15 Paid Medical Internships for College Students
- Stephen Turban
- 20 hours ago
- 9 min read
College is often when you start evaluating how an interest in biology, public health, or medicine connects to professional work. If you’re interested in these fields, consider participating in a medical internship. A medical internship gives you exposure to healthcare settings, where you can see how care teams operate, how patient services move across departments, and how academic knowledge is applied in practice. You also gain familiarity with clinical environments, professional expectations, and the pace of work in healthcare roles.
Why should I participate in a medical internship in college?
A medical internship allows you to gain relevant experience while you’re still in school. In a paid role, you can support yourself financially while contributing to tasks such as research assistance, data collection, patient outreach, or administrative support in clinical or public health settings. This experience helps clarify which healthcare paths align with your interests and provides concrete work experience for applications to medical or nursing school.Â
With that in mind, here are 15 paid medical internships for college students!
Location: Harvard University, Division of Medical Sciences, Boston
Stipend: A stipend is paid. Amount not specified
Application Deadline:Â Applications are open from November 1. Apply here
Internship Dates:Â May 31 to August 8
Eligibility: Medical undergraduates with previous research experience required: at least one summer or semester of independent lab research.
The Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP) is a ten-week paid research program at Harvard Medical School’s Division of Medical Sciences, tailored for undergraduate students. You will engage in life sciences research under faculty guidance, with some opportunities in physical sciences and bioengineering, as well as computational biology and bioinformatics. The program includes weekly career development sessions, peer mentoring, and opportunities for networking with SHURP alumni and mentors. Students showcase their research through poster presentations at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium and an oral presentation at the program’s conclusion, fostering both professional skills and connections.
Location: University of California, Los Angeles, CAÂ
Stipend: $1,000 on completionÂ
Application Deadline: Applications open on December 1, and the deadline is March 2
Internship Dates:Â Virtual: July 6 - July 17; In-Person: July 20 - August 14Â
Eligibility: Applicants should be juniors or seniors in college, or recent college graduates
The Pre-Med Enrichment Program (PREP), offered by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is a six-week, intensive, paid summer medical internship aimed at strengthening the preparedness and skills of college pre-med students, especially those from underserved backgrounds. You will learn core concepts in physics, general chemistry, biology, and organic chemistry through a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum where you tackle complex clinical cases. You will gain critical readiness skills through MCAT review sessions, comprehensive medical school application support, and rigorous interview skills practice. You will develop vital skills in critical reasoning, clinical knowledge application, and long-term professional planning.Â
Location: Duke University, NCÂ
Stipend: $4,000
Application Deadline: February 17Â
Internship Dates: May 18-July 24Â
Eligibility: Undergraduates and graduate students
The Margolis Summer Experience Program at Duke gives you a paid 10-week introduction to real health policy work. You spend the summer doing literature reviews, analyzing data, helping draft briefs, and contributing to ongoing research with Duke-Margolis faculty. The program mixes hands-on projects with workshops and seminars on topics like health equity and healthcare reform. By the end, you build practical skills in research and communication while seeing how policy ideas are developed inside a leading health policy institute.
Location: School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Stipend: $4,000
Application Deadline: January 20
Internship Dates: June 10 – July 24Â
Eligibility: College sophomores and juniors, currently enrolled in U.S. accredited colleges/universities, authorized to work in the U.S., with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.
The ARCHES program at Georgetown is a six-week paid residential experience that helps pre-health college students build the skills they’ll need for medical school. You spend the summer working with faculty and clinicians, gaining clinical exposure, contributing to health equity projects, and taking part in research tied to community needs in Washington, D.C. The program adds structure through workshops and skill-building sessions based on its Build, Bridge, and Be Bold framework, giving you steady practice in academic readiness, professional communication, and reflective learning.
Location: MassachusettsÂ
Stipend: $5,000
Application Deadline: January 17
Internship Dates: June 2-July 25
Eligibility: Undergraduate juniors and seniors, incoming first-year medical students, first-year medical students, graduate students, and post-baccalaureate students.
Mass General’s Research Summer Trainee Program is a 10-week experience where you join a lab or clinical research team and work on an original project tied to medicine or public health. Students are selected through a national competition and placed with a mentor whose work matches their interests, whether that’s clinical research, health services, or health policy. Over the summer, you learn how studies are designed, collect and analyze data, join seminars with researchers across the hospital, and finish by presenting your findings.
Location: University of California, San Francisco
Stipend: Total compensation package is worth over $15,000, including stipend, housing in San Francisco, round-trip travel, and health insurance
Application Deadline:Â February 2
Internship Dates: May 31 to August 7
Eligibility:Â Currently enrolled undergraduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and have completed at least four semesters or six quarters of undergraduate study.
The UCSF Summer Research Program gives you a full-time, June-to-August research experience in the health sciences, working directly with UCSF faculty on projects that match your interests. Alongside your lab work, you take part in seminars, journal clubs, and professional development sessions that help you understand how research teams think and operate. The program builds a strong sense of community through group events and shared learning, and it all wraps up with a presentation session where you share your work and get feedback from UCSF students, postdocs, and faculty.
Location: Weill Cornell Medicine’s campus in New York City
Stipend: $3,000
Application Deadline:Â February 2
Internship Dates: June 15 – August 1Â
Eligibility: Open to undergraduates in their junior year of college (defined as your third year of college and not by the number of credits earned).
The Travelers Summer Research Fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine is a paid program for about two dozen premed college students who want a close, structured introduction to medical research and the realities of healthcare. You spend the summer working with a faculty mentor on clinical or basic science projects while learning about public health issues, healthcare disparities, and research principles. The program weaves in MCAT prep, financial aid guidance, and support for the medical school application process, giving you a clearer sense of how to plan your path into medicine. You also meet physicians from multiple specialties, join career sessions, and hear directly from diversity and admissions leaders at regional medical schools.
Location: Hartford Hospital, 80 Seymour Street, Hartford, CT
Stipend: $4,000Â
Application Deadline:Â January 31
Internship Dates: June 8 to August 15
Eligibility: Pre-medical college students completing their junior year by May; Have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher; Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Hartford Hospital’s Summer Student Pre-Med and Research Program is a paid 10-week internship for third-year college students who want real experience inside a teaching hospital. You work with senior investigators on a clinical research project while learning how studies are designed, how patient care works, and how medical ethics guide daily decisions. The program gives steady exposure to different providers and specialties, so you see how a large hospital operates from the inside. Each week, you join seminars with experts on topics like health disparities, medical ethics, and how artificial intelligence is beginning to shape care.
Location: Hyde Park campus in Chicago, IL
Stipend: $3,200Â
Application Deadline: January 30
Internship Dates: June 8 – July 31
Eligibility: Open to rising college sophomores, juniors, or seniors with basic science coursework and a demonstrated interest in medicine.
PSOMER at the University of Chicago is an eight-week residential program that gives rising juniors and seniors a full immersion in basic or clinical research. You spend the summer working on a project with a faculty mentor and present your findings at a research forum at the end. Weekly cluster groups help you navigate lab work and introduce you to topics like research ethics, healthcare disparities, statistics, and core research tools. You also get steady mentorship from Pritzker medical students and staff, including sessions with admissions officers and community events with other summer researchers.
Location: Texas A&M University College of Medicine, TX
Stipend: $4,000 for the 10-week program period
Application Deadline: February 1
Internship Dates:Â May 19 - July 25Â
Eligibility: Applicants must be undergraduate students from any institution who have an interest in pursuing a future career in biomedical research
The Texas A&M Summer Research Program is a 10-week experience that places undergraduates in biomedical labs across the College of Medicine, where you work one-on-one with a faculty mentor on a project in basic or clinical science. You learn how studies are designed, carried out, and analyzed while developing skills that prepare you for future research or medical training. Weekly group meetings cover scientific methods, ethics, and career development, and you can join seminars and workshops across the campus. Mentors come from areas like cancer, cardiovascular science, immunology, neuroscience, and clinical neurosurgery, giving you access to a wide range of research directions. The program ends with Research Day, where you present your findings to faculty and peers and compete for presentation awards.
Location: National Institute of Health
Stipend:Â A stipend is paidÂ
Application Deadline:Â February 18. However, applications are considered on a rolling basis, and selections are made throughout the open application period.
Internship Dates:Â Not specifiedÂ
Eligibility:Â Enrolled in high school or college at least half-time
The Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research gives you a full-time, lab-based experience focused on understanding the causes of human genetic diseases and how scientists work to detect, prevent, and treat them. You spend the summer learning research techniques, working closely with a mentor, and contributing to ongoing projects within an NIH laboratory. Alongside your lab work, you join the NIH Summer Seminar Series, where leading researchers discuss current breakthroughs in biomedical and clinical science. The program ends with a poster session where you present your work to the NIH community.
Location: Boston, MA
Stipend: Approximately $3,200Â
Application Deadline:Â Early FebruaryÂ
Internship Dates: 8-week program in the summer
Eligibility: College freshman, sophomore, junior
The CURE Program is a paid, full-time summer research experience that runs for 8 weeks and gives you a close, practical introduction to cancer research. You are matched with a mentor and spend the summer working on a project while learning lab techniques, understanding how discoveries are made, and seeing how research translates into patient impact. The program wraps up with a final presentation, where you share an abstract of your work and explain what you learned over the course of the internship.
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Stipend: $4,000
Application Deadline: January 25 (Reference letters due February 1)
Internship Dates: June 2 – August 8
Eligibility: Current sophomore, junior, or senior, or recent college graduates taking a gap year; Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0; U.S. Citizen or permanent resident
The Flinn Summer Research Internship, supported by the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and the Flinn Foundation, is a 10-week paid research program designed for pre-med undergraduates eager to explore hypothesis-driven biomedical research. You work one-on-one with a biomedical scientist mentor to develop a research hypothesis and conduct guided experiments in either a traditional wet lab or computational dry lab setting, depending on your interests. This environment focuses on critical thinking, scientific analysis, technical laboratory techniques, and computational skills that form the foundation of medical research.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies by the program. Financial aid is availableÂ
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Varies based on the cohort; multiple deadlines throughout the year; you can apply to the program here
Eligibility: Open to high school, undergraduate, and gap year students able to commit 10–20 hours weekly for 8-12 weeks
The Ladder university internship program is an eight-week program that places you with startups and established companies across sectors like technology, healthcare, sustainability, and finance. You’ll work on real-world projects, such as market analysis, business strategy, data science, or machine learning, while receiving guidance from both company mentors and Ladder Coaches. This dual-mentorship setup helps you understand how startups operate and gives you structured support as you build technical and professional skills. Throughout the program, you gain exposure to fast-growing industries, collaborate with founders and managers, and develop a clearer sense of potential career paths. You’ll also produce tangible project outcomes and present your work at the end of the internship.Â
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4,000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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