Summer internship premed...ideas of how to find opportunities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now we have high school students claiming as an EC that they perform surgery?

Maybe on their pet cat 😀

[Anonymous]

Many pre-meds don't do internships per se, and no one does hands on surgery. There are four major boxes to check that are prerequisites for many medical schools.

Volunteering - 100+ hours, usually much more - This can be anything, preferrably medical related.

Shadowing - Anywhere from 50-200 hours depending on the school. Reach out to any doctors you know and ask to shadow. Do it acrosse a variety of practice types

Clinical - 100+ hours, many do much more.
Scribing, EMT, medical assistant, phlebotemist, whatever you can get.

Research - 400+ hours for research oriented medical schools, many do much more. Get in touch with research professors at your school. Hard to do for just a summer.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Inova offers internships in summer. I am sure other large hospital systems have similar programs.

No, they don't.

This is the Inova program: https://www.inova.org/our-services/inova-volunteer-services-system/summer-2025

You have to have registered by April 25th. So annoying. My college kid just got home from school and is looking for pre-med volunteering opportunities. I guess you need to look in the winter? Anything available now ?

Are you surprised that they expect would-be medical students to plan ahead?

It really does come down to this.

The INOVA student volunteer program summer positions are filled by lottery so the "early" registration (it really is not that early given that most college students start looking for summer positions in the fall prior) is to allow adequate time for those selected to be notified AND to have all their paperwork (TB testing is required and takes time).

Just curious what the volunteers do, couldn’t see that info anywhere and given HS kids apply.

It probably varies greatly but I would not hold out hope that it would involve much direct clinical care, even for the college applicants. That it is listed as a volunteer program and not a shadowing or research program is, to me, a tell.

Yes, it’s why I asked. Not sure it would be that great for med school applications based on what I saw. Being more hands-on at a clinic somewhere would be better imo.

Maybe at a nursing home as a PP said. As a patient, no thank you. I barely tolerated actual med students who weren't sure about their specialty but were giving a go at everything. I sure as hell would decline a student in college or not even in college yet. And I believe in helping to educate future doctors, just not that early. I don't need high schoolers crowding the room during a procedure, thanks.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Inova offers internships in summer. I am sure other large hospital systems have similar programs.

No, they don't.

This is the Inova program: https://www.inova.org/our-services/inova-volunteer-services-system/summer-2025

You have to have registered by April 25th. So annoying. My college kid just got home from school and is looking for pre-med volunteering opportunities. I guess you need to look in the winter? Anything available now ?

Are you surprised that they expect would-be medical students to plan ahead?

It really does come down to this.

The INOVA student volunteer program summer positions are filled by lottery so the "early" registration (it really is not that early given that most college students start looking for summer positions in the fall prior) is to allow adequate time for those selected to be notified AND to have all their paperwork (TB testing is required and takes time).

Just curious what the volunteers do, couldn’t see that info anywhere and given HS kids apply.

It probably varies greatly but I would not hold out hope that it would involve much direct clinical care, even for the college applicants. That it is listed as a volunteer program and not a shadowing or research program is, to me, a tell.

Yes, it’s why I asked. Not sure it would be that great for med school applications based on what I saw. Being more hands-on at a clinic somewhere would be better imo.

Maybe at a nursing home as a PP said. As a patient, no thank you. I barely tolerated actual med students who weren't sure about their specialty but were giving a go at everything. I sure as hell would decline a student in college or not even in college yet. And I believe in helping to educate future doctors, just not that early. I don't need high schoolers crowding the room during a procedure, thanks.

I was referring to college students. My certified EMT will be working in a clinic this summer doing patient triage type duties.

[Anonymous]

^ was also referring to underserved and free clinics. Not that patients voices don’t matter, there, but didn’t mean the local GP office.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Inova offers internships in summer. I am sure other large hospital systems have similar programs.

No, they don't.

This is the Inova program: https://www.inova.org/our-services/inova-volunteer-services-system/summer-2025

You have to have registered by April 25th. So annoying. My college kid just got home from school and is looking for pre-med volunteering opportunities. I guess you need to look in the winter? Anything available now ?

Are you surprised that they expect would-be medical students to plan ahead?

It really does come down to this.

The INOVA student volunteer program summer positions are filled by lottery so the "early" registration (it really is not that early given that most college students start looking for summer positions in the fall prior) is to allow adequate time for those selected to be notified AND to have all their paperwork (TB testing is required and takes time).

Just curious what the volunteers do, couldn’t see that info anywhere and given HS kids apply.

IDK for sure at INOVA, but when I did volunteer hospital work for a medstar location, i mostly sat behind the counter doing admin type work like answering the phone and transferring calls to the patients room, or directing visitors down the hallway, or answering the patients calls and getting them a juice if that's what they wanted. Or when meds arrived, I'd tell the nurse. Or once a patient checked out I had to go through the file and make sure everything was signed and dated. The only hands on stuff I did was help a nurse change bed sheets, and if the patient was bedridden, then I'd move the sheets around as nurse held patient. IOW, i actually never touched a patient. I would have like to sit and talk to patients more, but never had time.

I think if you want this kind of patient interaction, you could look into volunteering at a nursing home/long-term care facility.
https://www.sunriseseniorliving.com/about/volunteers

None of the examples listed in the link are remotely related to patient interaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The INOVA program does not allow the kids to perform surgery. I agree that getting a chance to perform surgery while still in high school or college would be a father in one's cap. But maybe INOVA worries that patients might not be happy playing along? Do other hospitals allow it?

I can’t tell if you’re serious.
No high school student is doing surgery anywhere, despite the article referenced above. Not everything on the internet is true. High school students would be lucky to observe a surgery.

USUHS has a program. I’m sure the deadline has passed for this summer.
Many med students become licensed CNAs or EMTs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many pre-meds don't do internships per se, and no one does hands on surgery. There are four major boxes to check that are prerequisites for many medical schools.

Volunteering - 100+ hours, usually much more - This can be anything, preferrably medical related.

Shadowing - Anywhere from 50-200 hours depending on the school. Reach out to any doctors you know and ask to shadow. Do it acrosse a variety of practice types

Clinical - 100+ hours, many do much more.
Scribing, EMT, medical assistant, phlebotemist, whatever you can get.

Research - 400+ hours for research oriented medical schools, many do much more. Get in touch with research professors at your school. Hard to do for just a summer.

This breaks it down nicely.
Your child would be wise to meet with an advisor or go to a premedical school planning session. If you know any doctors, ask them for shadowing opportunities.
Let tour child handle it. Your OP is so incorrect that your advice is not helpful (and I get it - I do not advise mine either).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Many med students become licensed CNAs or EMTs.

This. I was an orgo chem prof at a community college and many of my pre-med students were EMTs or combat medics.

[Anonymous]

Get a job as a nursing assistant. In some areas they are called certified nursing assistants, certified nursing aides, or patient care technicians. In Virginia and Maryland you need to complete a training program, but it doesn't take too long. The job provides a lot of patient interaction and an understanding of the workflow in the hospital by all levels of care providers.

[Anonymous]

Crazy thread ... I most certainly hope high school kids did not perform hands-on surgery.

And now is not the time to be looking for internships. Next year, start sending out letters/applications in the fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if you are looking to major in eg Biology but have a goal in attending medical school, how can you find internships that matter?

I know that some questbridge scholars were able to get summer internships where they performed hands on surgery. That is a big boost to your application.

Is there a central database of such opportunities?

Physician with experience on a top med school adcom:
No college student is performing surgery on humans not even current medical students (they occasionally suture and assist that is it). A college student could do surgery on animals in a research medical center but that would not be rare nor particularly impressive—it is common.

If a premed cannot talk to their advisor at college or look at many of the resources AMCAS &other websites have, or talk to older students and professors to figure out the myriad of options for premed-resume-boosting activities in college, they are not likely cut out for the field. Successful premeds are self-starters.

Bottom line:
Almost any research, any volunteering, and any clinical experience will help a resume for med school. Over the college years during semesters as well as summers the level of involvement should increase and expand to include all 3 areas, while the student continues to excel in the classroom.
The most important factors for admission are the MCAT and the BCPM gpa (in the context of the rigor of the college/program).

[Anonymous]

Those sisters out in California doing actual surgery while in high school...that's impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many pre-meds don't do internships per se, and no one does hands on surgery. There are four major boxes to check that are prerequisites for many medical schools.

Volunteering - 100+ hours, usually much more - This can be anything, preferrably medical related.

Shadowing - Anywhere from 50-200 hours depending on the school. Reach out to any doctors you know and ask to shadow. Do it acrosse a variety of practice types

Clinical - 100+ hours, many do much more.
Scribing, EMT, medical assistant, phlebotemist, whatever you can get.

Research - 400+ hours for research oriented medical schools, many do much more. Get in touch with research professors at your school. Hard to do for just a summer.

But none of this has to be done in high school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ was also referring to underserved and free clinics. Not that patients voices don’t matter, there, but didn’t mean the local GP office.

Poor patients don't want to entertain your high school student either.