Winter Internships for Pre-Med Students: A Comprehensive Guide
For pre-med students, gaining relevant experience is crucial for a successful medical school application. While summer internships are common, winter break offers a unique opportunity to get ahead. This article explores various winter internship options, including research, shadowing, volunteering, and other activities that can strengthen your application.
The Value of Internships for Pre-Med Students
Internships provide invaluable real-world experience and allow pre-med students to work closely with peers who have similar interests. Securing a pre-med internship or summer program is an excellent way to explore different fields of medicine and determine which ones align with your interests. Even programs focused on public health can help develop a holistic perspective on healthcare. Medical schools look for candidates with healthcare exposure, a strong GPA/MCAT score, and certain competencies.
Utilizing Winter Break Effectively
Winter break, typically a 2-4 week period, offers a chance for pre-med students to recharge after the fall semester. While it's important to de-stress and enjoy the holidays, it's also a great time to gain valuable experience in the medical field. Your undergraduate pre-med advisor can provide guidance on how to best utilize this time.
Shadowing Physicians
Shadowing physicians is a low-stress way to learn about various medical specialties. It allows you to observe doctors in their daily routines, understand their decision-making processes, and gain insight into the realities of practicing medicine.
- How to get started: Contact nearby hospitals and medical schools to inquire about shadowing opportunities.
- Atlantis Shadowing Program: Consider Atlantis shadowing programs, which offer unique experiences during school breaks. Marissa, a Clemson University graduate, participated in the Atlantis shadowing program in Trento, Italy, and found it instrumental in confirming her decision to pursue medicine. She appreciated the opportunity to speak with physicians and learn about their motivations. For example, shadowing experiences can expose students to medical practices that are hard to come by.
- Benefits of shadowing: Shadowing can be eye-opening and educational, allowing students to expand their horizons and understand different cultures of health. You can also interact and empathize with patients of diverse backgrounds and communities, a necessity to be a leader in the medical field.
Research Internships
Engaging in research can significantly enhance your medical school application. Research experience demonstrates your ability to think critically, analyze data, and contribute to the advancement of medical knowledge.
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- Long-term commitment: Research PIs often value long-term commitment to research projects. Committing several years to the same lab can yield significant dividends.
- Where to find opportunities: The AAMC website provides a comprehensive list of summer undergraduate research programs. The NIH is another excellent resource for research-focused internship programs.
- Specific Programs:
- OGR Extensive Study Program at Washington University: A post-baccalaureate program for underrepresented students interested in biomedical research and pursuing a Ph.D. in genomics and related fields.
- The POE Program: A summer research immersion program targeted to students interested in pursuing a career in cancer research, either as a laboratory-based or clinical scientist. Participants conduct basic or clinical oncology research, take part in research and clinical conferences, and attend a core lecture series designed specifically for them.
- Frankel Cardiovascular Center Fellowship program: Supports undergraduate students who are interested in cardiovascular research. Each student will be matched, based on his or her interests, to a laboratory that is involved in internationally recognized research in topics such as atherosclerosis, genetic cardiomyopathies, blood clotting disorders, cardiac arrhythmias, vascular biology, and heart failure.
- Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine: Hosts summer research programs that focus on a variety of topics such as cancer, diabetes, biomedical engineering, pediatrics, AIDS, physiology, etc.
- CRISSP: A competitive 10-week summer internship designed to educate and train future leaders in pediatric healthcare with opportunities in basic, translational, clinical, and behavioral research. Students typically under-represented in research are especially encouraged to apply.
- The SURF program: A 10-week program intended for undergraduate students interested in biomedical research. Students will work on independent research projects in the laboratories of their faculty mentors and will also have the opportunity to attend research seminars, advanced research instrumentation workshops, career day at a local pharmaceutical company, instructions on how to prepare a scientific presentation, practice talks and a mini-symposium.
- Research Assistant Positions: Numerous hospitals and institutions offer research assistant positions for pre-med students.
- The UCSF Breast Care Center: Seeks students to serve as research assistants. This program is service-oriented and will include involvement in clinical research, basic science research, experience with the clinical setting, delivery of care, and/or patient education. This position will also provide the opportunity to shadow oncologists and surgeons in the clinic and operating room.
- The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery: Seeks students for one of six internships. Interns gain in-depth research experience with surgical fellows in the transplant field and have the opportunity to receive credit for published articles.
- The Division of Vascular Surgery: Seeks students to serve as summer interns. Interns review and extract data from medical records, the operating room, CT scans, and other advanced images.
- The Department of Ophthalmology: Seeks Postbac students to serve as volunteers. Volunteers conduct clinical research on eye diseases, attend regional meetings and may have the opportunity to see their name on peer-reviewed papers.
- The Veterans Affairs of New York Medical Center: Seeks students to serve as clinical research volunteers on an ongoing basis. Clinical research volunteers assist with studies evaluating different behavioral approaches to improve health management for patients with hypertension, heart failure, and stroke.
- The Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital: Seeks Postbac students to serve as research assistants. Research assistants gain experience in pediatric emergency medicine, pre-screening patients and observing attending physicians.
- Mount Sinai Hospital: Seeks students to serve as research volunteers. Volunteers will have the opportunity to assist with clinical research projects in a variety of ways, including confirming and scheduling appointments, performing data collection, entry, and analysis, and compiling and submitting essential documents in accordance with institutional guidelines.
- The National Alliance of Research Associates Programs: A national consortium of emergency departments that seeks pre-med and Postbac students to serve as volunteer Line RAs or Chief RAs.
- The Department of Genetics and Development: Seeks students to serve as research technicians.
- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm: Seeks students to serve as research campus associates. Research campus associates work with interdisciplinary teams of scientists seeking answers to big questions in neurobiology, evolutionary biology, and kindred fields.
- The Division of Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology: Seeks students to serve as research assistants.
- The National Institute of Health CRTA/IRTA: Seeks Postbac students for their research training program. Students will receive biomedical research opportunities in aging, drug abuse, diabetes, and other modern maladies.
- Rockefeller University: Seeks students to serve as research assistants. Research assistants participate in experiments in molecular biology, immunology, genetics, neuroscience, and biochemistry and are expected to perform a number of modern research techniques including mapping, assaying, and culturing.
Clinical Volunteering
Volunteering in a clinical setting provides direct patient interaction and allows you to develop empathy, communication skills, and a deeper understanding of the healthcare environment.
- Where to volunteer: Hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities often have volunteer programs. Local clinics and practices may also be looking for interns.
- Specific Opportunities:
- Bellevue Hospital (PAVERS program): Volunteers assist with ongoing Department of Emergency Medicine research studies, assist within the emergency department, and attend a series of lectures.
- Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital: Offers opportunities in the emergency department, inpatient rounding, ambulatory surgery, or as a lobby ambassador.
- St. Luke’s Hospital: Offers opportunities in the ER, patient rounding, ambulatory surgery, as well as in the hospital's dental, ophthalmology and HIV clinics.
- The PACT program: Volunteers research community resources for patients, schedule appointments and transportation, and contact insurance companies and pharmacies to verify benefits.
- Hands of Hope House Parent Program: Allows students to help abused, neglected and HIV positive children through work with their agency. Responsibilities include daily care of the children, household management, and the coordination of medical appointments and therapy sessions.
- Music for Healing: Volunteers visit patients at the bedside playing jazz, classical and pop music, singing as well as offering supportive conversation.
- Art for Healing: Volunteers enhance the patient experience by doing art with patients at the bedside as well as offering supportive conversation.
Other Valuable Activities
In addition to shadowing, research, and volunteering, there are other activities you can pursue during winter break to strengthen your medical school application.
- MCAT Preparation: Winter break is an excellent time to assess your knowledge of the core disciplines covered on the MCAT and begin formulating a study plan. Some ambitious pre-med students even take the MCAT in the summer between their sophomore and junior years.
- Personal Statement and AMCAS Application: Start brainstorming ideas for your personal statement and AMCAS application. Jotting down thoughts about your most important experiences can save time and effort later.
- Interview Preparation: If you have medical school interviews scheduled, use winter break to keep your interview skills sharp by practicing responses to common questions.
- Rutgers Health Service Corps (RHSC):
- The Internship in the Life Sciences: A 3-credit course that accompanies participation in a Life Science-based internship. This course aims to provide students with the opportunity to develop experience and knowledge regarding the expectations, qualifications, competencies, and responsibilities of professionals working within the life sciences through an internship experience with an academic component.
- Child Life Internship Program at Atlantic Health: A full-time position that meets all of the standards for child life certification.
Specific Internship Programs
- The Overlook Summer Internship Program (OSIP): Designed for college students who are considering applying to medical school. Internship positions are placed across a myriad departments from corporate to medical locations.
- ARCHES program at Georgetown Medical School: Intended for undergraduate students who are rising juniors and seniors interested in strengthening research and clinical skills. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in guided clinical research as well as the greater D.C. community on issues of health equity.
- SRTP: Designed for students from groups underrepresented in medicine who are interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine or biomedical research. Under the guidance and mentorship of an investigator, participants will undertake an original research project that matches their research and career interests.
- Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation: Offers summer research internships designed to provide students with professional experience in the areas of clinical research and cardiovascular healthcare.
- The Jack Cary Eichenbaum Summer Scholars Program: Offers students a mentored introduction to research, patient treatment, and ethical issues in neonatology. Participants will meet a diverse group of healthcare providers and shadow pediatric physicians.
- New York University Ronald O. Perelman Internship Program: An innovative volunteer program for enthusiastic and inspired college and post-baccalaureate students. The program consists of clinical and non-clinical research shifts based in the Emergency Department.
- The Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program (USCP): An internship program that combines a structured lecture series with supervised hands-on research experience for undergraduate students interested in clinical or epidemiologic research.
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