 2, 2024. Horizon Academic lab dates are generally flexible, but students need to apply at least four weeks in advance.
HARP is an online research program, in which, you get to choose from wide-ranging subject areas, like medical sociology, gene editing and CRISPR, neuroscience, and more! It is one of the few programs for high schoolers that offer a choice between quantitative and qualitative research. During the program, you will be assigned a mentor, who would typically be a professor or PhD scholar from a leading university. Under the mentorship, you will work on a project, which involves writing a 20-page university-level research paper. Your work can also be sent to journals for publication. The trimester-long program is an opportunity to explore a specialized subject under the guidance of a scholar. At the end of the program, HARP provides all participants with a letter of recommendation and detailed project feedback, which they can use for future projects as well as college applications. Before applying, you can find out more about the program here!
Subject areas: Artificial intelligence, medicine, machine learning, data science, and programming
Location: Online
Cost: Starts at $2,290
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–12 can apply. Applicants must have some background in coding or should have completed the AI Scholars program/
Application deadline: Its cohorts run all year. Applications for the summer cohort are due on April 14 every year. Find out more about the program here!
Program dates: Multiple sessions from July to September. The Deep Dive: AI + Medicine program runs for 12 weeks.
Veritas AI offers multiple programs to students interested in exploring the evolution, impact, and real-world applications of artificial intelligence. Its Deep Dive: Ai + Medicine program focuses on the intersection of both fields, covering topics like medical data preparation, convolutional neural networks, and exploratory data analysis. Veritas AI programs have been developed and executed by Harvard graduate students and alumni. Here, you will get to work with Ph.D. students from top institutions, like Oxford. During the program, you will explore the role of AI in healthcare, work on a group project, and attend instruction-based sessions. As you work on real-world group projects relevant to the field, the experience can help you understand tools like machine learning programs better.
Alternatively, you can consider AI Scholars and the AI Fellowship program to build on your existing understanding of AI. In these programs, students have previously worked on interdisciplinary projects that use concepts from medicine, mental health, and more. You can check out a few examples here.
Subject areas: Applicants can choose from multiple fields, including medicine and public health, neurobiology and neuroscience, and biology.
Location: Virtual
Cost: The fee starts at $2,990.
Eligibility: High school students from anywhere around the world can apply.
Application deadline: Four cohorts are scheduled in a year with different application deadlines. Summer cohort applications typically open in January and are due in May.
Program dates:
- Individual Research Program usually runs for 12 weeks
- Premium Research & Publication Program lasts 16–20 weeks
- Research Fellowship typically lasts anywhere between 6 and 12 months.
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is designed for high schoolers interested in working on their own research project. Lumiere was founded by Harvard and Oxford alumni who have first-hand knowledge of the ins and outs of the rigorous academic. Its programs offer you the chance to engage with ongoing cutting-edge research and conduct your own research on a topic of your choice, which could be relevant to fields like medicine, healthcare, the intersection of AI and medicine, neuroscience, or other related subject areas. It’s also a fairly selective research program! Previously, more than 4,000 students applied for just 500 spots. If selected, you will be assigned a Ph.D.-level mentor, who will work with you closely, helping you come up with a university-level research paper. You can learn more about the research experience on the application form here.
Subject areas: Neurological and biomedical sciences
Location: Virtual or in-person formats available. The in-person program is conducted at the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurology, east Baltimore Campus, Baltimore, MD.
Cost/Stipend: No cost. The in-person program provides an hourly stipend to interns and also covers their transportation, but not accommodation. The virtual program offers a $500 scholarship to participants to support their education.
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors (in the country for the virtual program and in Baltimore City, MD for the in-person program) from underrepresented backgrounds are eligible to apply.
Application deadline: Applications for JHIBS typically open in December and close in March.
Program dates: The in-person program runs for eight weeks, while the virtual program runs for five weeks. Both versions are typically conducted in the June–August period.
JHIBS is a research internship program organized by Johns Hopkins’ Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery. The key focus of the program is offering high school students some exposure to neuroscience, medicine, and research in these fields. The internship is also a chance to learn from biomedical researchers, study and follow the scientific method, and understand ways to conduct research responsibly. You can choose between an eight-week on-campus internship and a five-week virtual program. The in-person program is more competitive, typically accepting just eight students each year. Those who do not get into the in-person format may be offered a chance to enroll in the virtual program instead.
The in-person program involves a research project, one-on-one mentorship, scientific seminars, educational resources, and career guidance sessions in neurological sciences. The virtual program covers relevant activities and key laboratory techniques. In both formats, students get access to professional development workshops, mentorship and training, college preparatory sessions, scientific presentations, and networking opportunities. In-person participants also work on an oral or poster presentation, which summarizes their experience. You can check out past JHIBS research topics here to understand the program output.
Subject areas: Health- and medicine-related fields, including biology, biochemistry, epidemiology, neuroscience, immunology, bioinformatics, pharmaceutical sciences, and nursing
Location: NIH research campuses in the US including the campus in Bethesda, MD
Cost/Stipend: No registration cost | A stipend of $2,300/month will be provided to each HS-SIP participant.
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors and seniors who reside within 40 miles of the NIH Campus on which they will work can apply.
Application deadline: Applications for the HS-SIP typically close in February.
Program dates: The program runs from June to August.
HS-SIP is a paid research program conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is the primary medical research agency of the US government. With an acceptance rate of ~7%, this program offers a select few students a chance to participate in research under the guidance of leading researchers. Once selected, each accepted student is placed in a research group to work under the supervision of a Principal Investigator. During the program, you get to carry out cutting-edge research in biomedical sciences and explore basic, translational, and clinical research. For instance, you might get to carry out research in fields like neuroscience, cancer biology, epidemiology, genetics and genomics, immunology, and more.
During the eight to 10 weeks of programming, you will spend a lot of your time on your research project. However, along with that, a key part of the program is personal and professional development. For this, NIH offers a chance to participate in workshops on becoming a successful scientist and career development and science skills sessions. The internship ends with a Summer Poster Day is held, where you get to share your research and overall experience with peers and the NIH community. You can either apply to HS-SIP or one of its student cohorts—HiSTEP and HiSTEP 2.0.
Subject areas: Biomedical sciences, medicine, laboratory science, and STEM fields
Location: Johns Hopkins Department of Physiology, Baltimore, MD
Cost: None
Eligibility: Baltimore high school students from low-income backgrounds can apply.
Application deadline: TBA
Program dates: The program runs for eight weeks in the summer. The dates haven’t been announced yet.
SARE is an eight-week program that offers high school students from disadvantaged/low-income backgrounds the opportunity to engage with academic research, STEM fields, and health-related disciplines. The program is divided into three components—academic, research, and professional development. In the first component, you will attend classes on writing, math, bioethics, and laboratory science. The second portion of the program involves working with a mentor, who will be either a doctoral student or a postdoctoral fellow. You will also spend the majority of your time in the program engaging with ongoing research and learning laboratory skills. Finally, in the third component of the program, you will be able to work on developing a work ethic and professional skills, like communication, punctuality, and accountability. The program ends with a presentation, where you will share your experiences with other SARE scholars and faculty. This experience can help you explore health-related fields and how scientific research is conducted.
Subject areas: Pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences
Location: Notre Dame of Maryland University
Cost: $450, which includes lunches.
Eligibility: High school students can apply.
Application deadline:
Program dates: The five-day camp is typically conducted at the end of June.
The Pharmacy Camp, organized by Notre Dame of Maryland University’s School of Pharmacy, is a five-day camp for high schoolers interested in pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. These fields are closely connected to healthcare, so if planning to pursue a a career in these fields, the camp is worth considering. Here, you will get to make medicines in the lab and learn about medication therapy management under the guidance of the programming team. You will also get to explore careers in medicine and pharmaceutical sciences. The camp also covers topics like precision medicine, medical or drug research, and patient care. You will also get a sneak peek into the life of a pharmacist.
Subject areas: Medicine, healthcare, health management, nursing, and other related fields
Location: Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), Charles St. Towson, MD
Cost: None, however, students get documented community service hours necessary for graduation in a positive healthcare setting, along with other benefits.
Eligibility: Students who have completed their sophomore year and are at least 16 years old can apply.
Application deadline: TBA
Program dates: Participants are supposed to work one day per week throughout the summer months—June, July, and August.
GBMC is a healthcare center, which accepts student volunteers every year through its High School Student Program. The program typically accepts just 15 volunteers. Although a volunteering opportunity, this experience can help you get first-hand insights into how a medical center works. Here, healthcare professionals at all levels can assign tasks to you. This is also an opportunity to explore core hospital management tasks, including patient care and assistance, as well as hospital policies. You will also work alongside hospital staff and see what their days look like. This can help you determine if a career in healthcare is something you would like to pursue. Additionally, the volunteering opportunity could be your first professional experience, helping you pick up a few tricks and skills you would need in your career.
Subject areas: Biomedical sciences, biophysics,
Location: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Cost/Stipend: A stipend of $15/hour is provided to BRBT participants.
Eligibility: Rising high school seniors and recent high school graduates in Baltimore can apply. Check the detailed eligibility criteria here before applying.
Application deadline: TBA for 2025, but applications are typically due in February.
Program dates: The program typically runs for five weeks from July to August.
BRBT is a five-week research internship, in which you get to work in Johns Hopkins University’s laboratory, learn lab techniques, and explore scientific concepts under the guidance of instructors. During the program, you will engage in biomedical research, specifically biophysics studies. Through this experience, you will learn how to prepare reagents and materials for biophysical studies and explore microbiology techniques as well as DNA and protein engineering. Apart from research skills, you will be able to hone your critical thinking skills as you participate in biomedical research. Additionally, by working alongside graduate students, university faculty, and post-doctoral researchers, you will get some insight into what a career in biomedical research looks like.
Subject areas: Various branches of medicine, including cardiology, neurology, anatomy, and more.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Eligibility: All high school students can apply.
Application deadline: Rolling basis
Program dates: Runs throughout the year
Medicine Encompassed is a student-run not-for-profit organization that focuses on enhancing awareness around and accessibility to careers in medicine. High school students from around the country can apply for general positions in the organization, and become writers, editors, or resource creators for the organization’s 18 medical committees, each of which corresponds to a medical branch, like anatomy, surgery, neurology, and more. Upon becoming members, you will contribute toward the development of Medicine Encompassed medical curriculum; you will either write, edit, or develop content on various branches of medicine.
Through this experience, you will engage with medical and healthcare-related content and develop skills like basic research, communication, and presentation. Each position comes with its unique requirements. You can even opt for positions in sponsorships and partnerships, graphic design, marketing, and social media to help the organization promote its mission.
Subject areas: Healthcare and medicine, machine learning/AI, biology, programming. and math
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Eligibility: High school students in the US who are over 14 years old can apply. Those with strong math/computer programming skills or some experience with a healthcare project are encouraged to apply.
Application deadline: Applications are typically due at the end of March.
Program dates: The two-week program is typically conducted in June.
Stanford AIMI’s Summer Research Internship is another program on the list that focuses on the application of artificial intelligence in healthcare. It is a selective program, typically accepting around 20 high schoolers each year. Students in Maryland can consider applying to this program, as it is conducted online. If selected, you will attend introductory and technical lectures on the fundamentals of AI in healthcare, be mentored by Stanford student leads and researchers, and engage in group work sessions and research projects. You will also get to virtually participate in social activities and career sessions with guest speakers from various sectors—industry, academia, non-profit, and government. The internship involves solving practical problems in AI used in healthcare, so it can help you work on your problem-solving skills. Although the program ends in two weeks, an extended independent research internship opportunity could be offered to you.
Subject areas: Multiple STEM and medicine-related fields, including applied proteomics, molecular medicine, neuroscience, bioengineering, and more. You can check the detailed list of topics and prospective mentors here.
Location: Remote and in-person options are available. Students in Maryland can opt for remote internships.
Cost/Stipend: None. The application fee is $25, which may be waived based on a needs-based system.
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 15 years old at the start of the program can apply.
Application deadline: The window for applications typically closes in February.
Program dates: The eight-week program typically runs between the months of June and August.
The Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) is a summer internship program conducted by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Here, you will work alongside faculty researchers and gain hands-on research experience. Students in Maryland can browse through the prospective mentor list to choose an area of interest out of available STEM topics and choose mentors who offer remote internship opportunities. For instance, in 2024, for the research topic under Global and Community Health, the mentor accepted remote interns.
During the program, you will get to work with cutting-edge equipment and technologies, hone your scientific writing and communication skills, and also explore STEM careers. The program ends with the annual ASSIP Research Symposium and Celebration. A key advantage of this program is that your work could be published in scientific journal and be presented at scientific conferences. You can check previous ASSIP research here.
Subject areas: Medicine, neuroscience, and psychology
Location: Online and on-campus (Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, Baltimore, MD) options are available.
Cost: $6,065 (residential) | $4,660 (commuter) | $1,950 (online). Scholarships are offered.
Eligibility: Students in grades 10–12 with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher can apply. International students can check the admissions guide here before applying. Additionally, certain courses will have specific prerequisites, so you should review the on-campus course catalog and the online course list before applying.
Application deadline: None
Duration/dates: Multiple sessions are held between June and August.
Johns Hopkins offers a variety of courses in medicine and healthcare through its pre-college program. In a two-week session of your choice, you will get to learn from university instructors, build college-level knowledge and skills, enhance your college application, and earn academic credits (1 credit per program). For instance, one of the courses offered under the program is Medical School Intensive, available in both online and in-person formats. Here, you will explore concepts as well as techniques related to internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and biomedical sciences. You will learn about these topics by participating in interactive lectures and labs. If you choose the on-campus program (residential or commuter), you will attend instructor-led morning lectures in a classroom followed by presentations by guest speakers, and other social and educational activities outside the class. Alternatively, you could opt for the self-paced online program.
Subject areas: Medical fields, including physiology, radiology, oncology, and more
Location: Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. (about 1–2 hours from Baltimore, MD)
Cost: $2,750 for the commuter program and $3,549 for the residential program
Eligibility: High school students with a minimum GPA of 2.0 can apply.
Application deadline: Applications typically close mid-May.
Program dates: The one-week program is typically held in June or July.
The one-week Medical Academy is a program designed for high school students interested in learning about medical specialties. Although the program site is in Washington, D.C., students in Maryland can commute or use the program accommodations. During the week-long session, you will explore fields like human anatomy, cardiovascular physiology and pathology, surgery, radiology, cancer, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and otolaryngology.
Through a combination of lectures, group discussions, lab-based and other hands-on work, you will also learn about concepts like patient care and biomedical ethics. Other key parts of the program are working with a patient simulator, checking blood pressure, conducting an ultrasound, learning mammal dissection, and practicing suturing. During the program, you also get to learn from and work alongside university professors, physicians, and medical students. Overall, the experience could help you explore your interests in the field of medicine, learn from professionals, and get hands-on experience in medical examination, diagnostics, and outpatient procedures.
David Wilkinson is a freelance writer for Horizon and currently resides in the United States.