there is no university near my house but there is a medical school. It is not well known but decent medical school. DO you think they would be willing to have a high school studetn like me intern over the summer?
and how do i approaching/emailing?
I’m assuming the medical school is associated with the hospital. If it is go to the hospital, to the information desk, let them know that you are high school student who is interested in “volunteering” and ask who you may talk to about that.
Internships are usually for people who have prior experience .
@harvard2023 Look at the med school website for information on the research interests of the professors. Read up on the research, particularly the professor’s publications. Once you find an area of research of interest to you, do further reading on the topic. Then email the professor, explain in detail why you find their research to be of interest. Detail your experience and qualifications. Request the opportunity to meet or speak to the professor to discuss the possibility of your interning in his lab. Do not under any circumstances state, suggest or imply that your interest is even remotely related to padding your application for Harvard.
Thank you so much… the med school is not related to a hospital. What can I write about in the email if I don’t have any prior experience?
@harvard2023 A little background on research labs: Top dog is the PI aka Primary Investigator, the lab is usually referred to by their name (e.g. Dr. Smith’s Lab) and they determine what specific fields of study the lab is researching. The PI does very little, if any, hands on lab work. Their role is primarily administrative and financial, much of their time is spent applying for grants, providing overall direction for the lab and insuring that the labs product (research papers) makes it into pre. Next down the lab totem pole are the post docs. They do a significant part of the actual lab work, supervise actual experiments, and are very focused on producing publications so that they can develop a strong enough reputation to earn their own PI appointment. Next comes the PhD students who do most of the work in the lab on the PI’s and Post Docs’s projects while also working on their own research for their thesis. Then, you have undergrads, who are, doing largely repetitive work, and hoping to be added as junior authors to the more senior lab members papers. Finally, there is the occasional high school student. Everyone else in the lab is afraid that the unqualified HS student is going to make mistakes and screw up their research, wrecking their chances at grad school, completing their thesis, becoming a PI, getting grants, etc. That fear is understandable. As a result, the labs that do occasionally accept HS students almost always restrict them to “dry” work (e.g tabulating data) as opposed to “wet” work (e.g. actually doing experiments).
To overcome the fear, you have to demonstrate a deep desire to learn about the work of the lab, and show that you have already read up on the labs work enough to discuss it intelligently and have well thought out ideas and questions relating to the work. You also need to demonstrate some basic skills and/or abilities that would make you of some use like computer programing, math, bio lab skills from your APBio course, very high scores on science, math or stat SAT II and/or AP tests.
Or,
Hit up your parent’s friends and relatives and try to network for a lab connection.
would you recommend emailing several profesors at the one school the same email with different details
@harvard2023 - are you looking for summer research opps? If yes, are you looking for this year? Or, are you looking for year-round research?
Yes, I was looking for research opportunities for this summer. However, I would love if it was developed into something I could do the whole year!
So you guys don’t think asking a medical school would be too awkward