TL;DR
You’ll find 15 medical programs below, each with its cost, dates, deadline, location, and exactly who can apply. Most applications open in November or December and close by February, so get those dates down now. A summer program shows you medicine from the inside. Horizon gives you something of your own: a research paper you write with a professor or PhD mentor, ready to submit to journals or competitions. It’s fully online, and cohorts start three times a year.
Most medical programs for high school students teach you how doctors work, like suturing, taking vital signs, and working through a patient case, or they put you in a lab, helping answer a question about cancer, the brain, and the immune system. Want a one-week taste instead? See our list of medical camps for high school students.
What decides which one you can do isn’t quality. It’s eligibility. Many of the best free programs only take students who live near the lab, and most research internships want you to be 16 and a junior or senior.
What kinds of medical programs can you do in high school?
They come in four shapes, and each asks something different of you.
| Type | What you do | Length | Cost | Examples below |
| Research internship | Work in a lab on a mentor’s project, then present it | 6 to 10 weeks, full time | Free, and some pay you | SIMR, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson, Fred Hutch, Broad, MSK |
| Pre-college academy | Take classes and skills labs on a college campus | 3 to 4 weeks | Free to $9,540 | ISPEED, Georgetown, Penn |
| Online course | Watch lessons and finish a project or exam | 2 weeks, or self-paced | No fee to about $2,450 | Harvard Medical School, Stanford AIMI, UT Southwestern |
| Mentored research | Build your own project with a scholar and write it up | 3 to 16 weeks | About $1,300 to $6,950 | ASSIP, UC Irvine, Horizon |
Research internships and mentored research are where you end up with a project of your own. Courses and academies give you knowledge and a certificate. Most medical programs run in the summer except Harvard’s online courses and Horizon.
What areas of medicine can you explore?
It’s easier to pick a program once you know what you’d want to study. Here’s what the programs on this list focus on.
Cancer research
Why do some tumors stop responding to chemo? MSK, MD Anderson and Fred Hutch are all cancer centers, and SIMR has a cancer biology track. Our disease research project ideas can help you find a question.
The brain and mental health
How does memory form, and what goes wrong in Alzheimer’s? Look at Penn’s Neuroscience Research Academy, SIMR’s neuroscience track, and UT Southwestern if psychiatry is your thing. Horizon runs courses in Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience, and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
Genetics and gene editing
Can you fix a disease by editing one gene? SIMR offers genetics and bioinformatics tracks, and Horizon has a Gene Editing and CRISPR course. See our lists of genetics research programs and computational biology programs for more.
Clinical medicine and surgery
If you want to know what doctors actually do all day, Georgetown teaches exams, suturing and CPR. Harvard Medical School’s online courses include capstones on surgery and becoming a doctor.
Biomedical engineering and AI
Can a computer spot a tumor on a scan before a doctor does? Stanford AIMI works on questions like that, and Johns Hopkins ISPEED mixes lab work with engineering design.
Public health
How does a disease spread through a city? George Mason’s ASSIP lists infectious disease and epidemiology among its mentor topics. Our public health research opportunities list has more.
Online vs in-person medical programs
In-person programs give you lab time. Online ones give you access wherever you live.
| In person | Online | |
| What you get | Lab benches, clinical skills, time with scientists | Lessons, research methods, mentor calls, your own project |
| Who can go | Often only local students, US citizens, or people who can pay for housing | Almost anyone with a laptop |
| Best if you | Live near a medical center, or can travel for the summer | Live far from a lab, or want to work during the school year |
Plenty of students do both: an online program during the school year, then an in-person one once they’re old enough. Our list of online medical research opportunities has more remote options.
Free and low-cost medical research programs open to any US student
1. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)
Location: Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (in person)
Cost: Free. There’s no standard stipend, only a small number of need-based ones.
Dates: June 7 to July 29, 2027 (tentative), 8 weeks
Application deadline: Late February 2027. The application opens December 18, 2026.
Eligibility: Juniors or seniors in the class of 2027 or 2028, 16 or older by the June start, living in and attending high school in the US, and a US citizen or permanent resident
SIMR puts you in a Stanford Medicine lab for eight weeks on a medically focused project, working next to faculty, postdocs and grad students. You pick one of eight areas: immunology, cancer biology, stem cells, neuroscience, cardiovascular biology, genetics, bioinformatics or bioengineering. You’ll do basic research, and you’ll learn how a lab actually runs day to day.
Here’s the catch. Stanford says selection will heavily favor Bay Area students, so if you live somewhere else, treat SIMR as a reach and apply to a few others too. Our complete guide to applying to SIMR walks through the application.
Who is it right for? Bay Area juniors and seniors who want a full summer in a top medical research lab.
2. Johns Hopkins ISPEED in Biomedical Engineering
Location: Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, Baltimore, MD (you live on campus)
Cost: Free. Tuition, travel to Baltimore, housing and meals are covered, and you can apply for a one-time need-based stipend.
Dates: 4 weeks in the summer. The 2026 program ran June 29 to July 24.
Application deadline: Not posted for 2027 yet. Johns Hopkins posts it about six months before the program starts.
Eligibility: 10th or 11th graders who are US citizens or permanent residents, at least 15 on move-in day and not yet 18 on the last day
ISPEED is where medicine meets engineering. You’ll work in the Cell and Tissue Engineering lab and the BME Design Studio, pick up some programming and machine learning, and tour Hopkins research labs. You also earn three Johns Hopkins college credits, and the program pays your way there. For a free program, that’s about as complete as it gets.
Students come from all over the country. If you like the engineering side of health, our list of biomedical engineering summer programs has more like this.
Who is it right for? Sophomores and juniors anywhere in the US who like biology and building things.
3. George Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Location: George Mason University and partner sites in Northern Virginia, or remote, depending on your mentor
Cost: $25 application fee, plus $1,299 tuition if you accept a spot. Both can be waived if you show financial need.
Dates: 8 weeks, full time. The 2026 internship ran June 18 to August 12.
Application deadline: The 2027 window hasn’t been posted. The 2026 application is closed.
Eligibility: High school students (and college students who haven’t graduated). You must be 15 for remote or computer lab projects and 16 for wet lab projects.
ASSIP pairs you one-on-one with a faculty researcher. The topic list is huge, but the medical ones include drug discovery, molecular medicine, disease diagnostics, infectious disease, neuroscience and tissue repair. You’ll earn three college credits, and some interns have had their work published or presented at conferences.
The remote option is what opens this to students far from Virginia. Just check the mentor list, since not every project can be done from home.
Who is it right for? Students outside a big medical hub who want a real research mentor and can work remotely.
4. Houston Methodist Summer High School Research Internship
Location: Houston Methodist Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX (in person)
Cost: Not published on the program page
Dates: June 7 to August 6, 2027, full time for 8 weeks
Application deadline: January 29, 2027. Applications open December 4, 2026.
Eligibility: Juniors or seniors who are 16, with a minimum 3.5 GPA
You’ll work alongside undergraduate research interns in translational research, which is the step that turns lab findings into treatments. Your mentor picks the project. There’s also a career and college prep track, and you’ll present a poster at the closing symposium.
The page doesn’t limit it to Texas students. But it runs 8:30 to 5 every weekday and doesn’t mention housing, so plan where you’ll stay if you’re not local. You’ll need two essays, two recommendation letters, a resume, and a transcript that shows your fall 2026 grades.
Who is it right for? High-GPA juniors and seniors who can get to Houston for the summer.
Pre-college medical programs you pay for
These take students from almost anywhere, including international students at Penn. You’re paying for structure and time with medical school faculty, not a lab placement.
5. Georgetown Medical Immersion Academy
Location: Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC (residential or commuter)
Cost: $9,540 residential (tuition, housing and meals) or $7,610 commuter, for the 2026 session
Dates: 3 weeks. The 2026 session ran June 21 to July 10.
Application deadline: Not published on the program page. Both 2026 sections filled, so apply early for 2027.
Eligibility: Students who are at least 15
This is a three-week preview of the first year of medical school, taught by Georgetown School of Medicine faculty and med students. You’ll cover cell biology, pathology, immunology, cardiology and endocrinology. Then comes the part most students remember: physical exams, wound care, suturing, splinting, airway management and CPR.
You’ll also make a research-based poster and hear from doctors across Washington, DC. It’s expensive, so it’s worth comparing with our Harvard medical summer programs list before you decide.
Who is it right for? Students who want to know what med school feels like and whose family can cover the cost.
6. Penn Summer Academies
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (residential only)
Cost: Not published on the pages we checked. Students at Philadelphia public and charter schools may be able to attend free with a Penn Summer Scholarship.
Dates: 3 weeks. The 2026 academies ran July 11 to August 1.
Application deadline: Not yet posted for 2027
Eligibility: Current 9th to 11th graders. International students are welcome. The Neuroscience Research Academy requires a year of high school biology and a year of chemistry.
Each Penn academy goes deep on one subject. For medicine, look at the biomedical research and neuroscience academies. In neuroscience, you’ll go from single neurons to memory and emotion, with twice-daily lectures, lab work, a journal club and a neuroethics club. Past trips have included the Mütter Museum, which is Philadelphia’s famously strange medical history museum.
Who is it right for? Freshmen and sophomores who want an early start, since few in-person medical programs take 9th graders.
Online medical programs
Online programs remove the zip code problem. Some are courses you take on your own time, and some, like UCI, AIMI and Horizon, have you produce research. More options are in our list of online medical research opportunities.
7. Harvard Medical School Pre-College Online Certificate Program
Location: Online, self-paced
Cost: $1,895 to $2,195 per course
Dates: Courses start year-round. Each one takes about 30 to 35 hours.
Application deadline: Rolling. No transcripts or recommendation letters are required.
Eligibility: Students 13 and older who aren’t in college yet, including gap-year students up to a year after graduation
You’ll watch video lessons from Harvard Medical School faculty and get help from a mentor. Capstone courses cover topics like AI in medicine, becoming a doctor, medical research and surgery. The academic courses cover biochemistry, genetics, immunology, pharmacology and physiology, and end with a 90-minute final exam.
You get a certificate from Harvard Medical School for each course. It isn’t college credit, though, and there’s no lab or research project of your own.
Who is it right for? Younger students, or anyone who wants to test their interest in medicine without a big commitment.
8. UC Irvine School of Medicine Summer Online Research Program
Location: Online
Cost: Not confirmed for 2027. Check the program page.
Dates: 3 weeks. The 2026 sessions ran June 22 to July 10 and July 13 to July 31.
Application deadline: Rolling. It usually closes to new applicants by late January or early February.
Eligibility: Ages 15 to 18, with a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.3
A UCI School of Medicine faculty member teaches the program, and UCI students coach you through the work. You’ll learn the rules for research with human subjects, how evidence-based medicine works, and how to judge a medical study. Then you write your own research report. You’ll also submit an abstract to a national meeting, and if it’s accepted, your name goes on it as a co-author.
Who is it right for? Students who want a short, structured intro to how medical research gets judged and written.
9. Stanford AIMI Summer Research Internship
Location: Online, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific time, Monday to Friday
Cost: $2,400 program fee plus a $45 application fee. A limited number of need-based aid awards are available.
Dates: 2 weeks. The 2026 sessions ran June 15 to 26 and July 6 to 17.
Application deadline: February 20 in the 2026 cycle, or February 13 if you applied for aid. That application opened December 15.
Eligibility: US high school students entering grades 9 to 12 who are at least 14 by the start date
AIMI is Stanford’s center for AI in medicine and medical imaging. You’ll learn how health AI tools get built, tested and used, with a focus on using them responsibly. Then you’ll work on a project in a small team with Stanford mentors. Miss more than one session and you don’t get the certificate, so clear those two weeks.
Who is it right for? Students who code, or want to, and are curious about how AI reads scans and predicts disease.
10. UT Southwestern Inspiring Careers in Mental Health Internship
Location: Online
Cost: No fee is listed on the program page
Dates: 2 weeks in June
Application deadline: Early February. Applications open in late September, so the 2027 cycle is opening now.
Eligibility: Rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders, plus rising college first-years
You’ll meet psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, physician assistants and clinical social workers, and hear what their days are actually like. Before each session you’ll read a packet of articles. Topics include therapy, neuropsychological testing, neuroscience and community psychiatry.
The best part is the honesty. Leaders answer questions like “How did you pay for medical school?” To apply, you need a recommendation from your school counselor, a personal essay and a signed statement that you have no felonies. Want more in this area? See our list of mental health programs for high school students.
Who is it right for? Students drawn to psychiatry or psychology who want to meet the people doing the work.
11. 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, and summer runs 10. Seminars last 10 to 12 weeks, and Labs last 12 to 16.
Application deadline: Each cohort has its own deadline, three times a year. The next one is posted on the programs page.
Eligibility: High school students with an unweighted GPA of at least 3.67
There’s no course at Horizon called “medicine.” Instead, you pick a medical research topic from real courses like Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Computational Neuroscience, Gene Editing and CRISPR, Protein Biophysics or Medical Sociology. In a Seminar, you work in a small group (four students on average, six at most) led by a professor. In a Lab, you work one-on-one with a PhD scholar.
You’ll spend 8 to 10 hours a week on it and finish with a research paper of about 5,000 words. A writing coach and a publication specialist help you get it ready to submit, though publication is a chance, not a promise. It’s selective: 26% of 6,539 applicants got in. If you want to compare it with similar options, see our list of research paper programs.
Who is it right for? Students who want to leave with their own research paper, wherever they live.
Paid medical research internships for local students
They’re free to attend, and most of them pay you. Each one only takes students who live or go to school nearby. If you’re not local, our guides to medical research programs in Texas, medical internships in Seattle, medical research programs in Massachusetts, and free medical programs in NYC list what’s near those cities.
12. MD Anderson Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation High School Summer Program
Location: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (in person)
Cost: Free to attend. The stipend amount isn’t shown on the current program page.
Dates: June 1 or June 8 to August 7 in 2026, depending on your graduation date
Application deadline: The 2026 cycle opened November 17, 2025, and closed January 14, 2026. The 2027 dates aren’t posted yet.
Eligibility: Texas high school seniors. Past cycles also required you to be 18 by the start date.
Now in its 66th year, this program puts you in an MD Anderson lab doing biomedical research with faculty mentors. It’s one of the few programs on this list that happens the summer after you graduate. You’ll need to arrange your own housing, transportation and meals.
Who is it right for? Texas seniors headed into biomedical science who can get to Houston every day.
13. Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)
Location: Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Seattle, WA (in person)
Cost: Free. It’s a paid, full-time internship.
Dates: 8 weeks. The 2026 program ran June 22 to August 14.
Application deadline: March 13 in the 2026 cycle. Fred Hutch posts 2027 details in November.
Eligibility: Students going into senior year, 16 or older by the start, who live in Greater Seattle or nearby. Out-of-state and international students can’t apply.
SHIP is built for students who haven’t done much research before, which is rare. You’ll spend two weeks learning lab safety and basic techniques, then six weeks working with a partner in a Fred Hutch research group. There are also college and career workshops, and you’ll finish by presenting to the Fred Hutch community. Housing isn’t provided. More Seattle options are in our list of lab opportunities in Seattle.
Who is it right for? Seattle-area juniors who want paid lab experience but don’t have any yet.
14. Broad Summer Scholars Program (BSSP)
Location: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (in person, you commute)
Cost: Free to apply and attend, with a $3,600 stipend and partial travel reimbursement
Dates: 6 weeks. The 2026 program ran June 29 to August 7.
Application deadline: January 21 in the 2026 cycle. That application opened November 24.
Eligibility: Rising seniors at a Massachusetts high school within commuting distance of the Broad, with a B or better in science and math. You must be a US citizen, permanent resident, or have work authorization.
You’ll do an original research project with a Broad scientist, in a wet lab, on a computer, or both. There’s a tutor on staff to explain the science, plus poster training and a college fair. You don’t need any research experience, and students with little STEM background are especially encouraged to apply. See our list of lab opportunities in Boston for more.
Who is it right for? Massachusetts juniors who live near Cambridge.
15. Memorial Sloan Kettering Summer Student Program
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (in person)
Cost: Free, with a $1,200 stipend in the 2025 cycle. Housing isn’t provided.
Dates: 8 weeks. The 2025 program ran June 30 to August 22.
Application deadline: Not yet posted for 2027. Recent cycles have closed in early February.
Eligibility: High school juniors whose permanent address is within 25 miles of New York City
You’ll spend eight weeks in an MSK lab, either at the bench or on a computer, working on cancer research with a mentor. You have to finish all eight weeks on site to get the stipend, with no exceptions. And don’t email faculty while you apply. MSK disqualifies applicants who do. More NYC options are in our list of research programs in New York City.
Who is it right for? New York City area juniors who want a summer in a major cancer center.
Outside of the programs themselves, look at grants for high school research, fully funded STEM programs, free university science summer programs and free research mentorship programs.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Lab internships like SIMR, Broad and Houston Methodist put you on an actual project with a mentor. If you can’t get to a lab, you can still do research from home using published data and studies. Programs like Horizon pair you with a professor or PhD scholar online, and you can also find a research lab on your own by emailing local professors.
Yes. SIMR, ISPEED, Broad, MSK, Fred Hutch and MD Anderson cost nothing to attend, and Broad, MSK and Fred Hutch pay you. UT Southwestern lists no fee either. Our full list of free medical programs for high school students has more.
Usually, yes. Most hospital research internships start at 16, and a few, like MD Anderson’s, have required you to be 18. Patient-facing clinical work is rare for high schoolers, though, so most “hospital internships” happen in labs or offices. Our list of summer hospital internships shows what’s out there.
Start with a hospital volunteer program. Many hospitals run one for teens, but the minimum age varies, so check yours. Then ask your own doctor, or a family friend in health care, if you can shadow for a day. See our lists of medical volunteer programs and healthcare internships for places to apply.
Take biology and chemistry first, then the AP versions if your school has them. Anatomy and physiology, statistics and psychology are all useful too. Some schools also have health science or medical career pathways. If yours doesn’t, Harvard Medical School’s online courses cover subjects like genetics and physiology.
Keep your science grades strong, and find out whether you actually like medicine by volunteering, shadowing or doing a program on this list. You don’t apply to most US medical schools until college, so nobody expects you to have it all figured out yet. A summer of research is a great way to test whether the science side interests you.
It depends on what you want. You won’t touch lab equipment online. But you can learn medical science (Harvard), learn how medical research is judged (UC Irvine), work on AI projects (Stanford AIMI), or write your own paper (Horizon). If you want a research project, pick an online program that ends with one, not just a certificate. More are in our list of online research mentorship programs.
You still have real options. ISPEED covers your travel to Baltimore, and ASSIP has remote projects. Horizon is fully online, so you can work on neuroscience, gene editing or neurodegenerative disease research with a professor or PhD mentor from anywhere. Our 15 online biology research programs list has more.
You can submit it to research journals for high school students, enter it in research competitions, or present it at a conference. We explain the options in what you can actually do with a high school research paper and how to publish research in high school.
When do applications for medical programs open and close?
Most open in November or December and close in January or February. Here’s what each program has posted.
| Program | Last posted deadline | 2027 status |
| UT Southwestern | Early February | Opens late September 2026 |
| Houston Methodist | January 29, 2027 | Opens December 4, 2026 |
| SIMR | February 21, 2026 | Opens December 18, 2026, due late February |
| MD Anderson | January 14, 2026 | Not posted yet |
| Broad | January 21, 2026 | Not posted yet |
| UC Irvine | Rolling, usually closes late January or early February | Not posted yet |
| MSK | Early February in recent cycles | Not posted yet |
| Stanford AIMI | February 20, 2026 (February 13 with aid) | Not posted yet |
| Fred Hutch | March 13, 2026 | Details posted in November |
| ISPEED | Not published | Posted about six months before the program |
| ASSIP | Not published | 2026 cycle closed |
| Georgetown | Not published | 2026 sections full |
| Penn | Not published | Not posted yet |
| Harvard Medical School Pre-College | Rolling | Open year-round |
| Horizon | One per cohort | Three cohorts a year |
Ready to do medical research of your own?
Every program above gives you a look at medicine. Horizon gives you a question of your own to answer. You’ll pick a course like Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative Diseases or Gene Editing and CRISPR, work with a professor or PhD scholar for a full term, and finish with a research paper of about 5,000 words. Tuition is $6,950, need-based aid is available for families earning under $75,000, and you’ll need a 3.67 unweighted GPA. It’s fully online and cohorts start three times a year, so you’re not waiting for next summer. Apply to Horizon or see the full course list.
And if you’re wondering whether a program like this helps your college applications, we break down what actually counts.
Image source: Johns Hopkins University