Why do internships in high school?
Before we jump into a long list of medical internships for high school students in Boston, it is important to understand why these opportunities could matter for your future. According to PRISM, a consultancy, 70% of students attending a US News top 50 University have completed at least one internship while in high school. These opportunities serve as a way to distinguish yourself in the admissions process by showing that you have gone out and verified your future goals through experience. Doing internships will help you enter college with a clearer idea of the professional environments you enjoy or don’t enjoy, which will make it easier for you to recruit into a job you love after graduation. Students who have done at least one internship in high school also typically have an easier time recruiting into college internships and pre-professional organizations such as finance or pre-law clubs.
How to Find Medical Internships for High School Students in Boston
The best way to find medical internships for high school students in Boston is through online search tools and lists. The StandOutSearch database provides the largest free resource that lists almost every internship program for the high school age group and allows you to search by interest area. MIT Admissions also provides a helpful list of High School Internships.
However, official programs tend to be very competitive, so if you are serious about finding a summer internship in high school, you should also prepare a cold outreach strategy. You can read more about how to form a cold outreach strategy to find a high school internship at the end of this article. We also include email templates to make finding an internship or research position through cold outreach less daunting.
10 Medical Internships for High School Students in Boston
Most of the medical internships for high school students in Boston below have an acceptance rate of 20% or lower, given that there are many more high school students looking for internships relative to official programs that provide them. We recommend choosing at least five opportunities to apply to. If you see an opportunity that excites you, take a moment to write the deadline on your calendar!
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: Various Deadlines
StandOut Connect is a program created thanks to investment from UChicago’s Polsky Center for Innovation that matches high school students with internships in their interest area. Students interview with potential mentors who are leaders and innovators within their area of interest until they are hired for a two-month internship. Many students then receive optional return offers to continue with their internship for as long as they would like.
Ages: Freshman - Senior
Location: Boston
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Contact for more info
The program works to increase students’ interest in science and healthcare, spark college aspirations and preparedness, and aims to support Scholars to succeed academically in high school, graduate from college, and enter the workforce with a strong sense of academic fortitude and confidence.
Ages: Sophomore or Junior
Location: Worcester
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March
This four-week residential program provides the participants with an integrated academic enrichment curriculum in Science/Biology, Mathematics, English, Communication Skills and Information Technology. Field trips reinforce the science curriculum. Participants are required to complete a Health Disparities Research Project on a cultural group in Massachusetts. Participants meet health care professionals and scientists through their assigned observer/internships and Cultural Contemporary Health Issues seminars.
Ages: 16 and up
Location: Boston
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
Interns work on the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) campus in departments ranging from radiology, transport, materials management, research labs and more. The program is a paid 7-week, 30 hour-per-week job experience focused on professional development, healthcare career exposure and exploration, community health, and health equity.
Ages: Rising Juniors and Seniors
Location: Boston
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: May 6
Participants will commit to at least one recurring 3-hour shift of volunteering on-campus for the duration of the summer. In addition to volunteering, there will also be a weekly lecture series, delivered by various Boston Medical Center Health Systems professionals. Past lecturers have included surgeons, physicians, nurses, social workers, and healthcare administrators.
Ages: Rising Senior
Location: Cambridge
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
Interns spend six weeks at the Broad Institute. We match students with Broad scientists to conduct original, cutting-edge research projects in areas such as: cancer biology, psychiatric disease, chemical biology, computational biology, infectious disease, and more. In addition to original research, students will get to explore scientific careers; attend interesting scientific talks; present their research to the Broad community in a scientific poster session; attend a college fair; participate in fun social events; and meet other students who share similar interests.
Ages: 16 and up
Location: Weltham
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Rolling
The High School Apprenticeship Challenge facilitates and funds paid internships for high school students throughout Massachusetts. The program creates more than 100 new internship opportunities each year by subsidizing intern wages for small life sciences companies and research institutions to enable them to hire paid interns. The program also offers a pre-internship lab training program for some school districts that provides rigorous biotechnology/biomedical and professional skills development.
Ages: Sophomore or Junior
Location: Boston
Timeline: Year-round
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
A three-year training initiative for highly motivated high school and undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in scientific research. Through engagement in mentored summer research projects, participation in an advanced scientific curriculum during the academic year, and year-round professional skills training, students will acquire scientific knowledge and technical skills, and increase their understanding of how to conduct biomedical research.
Ages: 16 and up
Location: Boston
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: February
The Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) program introduces Massachusetts students to the world of cancer research by placing them in real research settings at local cancer research institutions. This program will encourage students to pursue future careers in the biosciences—particularly cancer research—giving practical meaning to academic course work and to expand and extend their interest in basic, clinical and/or population science research. At the same time, students make a valuable contribution to the DF/HCC research mission. By participating in a program at DF/HCC—an NCI comprehensive cancer center with more than 1100 researchers across seven Harvard institutions—students will learn from experts who are devoted to preventing, treating and curing cancer.
Ages: High School
Location: Cambridge
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
The Student Scholars program is an eight-week internship for Massachusetts high school students. Forsyth’s world-class scientists serve as mentors to the students throughout the summer. Interns learn basic laboratory techniques by participating in mentors’ research projects in a productive and enriching scientific environment. At the end of the program, students present the findings from their own research project.
Cold Outreach Strategy for High School Internships
If the opportunities listed above don’t turn out to be a fit, the next step to finding medical internships for high school students in Boston is to launch a cold outreach strategy. This may seem intimidating at first, but the guide below should make it much more simple. As an added note, please exercise caution when reaching out to professionals you don’t know. It is always safest to interview or meet virtually.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
Use LinkedIn to find small companies where you can help with skills such as social media, coding, content/grant writing, or graphic design. Smaller companies that need more hands on deck will be the most likely to hire high-school-aged students. Try to find personal connections with the professionals you reach out to, such as being from the same state originally or liking the same sports team.
How to Find Professors to Reach Out to for a High School Research Position
You can use online university staff directories to find professors to reach out to for research positions. Note that if you are looking for a remote research position with a professor, you should be aware that these opportunities tend to be harder to come by. Professors typically have high school students help with more manual laboratory tasks such as washing beakers or running equipment and usually do not have very much use for interns at a high school education level within a remote setting. The exception is if you are doing computational research, which generally requires introductory knowledge of Python or R to parse large datasets. You should be able to learn Python or R on your own for free within a few months using resources such as Coursera’s R Programming Course or Python for Everybody.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
For a successful cold-outreach strategy, aim to send at least 50 emails to potential internship providers. Be sure to include a link to your resume, which should be no more than one page while you are in high school. UChicago provides a helpful free resume template and guide. We recommend including your resume as a Google Drive link because including it as a PDF will sometimes negatively impact the deliverability of your email. However, be sure to check that the sharing settings on the document allow anyone with the link to view its contents. It can also be a good idea to include work samples in your resume, such as the link to a website you designed, a social media account you manage, or your GitHub profile.
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
If you are unsure how to structure your outreach emails to potential internship providers, here are some basic templates you can customize to your needs.
Template for Finding an Internship
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Mr./Ms.____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I read about your company on LinkedIn and found the concept quite interesting. For context, [briefly state how the company relates to your interests or experience].
I was wondering if you might be looking for interns. I know I would have a great deal to learn from working with you, and I would love to contribute in any way I can. I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Template for Finding a Research Position
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Professor/Dr. ____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I recently read your paper on [restate the abstract] in [name of publication] and was quite intrigued by [part you found interesting]. I was wondering if I might be able to intern for you over this summer. [Elaborate on your relevant skills and experience and why you are passionate about the field].
I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
Whether you are applying to established programs or launching a cold outreach strategy, the name of the game when looking for medical internships for high school students in Boston is perseverance. These opportunities can be extremely difficult to secure, but most high school students find it worth it in the end to get a head start on building their careers. If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to save it for later or share it with a friend. Good luck on your internship search journey!