TL;DR
Below are 23 medical programs and internships for Texas high school students, each with its cost, pay, dates, deadline, and who’s eligible to apply. Most applications close between mid-January and April, so get those deadlines on your calendar now. A hospital program shows you what medicine looks like up close. Horizon’s research program lets you work one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor on a single research question, and finish with a research paper. It’s fully online, cohorts start three times a year, and your zip code decides nothing.
What a medical program in Texas actually looks like
A medical program for high school students can mean different things. Sometimes it’s a lab bench at a cancer center, where you run experiments for a faculty mentor all summer. Sometimes it’s a hospital badge and 128 volunteer hours. And sometimes it’s five days of suturing practice, CPR training, and a tour of the ICU.
Most of the state’s programs sit inside its big medical centers in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, with a few more in Austin, Lubbock, Tyler and Temple. They run from a single Saturday workshop to a ten-week paid research job, and one runs for three summers in a row.
Which Texas medical programs can you apply to?
Start here, because most of these programs filter by age and grade before they ever look at your essay.
| If you’re… | Programs worth a look |
| In 9th grade right now | Rice DHWI, Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy (with a school nomination), UT Tyler Summer Medical Scholars Academy, Baylor Scott & White McLane camp, BEAT Academy and Horizon |
| 15 or older | The Health Museum Cell Lab, UT Austin HSRA and UT Dallas SBRW |
| 16 or older | UT Southwestern STARS (juniors), Parkland and Houston Methodist (juniors and seniors), Texas Health HSSSL and Greehey McEwen |
| 18 or older | MD Anderson King Foundation (seniors), MD Anderson DACCPM and Baylor Saturday Morning Science |
| In the Rio Grande Valley | RGV Summer Science Internship and Horizon |
| Anywhere in Texas and can’t travel | UT Southwestern psychiatry internship and Horizon |
What will you actually do in a Texas medical program?
The word “program” hides very different summers. Here’s what each type looks like day to day.
| Type | What a day looks like | Programs |
| Research in a lab | You join a faculty lab, run experiments on a real project, and present a poster or talk at the end | STARS, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson King, DACCPM, Saturday Morning Science, Mohan Lab, Greehey, Voelcker, UT Austin HSRA, UT Dallas SBRW, RGV Summer Science |
| Working or volunteering in a hospital | You help out in a department, see how a hospital runs, and log hours | Parkland, Texas Health HSSSL |
| Clinical skills camps | A week of suturing, CPR, simulated patients and hospital tours | HPREP, Texas Tech SEP, UT Tyler, TCU Nurse Camp, BEAT Academy, McLane camp |
| Health tech and science communication | You build health devices or teach visitors through experiments | Rice DHWI, The Health Museum Cell Lab |
| Online | Live sessions with clinicians, or your own research project with a mentor | UT Southwestern psychiatry, Horizon |
If you want to find out whether you’d like being a doctor, a clinical skills camp is the quickest test. If you already know you like science and want proof you can do it, a lab program is the stronger pick. Not sure what you’d even study? Browse these medical research topics and disease research project ideas first.
Find your city
| If you live in… | Jump to |
| Dallas, Fort Worth or the suburbs | Dallas-Fort Worth |
| Houston | Houston |
| Austin, Lubbock, Tyler or Temple | Austin, Lubbock, Tyler and Temple |
| San Antonio or the Rio Grande Valley | San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley |
| Anywhere, or you can’t commute | Online |
Looking beyond Texas or beyond medicine? Try our national lists of medical research programs, medical camps and medical summer programs, or the Texas-wide summer research programs page.
Medical programs in Dallas-Fort Worth
Dallas has the deepest bench of medical programs in North Texas, and most of it runs through UT Southwestern, Parkland, and Texas Health. You’ll need to commute to all of them. If you’re in Dallas and also want non-medical options, our lists of Dallas research opportunities and Dallas summer programs cover the rest.
1. UT Southwestern STARS Summer Research Program
Location: UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. You commute, and no housing is offered.
Cost: Free, and you’re paid a stipend. The amount isn’t published.
Dates: Eight weeks in summer 2027. Exact dates aren’t published.
Application deadline: January 22, 2027. Applications open November 16, 2026.
Eligibility: Current high school juniors who are at least 16 by June 1, 2027, and who are US citizens, US nationals or otherwise eligible to work in the US.
STARS puts you in a biomedical research lab at UT Southwestern with a faculty host for the whole summer. You’ll work on the lab’s research, not in a clinic, so don’t expect shadowing or patient time. At the end, you present what you found.
Here’s the unusual part: you can’t apply if you’ve already done research. STARS is built for first-timers, which makes it one of the few paid lab programs in Texas where a blank research history helps. If that’s you, our list of research programs for complete beginners has more like it.
Who is it right for? You’re a Dallas-area junior who’s never done research and wants a paid first summer in a real lab.
2. UT Southwestern HPREP
Location: UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. In person, and you commute.
Cost: Not published.
Dates: Three Saturdays: January 9, 16 and 23, 2027.
Application deadline: October 31, 2026. The application is open now.
Eligibility: Students in grades 10 to 12 who are interested in medicine or science.
HPREP stands for the Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program, and it has run at UT Southwestern for more than 30 years. Each Saturday, you rotate through short workshops. The list is wide: CPR, cow eye dissection, suturing, genetics, neuroscience, physical therapy, prosthetics and microbiology. There’s also a college fair and small mentoring groups led by UT Southwestern students.
It won’t give you a research project, and it isn’t meant to. What it gives you is a fast look at a lot of health careers without giving up your summer.
Who is it right for? You’re a sophomore or junior near Dallas who wants a low-commitment first look at medicine, and you can apply before Halloween.
3. Parkland Health High School Summer Internship
Location: Parkland Health, Dallas. In person.
Cost: Paid. The hourly rate isn’t published.
Dates: Eight weeks, usually from the second week of June to the first week of August.
Application deadline: The 2026 cycle has closed, and no 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: Juniors or seniors at a Dallas-Fort Worth area high school who are 16 by the start date, have at least a 3.0 GPA and plan a career in healthcare.
Parkland is Dallas County’s public hospital system, and this internship places you in one of its departments for the summer. The roles are non-clinical, so you’ll work on the business and operations side of a hospital, under a hiring manager. That’s less glamorous than an operating room, but it’s a paid job inside a major hospital at 16.
You’ll need a transcript, a resume and a signed program agreement to apply. One detail to check: Parkland’s main internships page says interns should live in Dallas County, which is narrower than the program page’s DFW wording. Confirm with them if you live outside the county.
Who is it right for? You want paid hospital experience and you’re curious about how healthcare actually runs, not only the clinical side.
4. Texas Health High School Student Service Learning Program
Location: Texas Health Dallas. In person, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Not published. It’s a volunteer program, and no pay or fee is mentioned.
Dates: June 1, 2027 through August, 16 hours a week, with at least 128 hours total.
Application deadline: February 5, 2027. Applications open January 11, 2027.
Eligibility: Current high school students who are 16 on or before May 1, 2027, with a Social Security number.
HSSSL is the most structured hospital volunteer program in Dallas. You’ll volunteer in both clinical and non-clinical areas, so you can try out different jobs over the summer. It’s competitive: about 20 students are picked from more than 200 applicants. The process includes an essay, a phone interview and an in-person interview, and you bring two reference letters to the interview.
Live closer to Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, Arlington or Denton? Texas Health runs a separate Junior Volunteer program at its other hospitals, for ages 16 to 18. Hours vary by hospital, from 32 to 128, and each site sets its own deadline.
Who is it right for? You’re 16, you want real hours inside a hospital, and you can commit two days a week all summer.
5. UT Dallas Summer Biology Research Workshop
Location: UT Dallas, Richardson. You commute and arrange your own housing and transport.
Cost: $2,000 registration fee in 2026. No stipend.
Dates: June 5 to July 3, 2026, four weeks. This is the most recent cycle posted.
Application deadline: March 15 for the 2026 cycle. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: Students in grades 10 to 12 who are older than 15 on June 1. Texas residents get priority. There’s no GPA requirement.
The first week is training in molecular biology techniques. Then you spend three weeks on a mentored project in a UT Dallas faculty lab, about 20 to 25 hours a week, and finish with a poster. Past projects have looked at cell transformation, immunology and how bacteria make antibiotics.
It’s biology research more than medicine, but it’s the kind of lab work that sits under most medical research. Our list of biology research programs has more in this vein.
Who is it right for? You’re near Richardson, you want real lab skills in a short summer, and the fee works for your family.
6. TCU Nurse Camp
Location: TCU Harris College of Nursing, Fort Worth. The 2025 camp was residential. The 2026 notice doesn’t mention housing.
Cost: Not published for 2026. The 2025 camp cost $980, including housing and meals, with limited scholarships.
Dates: June 21 to 26 or July 5 to 10, 2026.
Application deadline: March 1 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened February 1.
Eligibility: Rising seniors only in 2026, which TCU says is because of high demand.
Nurse Camp is the only nursing-specific program on this list. In 2025, campers learned patient assessment, vital signs and wound care, practiced on patient simulators, earned CPR certification and toured a local hospital. TCU hasn’t posted the 2026 activity list, so treat those as a guide, not a promise.
There’s no dedicated program page, so watch the nursing announcements page from January on. Our list of nursing camps has options in other states, and the Fort Worth programs page covers more near TCU.
Who is it right for? You’re a junior leaning toward nursing and you want a week to test it before you apply to nursing schools.
Medical programs in Houston
Most of Houston’s programs sit inside the Texas Medical Center, a few blocks from each other. This is the only Texas city where you can choose between several paid research programs. The catch is that the best-paid ones want you to be 18.
7. Houston Methodist Summer High School Research Internship
Location: Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston. In person, full time, and you commute.
Cost: Not published. No fee or stipend is mentioned.
Dates: June 7 to August 6, 2027, eight weeks.
Application deadline: January 29, 2027. Applications open December 4, 2026.
Eligibility: Current high school juniors or seniors who are 16, with at least a 3.5 GPA.
You’ll work with a mentor on a translational research project, which means lab science aimed at treating patients. There are career development sessions along the way, and you’ll present a poster at the closing symposium. It’s a full-time summer, roughly 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday.
The application is heavier than most: two essays, plus an optional third, two recommendation letters, a resume and a transcript with your fall 2026 grades. So start it in December, not the week it’s due.
Who is it right for? You’re a junior or senior with strong grades who can get to the Medical Center every day and wants a serious research summer.
8. MD Anderson King Foundation High School Summer Program
Location: UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. In person, full time, and you arrange your own housing, transport and meals.
Cost: Free, and you’re paid $7,200 for 10 weeks, or $6,480 for nine, before taxes.
Dates: June 1 to August 7, 2026, or June 8 to August 7 if you graduate after May 30.
Application deadline: January 14 for the 2026 cycle, which opened in mid-November. MD Anderson says to check back in October for 2027.
Eligibility: Current seniors at a Texas high school who’ll be 18 by the start, are accepted to college for the fall, and are US citizens, permanent residents or otherwise work-eligible.
This is the best-paid program on the list, and it has run for 66 years. You’ll do full-time lab research with an MD Anderson faculty mentor, then compete in abstract, poster and elevator-pitch contests before your final presentation. You don’t need research experience. Students interested in allied health careers, like lab science or radiology, get preference.
But it’s tiny. MD Anderson takes up to six students, so treat it as one of several applications.
Who is it right for? You’re a Texas senior who’ll be 18 by June and wants a paid research summer before college.
9. MD Anderson DACCPM Summer Research Program
Location: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. In person, weekday mornings, and you commute.
Cost: Free, and high school students are paid $3,600 before taxes.
Dates: June 1 to August 7, 2026, for 8 to 10 weeks.
Application deadline: January 14 for the 2026 cycle, which opened in mid-November. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: Students who are 18 or older, in good academic standing or graduating, with proof of enrollment. International students can’t apply, and you can’t take on other summer programs at the same time.
DACCPM is MD Anderson’s anesthesiology, critical care and pain medicine department. High school students work part time, 8 a.m. to noon, 20 hours a week, on lab or clinical research with a mentor. Before you start, you get a copy of The Biology of Cancer, and the summer opens with a day and a half of cancer biology boot camp. It ends with a poster symposium.
And unlike the King Foundation program, this one doesn’t say you have to be a senior. You just have to be 18.
Who is it right for? You’re 18, you want paid research, and a part-time schedule matters to you.
10. Baylor College of Medicine Saturday Morning Science Summer Research Program
Location: Baylor College of Medicine labs, Houston. In person, and you commute.
Cost: Free, and unpaid. Baylor describes it as an unpaid educational opportunity.
Dates: June 8 to July 31, 2026, eight weeks, about 40 hours a week.
Application deadline: April 17 for the 2026 cycle. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: High school or college students who are 18 by June 1, with a US Social Security card or green card, who have already taken part in Saturday Morning Science or one of its partner programs.
Read that last rule twice, because it rules out most students. This summer program is the next step for students who’ve already done Baylor’s Saturday Morning Science sessions. If that’s you, you’ll do a full-time research project in a Baylor lab, join weekly Lunch and Learn sessions, and present at the summer symposium.
So if you haven’t done Saturday Morning Science yet, look into it during the school year so this opens up for you later.
Who is it right for? You’re 18, you’ve already done Saturday Morning Science, and you want a full summer in a Baylor lab.
11. University of Houston Mohan Lab High School Summer Internship
Location: University of Houston. In person, and you commute. Students from outside Houston make their own housing plans.
Cost: No fee is published, and no funding is given to students.
Dates: June 8 to July 31, 2026, eight weeks.
Application deadline: March 26 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened February 1.
Eligibility: Rising seniors who have finished 11th grade. The lab asks for your GPA and a strong academic record but sets no minimum.
This internship sits in one biomedical engineering lab. You’ll spend your first week or two learning lab techniques. Then you move to bench research in areas like biomedical science, bioengineering, data analysis or neuroscience. You finish with an oral presentation to the lab, which is real practice for how scientists share work.
Who is it right for? You’re a rising senior who likes the place where engineering and the brain meet.
12. The Health Museum DeBakey Cell Lab Internship
Location: The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann Drive, Houston. In person, and you commute.
Cost: No fee is mentioned. Pay isn’t published.
Dates: June 15 to July 31, 2026, 35 hours a week, plus some Saturdays and weekday field trips.
Application deadline: April 30 for the 2026 cycle. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 15 by June 15, with a GPA of 2.5 or higher.
This one’s different. Instead of doing research, you run experiments with museum visitors in the DeBakey Cell Lab and explain the science as you go. You’ll also keep the lab stocked and work as a docent in the exhibits. Explaining science to a curious eight-year-old is harder than it sounds, and it’s a skill every doctor needs.
And it’s one of the few medical programs in Houston open at 15, with a GPA floor most students clear.
Who is it right for? You’re 15 or 16, you like talking to people, and you want a full summer around health science.
13. Rice University Digital Health Workforce Initiative
Location: Rice University, Houston. In person, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and you commute.
Cost: Free, and you’re paid a stipend of up to $1,800.
Dates: In the most recent posted cycle, a software track ran June 8 to 18 and a hardware track ran June 22 to July 2, plus six Saturday sessions during the school year.
Application deadline: Applications open in December 2026. No closing date is posted.
Eligibility: Students in 9th and 10th grade who are US citizens, nationals or permanent residents. Students from Alief, Houston ISD and Aldine get priority, and seats are filled by lottery.
DHWI teaches you the technology side of health care. On the hardware track you build wearables and sensors, and on the software track you work with AI and machine learning. The Saturday sessions keep you going into the school year.
A lottery means there’s no essay to sweat, but also no way to guarantee a spot. So apply the week it opens.
Who is it right for? You’re a Houston freshman or sophomore, especially in Alief, HISD or Aldine, and health tech sounds more fun to you than a hospital.
Medical programs in Austin, Lubbock, Tyler and Temple
Outside the big three cities, the options thin out, but four strong ones remain. This is also where you’ll find the only program on the list that puts you up in a dorm.
14. UT Austin Summer High School Research Academy
Location: UT Austin. In person. No housing or transport is provided.
Cost: Tuition is charged but the amount isn’t published. A few need-based scholarships may cover tuition and add a stipend.
Dates: June 8 to July 15, 2026, five weeks, about 15 to 25 hours a week.
Application deadline: March 22 for the 2026 cycle. The next round opens in January 2027.
Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors or seniors who are 15 or older by June 1. Juniors and seniors are preferred, and Texas residents get priority.
You join an active research group in UT’s College of Natural Sciences, in areas like biochemistry, genetics, neuroscience, genome engineering, ecology or data analysis. There are seminars every Wednesday, and you finish by presenting a poster. You also earn UT extension credit for the course NSC 309, so the summer shows up on a college transcript.
Who is it right for? You live in or near Austin and want lab research plus real UT credit on your record.
15. Texas Tech Health Sciences Center Summer Enrichment Program
Location: TTUHSC School of Medicine, Lubbock. In person. Housing details aren’t published.
Cost: Not published.
Dates: June 22 to 26, 2026, Monday to Friday.
Application deadline: April 25 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened March 15.
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors who are Texas residents, with at least a 3.25 GPA and A’s and B’s in science classes. You need two letters of evaluation.
This is a week inside a working medical school. You’ll do a suture clinic, practice ultrasound, earn BLS certification and learn how to do a physical exam. You’ll also visit the SimLife Center and the Cancer Research Center, take short courses in medical terminology and chemistry or anatomy, and meet current medical students.
It’s open to Texas residents from anywhere in the state, so you don’t need to live in West Texas to apply.
Who is it right for? You’re a Texas junior or senior with solid science grades who wants to see medical school from the inside for a week.
16. UT Tyler School of Medicine Summer Medical Scholars Academy
Location: UT Tyler, Tyler. Residential, and you stay in the residence halls.
Cost: $400.
Dates: June 7 to 11, 2026.
Application deadline: February 13 for the 2026 cycle. Applications opened in mid-December.
Eligibility: Students in 9th to 11th grade.
This is the only program on the list that clearly houses you, and it starts in 9th grade. Over five days, you tour the hospital, try medical procedures, shadow, work in simulation labs and go on field trips. It’s run through UT Tyler’s Pathways and SUPERNet outreach.
UT Tyler runs two more summer programs worth knowing. The free Pre-Med Camp, July 13 to 17 in 2026, is for rising juniors and seniors with ties to East Texas who are economically disadvantaged. The $250 Summer Research and Clinical Externship, in late July, is for high school seniors and college students and lets you shadow in fields like cardiology and family medicine.
Who is it right for? You’re in 9th to 11th grade and you want a week away in a dorm, trying out medicine, without a big price tag.
17. Baylor Scott & White McLane Children’s Health Sciences Summer Camp
Location: McLane Children’s Medical Center, Temple. A day camp, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Not published.
Dates: Two five-day sessions in summer 2026. Session dates aren’t published, and you must attend all five days.
Application deadline: February 27 for the 2026 cycle.
Eligibility: Current 9th to 12th graders.
This camp is about pediatric medicine. You’ll observe departments like the NICU, physical therapy, radiology and oncology, and shadow the people who work there. The application is four short essays, each 100 to 250 words, sent by email, so it’s lighter than most.
Who is it right for? You’re in central Texas, you think you might want to work with kids, and you want a week inside a children’s hospital.
Medical programs in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley
UT Health San Antonio runs three of the four programs here, so most of your options sit on one medical campus on Floyd Curl Drive. The fourth is the only program on the list built for students in the Rio Grande Valley. If public health interests you more than lab work, our list of public health research opportunities is worth a look too.
18. Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy
Location: UT Health San Antonio. In person, and you commute. It’s for students in the greater San Antonio area.
Cost: No tuition is mentioned. You’re paid stipends during the summers and a Voelcker Student Award at the end. The amounts aren’t published.
Dates: Seven weeks in your first summer, then mentored research in your second and third years. Summer 2027 dates aren’t published.
Application deadline: March 5, 2027, for the online application, which opens February 5. Your school’s nomination is due January 29, 2027.
Eligibility: Current freshmen who’ll be 15 by June 15, 2027, with grades of 90 or above in math, science and English, or 85 for Pre-AP, AP or dual credit classes. A committee at your school must nominate you, and each school can name up to three students.
Voelcker is the longest program on this page: three summers of research, starting the summer after 9th grade. You’ll work in a faculty lab with a mentor, present a research proposal after year one, and publish an abstract after year three. UT Health says each cohort has 20 students. Your parents have to take part too, and you’re allowed only three excused absences.
If you’re a strong freshman in San Antonio, this is the program to plan your year around. So ask your counselor about nominations before winter break.
Who is it right for? You’re a San Antonio freshman with top grades who wants a three-year research path instead of a single summer.
19. BEAT Academy at UT Health San Antonio
Location: UT Health San Antonio, Lozano Long Campus. A day program.
Cost: $1,000 total: a $50 application fee, which you don’t get back, plus a $950 registration fee. Meals, materials and a T-shirt are included.
Dates: July 13 to 17, 2026.
Application deadline: The 2026 session filled on February 23, 2026. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: High school students. You apply with a teacher recommendation, an unofficial transcript and a one-page essay.
BEAT is a five-day medical camp for 20 students. You’ll sit in on seminars, run lab experiments, visit the anatomy lab, work through medical simulations and see biomedical technology demos. There’s some college prep mixed in too. It filled in February last year, so the real deadline is whenever the seats run out.
Who is it right for? You’re in San Antonio, you want a one-week taste of medical school, and you can apply as soon as it opens.
20. Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute McEwen Summer Research Program
Location: Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio. In person. Housing, meals and transport aren’t provided.
Cost: No fee is listed. A stipend is published for college students only, not for high school students.
Dates: June 1 to August 7, 2026, ten weeks.
Application deadline: March 2 for the 2026 cycle. No 2027 dates are posted yet.
Eligibility: High school students who are at least 16 on the start date. Students from other states and countries are accepted.
You’ll do childhood cancer research that starts from a real hypothesis, using genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics or imaging. The summer ends with a symposium where you present your work. To apply, you’ll need a 300-word statement, a recommendation letter, a resume and a transcript.
Unlike most programs here, Greehey takes students from outside Texas, though you’d need your own place to stay in San Antonio.
Who is it right for? You’re 16 or older, you care about pediatric cancer, and you can handle a ten-week research summer.
21. RGV Summer Science Internship
Location: Placement sites in the Rio Grande Valley. You provide your own transportation.
Cost: No cost is stated, and you’re paid $750 when you finish all 120 hours.
Dates: June 11 to July 24, 2026, six weeks, 20 hours a week.
Application deadline: Not published.
Eligibility: Juniors or seniors in the 2026-27 school year who attend a Rio Grande Valley school district and are interested in science.
This internship is run by UTHealth Houston’s School of Public Health through its Tu Salud Si Cuenta program. You’re matched with a mentor and a science project, then present your work in person to faculty, family and the community. For students in the Valley, it’s the one program on this list built around where you already live.
Who is it right for? You’re a junior or senior in the Rio Grande Valley who wants paid research without leaving home.
Online medical programs for Texas students
If you can’t commute to a medical center, these two work from anywhere in Texas. For more remote options, see our lists of online medical research opportunities and online medical summer programs.
22. UT Southwestern Psychiatry High School Summer Internship
Location: Online.
Cost: Not published.
Dates: Two weeks in June. Exact dates aren’t published.
Application deadline: Early February. Applications open in late September, and students are picked at the end of March.
Eligibility: Rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders, plus rising college freshmen.
UT Southwestern’s psychiatry department runs this two-week internship online. You’ll read short packets beforehand, then join live sessions where staff walk you through their actual work in psychotherapy, brain testing, neuroscience and community psychiatry. To apply, you’ll need a form, a short attestation, a counselor recommendation and a personal essay.
If mental health is where your interest lies, our list of Texas psychology programs has more.
Who is it right for? You’re curious about psychiatry or psychology and want a short look at the field that you can take from anywhere in Texas.
23. Horizon Academic Research Program
Location: Online.
Cost: $6,950 per course. Need-based financial aid is available for families earning under $75,000 a year.
Dates: Cohorts run in fall, spring and summer. Fall and spring run 15 weeks, and summer runs 10.
Application deadline: Rolling, three cohorts a year. The winter cohort deadline is November 22, 2026.
Eligibility: High school students with at least a 3.67 unweighted GPA.
Horizon pairs you one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor for a full term, working on a single research question you help shape. You finish with a research paper of about 5,000 words that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions. Publication is an opportunity, not a guarantee, but the paper is yours either way.
Horizon doesn’t run a course called “medicine.” The closest courses are Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Gene Editing and CRISPR, Protein Biophysics, Computational Neuroscience, and Environmental Health and Engineering. Each comes with a writing coach and a publication specialist on top of your mentor sessions, and seminar groups average four students. Plan on 8 to 10 hours a week. Horizon accepted 26% of 6,539 applications.
Who is it right for? You live anywhere in Texas, you want a research project that’s yours, and you’d rather finish with a paper than a certificate.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, though your list is shorter. In 9th grade, look at Rice DHWI, the Voelcker academy, UT Tyler’s Summer Medical Scholars Academy, the Baylor Scott & White McLane camp and BEAT Academy. Once you turn 15, The Health Museum Cell Lab, UT Austin’s research academy and UT Dallas’s workshop open up. HPREP takes 10th graders, and the UT Southwestern psychiatry internship takes rising sophomores. Most lab programs start at 16, and the best-paid ones at 18, so the early years are a good time for camps and skills programs.
It can be, if you pick a program with structure. Texas Health’s HSSSL gives you 128 hours across clinical and non-clinical areas, with interviews and a real selection process, which is very different from filing papers at a front desk. Volunteering shows you what hospital work feels like day to day. But it won’t teach you research, so if you want to find out whether you like science itself, a lab program is the better test.
Two on this list work fully online: the UT Southwestern psychiatry internship and Horizon. Many national programs run online too, and our lists of free online medical programs and online research mentorship programs cover them. Online works best when the program gives you something to make, like a paper or a project, not only lectures to watch.
If you can travel and afford housing, yes. Many national programs take Texas students, and a few of the best known, like Stanford’s SIMR, are open to students from any state. Our guide to applying to SIMR and our national lists of medical research programs and medical summer programs and internships are good starting points. Just remember that most out-of-state programs don’t house you either, so check that first.
Biology and chemistry matter most for these programs. Texas Tech’s Summer Enrichment Program asks for A’s and B’s in your science classes, and the Voelcker academy looks at your math, science and English grades. If your school offers AP or dual credit science, take it when you can. Statistics helps too, since most research ends in data you have to analyze.
You still have options. HPREP closes in late October, so it’s the first one to apply to for the coming year. Texas Health’s Junior Volunteer sites set their own deadlines, and some run later than others. And Horizon runs three cohorts a year, so you’re never more than a few months from the next start. Our post on how to get research opportunities in high school covers other routes, including how to find a research lab on your own.
Yes. Most of the programs here only work if you live near a medical center, and a lot of Texas doesn’t. With Horizon, you work one-on-one with a professor or PhD mentor online, on a research question in an area like neuroscience or gene editing, and finish with a research paper of your own. It’s fully online, so where you live doesn’t matter. When the paper’s done, our guides to research journals, research competitions and publishing in high school show you where it can go next.
They’re worth it when they answer a question for you. A week of suturing and simulated patients tells you fast whether you like clinical work. A summer in a lab tells you whether you like research. Both are useful, and finding out you don’t love something is useful too. The programs that leave you with something to show, like a poster, a presentation or a paper, tend to stay with you longest. And yes, a strong program can also help your college applications.
Resources
More medical program lists from Horizon
- Medical programs for high school students
- Free medical programs for high school students
- Free medical summer programs
- Medicine summer internships
- Health science summer programs
- Medical programs in California
More Texas programs
- Lab opportunities in Texas
- Free research summer programs in Texas
- Texas summer internships
- STEM research programs in Texas
- Pre-college programs in Texas
- Chemistry programs in Texas, including the Welch Summer Scholar Program
Doing your own research
- What can you actually do with a high school research paper?
- How long does it take to write a research paper?
- Research paper programs
- Biology research topics
- Genetics research programs
- Biotech research summer programs
Mentorship and funding
- Summer research mentorship programs
- Free research mentorship programs
- Free university science summer programs
- Grants for high school research
- The most competitive research programs
- University summer programs
Image source: UT Southwestern STARS