Last Minute Summer Opportunities

Maximizing your summer vacation by participating in some meaningful clinical experience, research, test prep, etc is an important part of the application process to professional school.  By now, you should have explored and applied to options for programs for the upcoming summer.  If not, here are a few experiences that still have open deadlines.  It’s still not too late find mission trips, or contact a local healthcare professional / family member to arrange for shadowing, or employment in a healthcare related field ( medical office receptionist, scribe at a local hospital, patient care assistant at a local hospital, volunteer at a local hospital).

 

Other options for meaningful summer experience include:

– shadowing a physician ( for a sustained, and regular period of time, at least once per week)

– mission work

– volunteering at a health related facility ( for a sustained and regular period of time, at least once per week)

– working as a patient care assistant at a hospital

– working as a scribe at a hospital

– taking classes during the summer to improve your GPA and decrease your academic load during the upcoming semester.

If you must work to assist your family financially, and cannot find a job in a healthcare related field, make sure to find some time to incorporate some activities that will be helpful towards your application, be that shadowing, a short mission trip, etc.

 

DEADLINES ARE APPROACHING, DO NOT DELAY TO REVIEW AND APPLY FOR THESE OPPORTUNITIES! The deadines for these opportunities are approaching, but have not yet passed.  

http://sackler.tufts.edu/Admissions/Apply-to-Non-Degree-Programs/Building-Diversity-in-Biomedical-Sciences.aspx

http://pritzker.uchicago.edu/about/diversity/pipeline/camp.shtml

http://www.einstein.yu.edu/uploadedFiles/education/md-program/diversity/2014%20DSSROP%20-%20Application.pdf (This application is for 2014, check the school’s website to see if this program is being offered this summer)

http://www6.miami.edu/provost/oae/motivationprogram.html ( contact oae@mia.edu to see if this program is available for summer 2015)

http://www.mplsheart.org/get-involved/internships/research-internship/overview/ (DEADLINE IS JAN. 31, 2015)

http://www.rowan.edu/coopermed/diversity/undergrad/ ( DEADLINE FEB 13, 2015)

http://coe.stanford.edu/pre-med/sshcop.html

Contact: sshcop@gmail.com to see if this opportunity is available for summer 2015)

http://biosciences.stanford.edu/prospective/diversity/ssrp/docs/SSRP_Brochure_2014.pdf ( For students pursuing PhD)

http://louisville.edu/medicine/diversity/student-pipeline-programs/mcat-dat-training-conference-for-undergraduates

http://smdep.org/apply-to-smdep/

http://www.colorado.edu/GraduateSchool/DiversityInitiative/undergrads/smart/index.html ( Contact one of the emails listed to obtain application materials for this summer)

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/education/phd/gpo/srip

http://www.rackham.umich.edu/prospective-students/srop/application-process

http://www.uthsc.edu/HCP/descriptions.php

http://graduate.ucsf.edu/srtp (for students pursuing PhD.)

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/education/research/surf/apply/

http://med.uc.edu/SURF/experience

http://www.medstudent.ucla.edu/offices/aeo/prep.cfm

http://www.lsuhscshreveport.edu/multiculturalaffairs/efpform.aspx

https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/sip

http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/Institution.aspx?sort=Institution&subsort=NIH

 

Extensive List of 2015 Summer Opportunities   (some deadlines may have passed, you will need to sort through the list to find opportunities that may interest you. The list is large. One way to narrow down would be by region/location, or you can sort through the list alphabetically and check the deadlines.)

http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm

 

*Remember, if you must work to assist your family financially, and cannot find a job in a healthcare related field, make sure to find some time to incorporate some activities that will be helpful towards your application, be that shadowing, a short mission trip, etc.*

 

 

Summer Opportunities

“Summa, Summa, Summa time  Time to sit back and unwind??…not for the aspiring prehealth student!

It’s hard to even think of the summer with it being 36 degrees outside, but trust me, it will be here before you know it.  Don’t let your summer pass you by.  Be proactive. Be prepared and keep your goal in mind ( a happy, healthy career in healthcare).  I think every summer during the academic journey of prehealth students should be filled with some meaningful activity that somehow  positively propels them in the direction of their dreams.

Before you delve into the extensive list of programs below, take a quick look at some frequently asked questions regarding summer opportunities from directors of the SMDEP program ( which I’m huge fan of!)

AAMC summer enrichment program database.  Searchable database by state, program length, institution

AAMC summer research program database.

Extensive list of research options for biomedical sciences and premed students.

List of healthcare internships abroad, for those interested in medicine, dentistry, physical therapy etc.

Texas A/M Summer predental enrichment program

UCLA Prep program (application opens up on January 1, 2014)

List of program for future dentists by Columbia

Medical / Dental programs compiled by Tufts University

Preveterinary programs compiled by Tufts University 

Public Health programs compiled by Tufts University

List of dental and overseas programs

Veterinary, Optometry, Research, even Podiatry!

UC Berkeley’s School of Optometry’s ‘Opto-Camp’ program.

Illinois College of Optometry’s Focus on Your Future Summer Program.

Got plans for the summer?

Got plans for the summer?

If not, now is the time to start making them!  I know, it’s only November, but before you know it, the summer will be here and you don’t want to be without an opportunity to enhance your knowledge base and your application for professional school.  The truth is, applications for a  large amount of research opportunities  open between November 1 and December 15.  So if you haven’t already, you may wanna start researching now and getting those applications in ASAP!

A simple google search with key words like :   URF, HCOP,  SROP, NIH, REU “summer enrichment programs”, “summer premedical / dental programs”  will yield you enough hits that you are sure to find one in your area of interest with a great location.

I strongly encourage students to pursue summer research or enrichment programs.

– They allow you the opportunity to meet other like minded, focused students. ( I am still  in contact with my roommates from SMDEP at Baylor almost 10 years ago and just being around almost 70 other people with similar goals as me was a motivator in itself.)

– They give you an opportunity to begin to see what you competitors for professional school are like so you can get an idea if you’re on track, ahead, or behind

– Exposure exposure exposure.  You can demonstrate that your desire to go to professional school isn’t just a pipe dream, but an actual goal that you are working toward.

–  Maintains your level of competitiveness as an applicant.

Here are a few links to get you started, but  this is only the tip of the iceberg!

https://www.aamc.org/members/great/61052/great_summerlinks.html

https://services.aamc.org/summerprograms/getprogs.cfm

Click to access sum_sprngbrk_volunteer.pdf

Click to access AYFALL_PHSInternships_updatedOct4_11.pdf

https://www.training.nih.gov/programs

http://www.ams.org/programs/students/undergrad/emp-reu