Research opportunities have been an essential component in getting into good medical schools. If you are interested in specializing in medicine or obtaining an M.D./Ph.D., it helps to have research experience on your resume.

If you want to spend the summer in another state or obtain a recommendation at an "away" location for a potential medical school admissions to that school, summer internships can provide a strong opportunity. On the flip side, if you do a research opportunity which is within distance from your undergraduate school, you may be able to continue your research work through the year. If you are interested in publishing a paper, this type of scenario would be more suitable to you.

Many of the programs will require a cover letter, resume, transcript and recommendations.

Questions to Consider for Summer Research Programs:

1) Can I continue the research into the year after the summer is over?
2) Is there a stipend, and would that continue after the summer?
3) Are you interested in publishing your findings? Would I be able to be a contributor if I commit to this project?
4) What would be my exact duties? (If your responsibility is to clean petri dishes, the experience will not help you much)
5) Is there a poster exhibit at the end in which I can discuss my findings?
6) Who would be my direct supervisor?
7) Are other students going to be doing research in the program?
8) Do I have any vacation/sick days?
9) Is housing available close to the site or will I need to bring a car?

In addition to these opportunities, it helps to contact your pre-med advisor and older students at your school about available research opportunities. Some of the school related programs can be very competitive and have specific course requirements to be eligible.  The summer can be as important as the school year in predicting your success in getting into medical school so plan ahead.

Some research opportunities that are paid do not offer valuable research experience. Other employment may be willing to provide you with challenging experiences but do not offer any financial compensation. To help you, the following is a categorized list by state of reputable science research opportunities:

Howard Hughes Program (HHP)

Alabama
University of South Alabama- Research Experience for Undergraduates (USA)
University of South Alabama- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (USA)
University of South Alabama- (SURF) Department of Physiology (USA)

California
Stanford Summer Research Program in Biomedical Sciences (SSRP)
University of California, Santa Cruz- Research Fellowship (UC)

Indiana
Herman B. Wells Center for Pediatric Research (HBW)
Indiana University Cancer Center (CC)
Undergraduate Summer Biomedical Research Program (USBRP)
University of Indiana- Vertebrate Physiology (UIVP)

Louisiana
Tulane University School of Medicine- Minority Mentoring Program in Science (TU)

Maine
The Jackson Laboratory- Summer Student Program (JLSSP)

Maryland
American Physiological Society Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship (APS)
Endocrine Society Summer Research Fellowships (ESSRP)
Institute for Genomic Research- Summer Fellowship (IGR)
National Cancer Institute- Cancer Research Training Award (NCI)
National Institutes of Health- Research and Training Opportunities (NIH)

Massachusetts
Directions Summer Research Program for Native Americans-Harvard University (DSRP)
Massachusetts General Hospital- Summer Research Trainee Program (MGH)
Massachusetts- Biomedical Optics Summer Institute (BOSI)

Michigan
Wayne State Summer Undergraduate Research Program (WSSU)
Wayne State Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Biomedical Sciences for Minority Students (WSSU)

Minnesota
Mayo Clinic- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MC)
Undergraduate Research Program in Life Sciences, University of Minnesota (URP)

Missouri
Washington University-The Siteman Cancer Center (WU)
Washington University- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (WU)

Montana
University of Montana- Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Summer Research (USRP)

Nebraska
Creighton University-Summer Research Training Program (CU)
University of Nebraska- Undergraduate Research Program (UN)

New Jersey
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Summer Research (AEC)
Rutgers-Minority Graduate Preparation Program (Rutgers)
UMDNJ- Summer Program (UMDNJ)

New York
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
Cornell University-Weill Graduate School Summer Research Program (CU)
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center- Summer Research Internship (MSK)
New York University School of Medicine (SURP) (NYU)
New York University Neural Science Research (NYUNSRP)
Roswell Park Cancer Institute- Summer Oncology Research Program (RPCI)
State University of New York-(SURF) (SUSURF)
The Rockefeller University- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (RU)
Tri-Institutional MD-Ph.D Program (TI)
University of Rochester Medical Center- Strong's Children Research Center (UR)
Wadsworth Center-NYS Department of Health (WC)

North Carolina
North Carolina State University- Research Experience for Undergraduates (NCSU)
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (UNC)
Wake Forest University- Cardiovascular Sciences Summer Research Program for Minority Students (WFU)

Ohio
Chester Summers Scholars Program (CSSP)
Medical College of Ohio- (SURP) (MC)
Undergraduate Student Summer Program in Developmental Biology- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CHMC)

Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (UO)

Oregon
University of Oregon-Life Sciences (SPUR)

Pennsylvania
Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh (CNUP)
Jefferson Center for Biomedical Research (JCBR)
Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative- Summer Internship Program (PTEI)
Slice of Science (PSU)- 2004 Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Life Sciences (PSU)
The Wistar Institute- Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (WI)
Tufts University Summer Research Program (TUSRP)
University of Pennsylvania- Pre-med Enrichment Program (UPPEP)
University of Pittsburgh- Musculoskeletal Research Center Summer Program (UPMR)
University of Pittsburgh- Summer Premedical Academic Enrichment Program (UP)

South Carolina
Summer Research Institute in Experimental Psychology (SRIE)

Tennessee
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital-Pediatric Oncology Program (SJCR)
University of Tennessee Health Science Center Summer Program (UTHS)
Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (VSS)

Texas
Baylor College of Medicine-  Summer Medical and Research Training Program (BCM)
Rice University- Undergraduate Internship (RU)
Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences- SURF Program (SGS)
Texas A & M University Health Science Center Summer Program (TAM)
Texas Tech University - Summer Accelerated Biomedical Internships (TTU)
University of North Texas Health Science Center- Summer Advanced Research (UTNTH)
University of Texas- MD Anderson Cancer Center- Summer Research Program (UTA)
University of Texas Southwestern Undergraduate Medical Research Fellows Program (UTSU)
University of Texas- Summer Research Program (UTSRP)
University of Texas Medical- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (UT)
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Hispanic Center of Excellence)- Summer Research Program (UTSRP)
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio- SURF- Molecular Medicine (UTSURF)
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio- Pharmacology (UTP)
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio- Department of Physiology (UTP)

Virginia
University of Virginia- Summer Research Internship Program (UV)

Washington
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center-Undergraduate Research Opportunities (FH)
Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT)
University of Washington- Biomedical and Health Informatics Summer Research Program (UW)

Washington D.C.
ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship (ASM)

Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-SRP Program for Minorities (UWSRP)
University of Wisconsin- Summer Research Program in Bioinformatics (UW)

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