<p>Right now I am a rising senior interested in interning under physicians at Mt. Sinai hospital. I have some questions that maybe people could answer.</p>
<p>How should I ask about wanting to help them in their research? I was thinking about emailing them directly along with a resume and why I am interested in his/her research. Is this a good way or should I contact the department first? </p>
<p>Am I just way out of my league and there is no way that these physicians would be willing to accept a measly high schooler helping them with their precious research?</p>
<p>Yes, my school does have a program that is the liason between the student and the physician, and it lets you work for five hours a week in that internship. I intend to use this program but since school doesn’t start until September I was hoping I would be able to contact this physician directly about their research first.</p>
<p>I’m actually currently a high school research intern at Mt. Sinai Med Ctr in NYC. Most researchers view high school students as burdens. We high schoolers need to show that we are useful to them (just as good if not better than college students and grad school students trying to get the same positions). There are three things in particular that help.1) Have / use your connections, 2) Have prior research experience. (I’ve been doing research for several years now in high school. Once you have research awards from competitions like ISEF, JSHS and YES, it really helps). If you’ve done some research before, attach an abstract. A resume helps too. 3) And very important = read the researchers’ publications and recent papers via pubmed. Offer some insight/constructive feedback/opinions/ideas for further study for their projects. Show that you’re interested in what they’re doing by making it clear that you’re knowledgeable about their field. Ask to stop by their lab and visit. </p>
<p>Many labs will ignore / turn down high school students. But I’d say after emailing a dozen or two professors / researchers, you should be able to get a positive reply if you do everything “properly.”</p>