How to Get a Medical Research Internship?

I want to go into medical research a career, and I would really like to get an internship at a lab. I’m currently a sophomore in high school and would like to find one as soon as I can. Do you have any advice on how I can find/get one? I’m having trouble finding opportunities near me or how to look up research projects.

Just start cold calling all the labs in your vicinity pertaining to your relevant subject areas. Make your own opportunities, especially now with all the insane crap going on. Even if you were to apply to an established internship, it might get cancelled. This way, you can just start at any point, and at least you know you have it.

This is difficult. The frank answer is that as a high school student, your usefulness in a research lab is minimal at best, a hindrance at worst. University professors and PIs usually have an obligation to employ post-docs first and foremost, followed by graduate students, and then undergraduate students at their affiliated university. Private labs are profit driven and consider every employee as an investment that will net monetary return.

You are a high school student, likely without formal training or a degree in a field highly gated by academic credentials. For you to gain a research internship is nothing short of a miracle. Your best bet, if you’d like lab experience is applying for high school outreach programs the multiple medical companies host for awareness purposes, albeit you will not be doing actual research, your involvement will still show a high amount of drive and passion. Pick your favorite medical companies and search their webpage for outreach/ high school “internship” programs. Don’t worry too much about getting a publication or actively participating in a doctorate level laboratory

It will likely be difficult, but not impossible. Note that any internship will likely be unpaid. Also if you won’t be 16 by the summer, that will be an issue. Here are some ideas:

-Does your HS have a job/career center? If so, ask if they have any connections to research opportunities
-Network within your family/friends/community. Do you (or anyone in your extended network) know someone who works in a lab or in a corporate research environment?
-Do you live near a university with research options? If so, look at professors’ websites to see if they are doing something interesting, read about their research and then contact them via email.
-Do you live near a company that has in-house research? If so, do the same things as above.
-Don’t overlook hospitals/large physician groups. They may also have ongoing research where you might be able to help, even if it might be checking patients in.

Good luck.

Not all research involves a lab or patient contact.

You could volunteer at a local hospital to do data analysis (assuming you have the skills) on patient outcomes. You could volunteer at a local homeless shelter to research how many of their residents also suffer from specific diseases- both chronic and infectious. You could volunteer at a nursing home to identify long range trends in PT or OT usage and hospitalization rates. Etc.

If you have strong math, CS and statistics skills, there are some wonderful ways you can do “medical research” even if you aren’t old enough or qualified to work in a lab. There have been some incredible articles lately (for example) on how cancer won’t get “cured” with test tubes and blood samples-- but with Big Data and more sophisticated algorithms on genetics.