14 Medical Winter Programs for High School Students
If you’re a high school student interested in exploring the sciences, medical winter programs can be a great way to learn more about the field without committing to a full summer schedule. By taking part in a short‑term winter program, you can strengthen your academic background, build connections with mentors, and gain early exposure to healthcare and research environments. These short-term opportunities fit neatly into your school break and allow you to keep learning while gaining new experiences.
What are the benefits of a medical program?
Medical programs give you the chance to build practical skills in areas like lab techniques, genetics, or patient care and connect with mentors who work in hospitals and research labs. You can also explore topics like global health, biomedical research, or clinical practice, helping you understand the different paths available within medicine. These programs help you build your profile and develop a network, which can be helpful for future opportunities in the field.
To help you find a good match, we’ve curated a list of 14 medical winter programs for high school students.
If you are looking for online internships, check out our blog here.
1. Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Immersion Science Program
Location: Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, PA
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; 16 students
Program Dates: Early January – mid‑March; 11 weeks (Saturdays)
Application Deadline: Early to mid-October - early-November the previous year
Eligibility: High school students aged 16+, from the Philadelphia- Tri-State area, who have completed biology and chemistry
Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Immersion Science Program is a free Saturday research course that combines lectures and wet‑lab work. Over roughly 11 weeks in the winter, you’ll learn how nutrients can affect cancer development and design an independent project to map nutrient targets. Only 16 students are accepted, so the program is selective and requires completion of high school chemistry and biology. Sessions are held for three hours each Saturday, and the curriculum culminates in a final presentation of your findings. In addition to lab skills, you will learn about research ethics, data analysis, and how scientists design experiments. Because there is no tuition cost, it’s an excellent option among medical winter programs for high school students that gives you hands‑on biomedical research experience.
2. Veritas AI – AI + Medicine Deep Dive
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Varies by program type; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; cohort size varies
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including summer, fall, spring, and winter
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines. You can apply to the program here.
Eligibility: High school students, grades 8-12, AI Fellowship applicants should have basic Python skills or have completed the AI Scholars program
In Veritas AI’s AI + Medicine Deep Dive, you’ll explore how machine‑learning models are used in healthcare. Guided by mentors from universities like Harvard and MIT, you will work on projects such as building an algorithm to diagnose diseases from medical images or using AI to optimise treatment plans. The deep dive combines live lectures, code walkthroughs, and one‑on‑one mentorship. You will work closely with a mentor, receive personalised feedback, and can tailor your project to your interests, whether that’s something like radiology, genomics, or healthcare policy.
3. Weill Cornell Medicine – Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program (HPREP)
Location: Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program Dates: Ten Friday afternoons starting in January
Application Deadline: TBD
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10–11
Weill Cornell’s HPREP introduces high‑schoolers from underrepresented backgrounds to health careers through a structured mentoring program. The ten‑week curriculum begins in January and includes talks from physicians, small‑group sessions where you’ll draft a personal statement and resume, with guidance on writing a research paper and navigating college applications. You will also have the opportunity to network with medical students and faculty, gaining insight into the path to medical school. The program is free but selective; preference is given to students who face systemic barriers to entering the health professions. For career mentorship and academic skill‑building, this is a great fit among medical winter programs for high school students.
4. Lumiere – Medicine Track
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies by program type; full financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Program Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. You can apply to the program here.
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines based on cohort
Eligibility: High school students with strong academics
Lumiere’s Medicine Track pairs you one‑on‑one with a PhD or MD mentor to conduct an independent research project in the field of your choice, including medicine. Over a 12‑week winter cohort, you can investigate topics such as epidemiology, health policy, pharmacology, or biomedical engineering. The program offers personalised mentorship and a chance to publish or present your work in high‑school journals and conferences. You’ll meet weekly with your mentor, craft a literature review, design an experiment or analysis, and produce a 20‑page research paper.
5. Maimonides Health Scholars Program
Location: Maimonides Medical Centre, Brooklyn, NY
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Program Dates: January 5 – April 5
Application Deadline: Rolling basis
Eligibility: High school students aged 16+
This internship places you in Maimonides Medical Centre’s Emergency Department, where you’ll assist staff, interact with patients, and gain exposure to hospital operations. As a participant, you will commit to one 5‑hour shift per week and also attend weekly lectures on topics such as anatomy, physiology, and medical ethics. Through hands‑on service and mentorship from physicians and nurses, you will develop communication skills and see how emergency medicine functions in a busy urban hospital. Before starting, you will be required to attend a 3-hour mandatory orientation in the Volunteer Office.
6. High School Bootcamp Program – Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS)
Location: Various HSHS hospitals in IL and WI
Cost/Stipend: None (students are responsible for transportation)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program Dates: December 29, December 30, or January 5 (1-day sessions)
Application Deadline: October 6 - November 14
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors, with immunisation records for MMR, Varicella, and yearly Flu Vaccine
This program helps you explore different healthcare careers and understand how professionals in the field work together to provide quality patient care. You’ll have the chance to learn directly from HSHS healthcare professionals through interactive sessions and discussions. The program also gives you an inside look at how healthcare teams operate, showing how collaboration among nurses, doctors, and specialists leads to better outcomes for patients. To deepen your understanding, you’ll get to shadow professionals in your area of interest, gaining first-hand experience of what a career in healthcare looks like day-to-day.
7. Doctor for a Day – University of Washington School of Medicine
Location: University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Program Dates: November 22 (Diabetes and Kidney Disease), December 13 (ABC’s of Breathing), and January 31 (Neuroscience Day)
Application Deadline: RSVP link provided on program page
Eligibility: K‑12 students, with emphasis on under‑resourced and BIPOC students
Doctor for a Day is a community outreach program run by the UW School of Medicine to inspire youth from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue health careers. Events are held monthly, and at each event, participants rotate through hands‑on stations where they practice physical exams, interview mock patients, try suturing, and learn about medical equipment. The program is free and open to all students, making it an accessible introduction to healthcare. In addition to skills workshops, Doctor for a Day emphasises social support and guides navigating the path to medical school.
8. Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute – High School Research Opportunities
Location: Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Varies by lab; students must secure their own mentor
Program Dates: Flexible; placements occur throughout the year
Application Deadline: Rolling (students must contact labs directly)
Eligibility: High school students aged 16+
Research opportunities at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute allow you to gain hands-on experience in biomedical laboratories. Instead of being directly placed by the Research Education and Training Centre, you’ll need to reach out to individual Principal Investigators (PIs) whose work aligns with your interests. Use the lab directory or science department pages to identify potential mentors. When contacting a PI, introduce yourself, explain why you’re interested in their research, mention relevant science coursework or past lab experience, and clarify your availability. Be specific about what you hope to learn through the experience. Since not every lab can take high school students, it’s a good idea to contact several researchers to increase your chances of finding a placement.
9. UT Southwestern – Health Professions Recruitment and Exposure Program (HPREP)
Location: UT Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Competitive
Program Dates: Saturdays: January 10, January 17, and January 24
Application Deadline: October 13 - November 9
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10 - 12
UT Southwestern’s version of HPREP exposes students to medical careers through interactive workshops led by medical and graduate students. Over three Saturdays in January, you’ll rotate through sessions on CPR, suturing, genetics, prosthetics, neuroscience, and more. The program also includes a college fair and mentoring groups, giving you direct access to current medical students and advisors. If you live in the Dallas area and want hands‑on clinical experience during winter, HPREP offers an introduction to health professions.
10. Dr. Rubin’s Mini Medical School
Location: Dr. Paul Rubin’s Mini Medical School, Blue Bell, PA
Cost: $450
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; small cohort
Program Dates: January – late February (weekend afternoons)
Application Deadline: Late August – early November
Eligibility: High school students in grades 10–12
This 21‑hour program condenses medical school content into a winter curriculum designed for high‑schoolers. You will attend five lecture sessions and participate in over 20 hands‑on activities, such as suturing, operating laparoscopic equipment, and performing mock patient exams. Sessions take place on weekend afternoons from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Beyond clinical skills, the program includes small‑group mentoring and discussions on medical ethics, giving you insight into the realities of a physician’s career. If you want an immersive introduction to medicine without waiting until summer, this mini‑med school is a great choice.
11. Rosetta Institute’s Winter Molecular Medicine Workshops
Location: Alameda, CA (Biomedical Research), Berkeley, CA (Cancer Research) and online
Cost: $670 Medicinal Chemistry and Medical Bioinformatics online; $1690 Cancer Research, Berkeley commuter, and $1890 Biomedical Research, Alameda commuter
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Moderately selective
Program Dates: December 26 – December 30/31 (commuter and online options)
Application Deadline: Rolling until filled
Eligibility: Students ages 14–18 with an interest in molecular biology
The Rosetta Institute offers several intensive winter workshops that teach molecular biology and its application to medicine. There is a commuter‑only Biomedical Research workshop in Alameda and a Cancer Research workshop in Berkeley, both running during the winter. The institute also offers virtual workshops in Medicinal Chemistry and Medical Bioinformatics during the same period. Each program features PhD‑level instructors and combines engaging lectures with hands‑on experiments or bioinformatics projects. You’ll study how normal cellular processes go awry in disease and design an original project on a gene or molecular pathway. These short courses are ideal if you want to explore a specialised topic over winter break and meet peers with similar interests.
12. UC San Diego BioImaging & 3D‑Printing - BI3DP (BE-BOAT) Program
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,700 (includes remote lab kit and 3 pre-college units of credit)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Program Dates: January 10 - March 1
Application Deadline: December 18
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9-12, GPA 3.0+, 14+
Run by the UCSD Extended Studies Research Scholars program, BI3DP is an online course combining biomedical imaging and 3D printing. You’ll receive a remote kit and learn how to capture and analyse imaging data, then design and 3D‑print anatomical models. The coursework includes lectures, lab assignments, and a final project, giving you university credit (3 units) upon completion. The class is taught by UCSD faculty and industry professionals, so you gain exposure to the latest imaging techniques used in medicine and research. If you’re interested in radiology, bioengineering, or prototyping, this program offers a comprehensive introduction during the winter term.
13. University of Rochester – Personalized Medicine: Customizing Care Through Genetics
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,595 (need-based scholarships available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment (space limited)
Program Dates: December 21 - January 4
Application Deadline: Rolling admission (space fills quickly)
Eligibility: Students ages 13+
This online course explores how genomic data is transforming healthcare. You’ll study DNA sequencing, gene editing, pharmacogenomics, and population genetics, then apply your knowledge to case studies. The flexible format requires about 20–25 hours of work, and a final capstone project challenges you to evaluate how personalised medicine could improve care for a particular disease. Mentors provide feedback and guidance throughout the session, and you can interact with peers on discussion boards. Because there are no prerequisites beyond curiosity, this is a solid introductory option among medical winter programs for high school students.
14. Georgetown University – Medicine: An Inside Look at Treating Patients
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,895 (need-based scholarships available)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment (space limited)
Program Dates: Multiple 1,2, or 4-week winter sessions
Application Deadline: Multiple deadlines based on cohort
Eligibility: Students ages 13+
Georgetown’s online course offers a behind‑the‑scenes look at how physicians diagnose and treat patients. You’ll follow case studies on kidney transplants, vascular disease, and cancer, exploring the roles of surgeons, nurses, and specialists along the way. The curriculum includes video lectures, interactive assignments, and a final capstone where you design a healthcare team and treatment plan for a fictional patient. The course is fully virtual and provides mentoring from Georgetown faculty, making it a flexible winter program for high school students curious about clinical medicine. Because there are several session lengths, you can choose the commitment that fits your schedule.
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