Four Steps to Summer Planning
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- What do you hope to learn about this summer?
- What interests do you want to explore?
- What skills or competencies do you want to develop?
- Where do you want to be?
- How much time do you have and when?
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- Create a spreadsheet to keep track of deadlines and other information
- Create a folder in your browser to bookmark sites that you can return to in future years
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- Prepare a general resume and adapt it to specific opportunities if needed – Career Development provides tips and samples.
- Need letters of recommendation? Ask at least 3-4 weeks in advance; provide letter writers with your resume, application essays, information about where to send their letters, and deadlines.
- Need people to serve as references? Ask in advance (but there’s less time pressure since they don’t need to write anything on your behalf).
- Work ahead of deadlines, especially for programs with rolling admissions.
- Volunteering at a hospital often includes a lengthy application and orientation process. Begin researching this possibility early for your home hospitals.
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- Determine your eligibility – if you aren’t sure whether you’re eligible, consult with HPA or with the program staff directly
- Make sure the timing works with the Princeton academic calendar
- Apply broadly, especially as a first-year or sophomore
What do prehealth students do?
There are more available hours than during the semester. Use your time productively, but be sure to allow some time to rest and recharge for the coming school year!
Main activities
- Often full-time (about 40 hours per week) for 8-10 weeks
- Employment vs. internship vs. volunteer – the experience is more important than the title!
- The most common activities are internships with a service or healthcare focus, research, employment, and classes
Secondary Activities
- Often a few hours per week every week and/or a week or two outside of the primary activity.
- Most common activities are shadowing, MCAT study, short-term volunteering or returning to a previous volunteer opportunity at home, and traveling.
Where to look for summer opportunities?
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- Search for volunteer opportunities on hospital websites or with free/community clinics.
- Check local college pre-health advising websites: they might focus on the local area
- Ask high school friends at schools close to home to check their college's Handshake or other job/internship listings.
- Search websites of local health professions schools for undergraduate summer opportunities.
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- Who to ask?
- Family connections – personal physicians, family friends and relatives, high school mentors
- Alumni through Tigernet or LinkedIn, activities, sports…
- Faculty researchers at local colleges, universities and medical schools
- How to ask
- Shadowing can be the easiest opportunity to find in this way. Be specific when you reach out to health professionals about your interest, how much time you’d like to spend, and your availability.
This search can take a lot of time and attention to detail! Don’t be frustrated if things don’t work out as planned this year – use it as a learning experience moving forward
- Who to ask?
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The medical profession recognizes the value of diversifying the physician workforce and many programs support broadening access to health careers for students who are from historically underrepresented/disadvantaged groups (e.g., FLi students, those with disabilities, who are LGBTQ+, and/or who are from racial/ethnic backgrounds that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population).
Medical and other health professions schools often have an office dedicated to working with students from underrepresented backgrounds, and many schools have opportunities for prehealth students that help them connect with the school. Start by seeking out this office via the school’s website. Writing a detailed, professional email introducing yourself and your interests to the office and inquiring about opportunities can also be appropriate. HPA is happy to help you with this process.
Sample programs:
Other considerations
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- If you’re interested in more than one career path, don’t feel that you must do a medical internship. Many students explore multiple career options during summers. But, do some short-term shadowing or gain a bit of exposure to health care alongside an internship in another area if you can!
- Anything that you do, activities-wise, can help you build the kinds of skills you’ll need as a health professional and demonstrate the competencies that schools seek in their students.
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- Pros: allows flexibility in Princeton schedule, opportunity to focus on one subject, often smaller classes may allow more personal attention
- Cons: expensive, fast-paced, less academic support/resources, may raise red flags to admissions committees, give up time that you could spend on other aspects of candidacy
If you do take a summer class: consult with HPA, choose a four-year school, get pre-approval to transfer credits back, do well, take additional courses to support your performance in the sciences at Princeton
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- Often 10-20 hours per week in addition to the main activity, increasing time in the weeks before the exam
- Most commonly taken in the summer between junior and senior year
- See Standardized Tests section of website for more.
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- Don’t be afraid to talk with program staff who work with summer opportunities (especially at Princeton!) – sometimes you can learn more in a quick in-person meeting or info session than you can from websites.
- Keep a journal over the summer and reflect on what you’re learning as you go.
Princeton Internships
Clearinghouse of links via Career Development
Summer Clinical Opportunities
Programs and opportunities past Princeton students have recommended.
Summer Research Databases
Databases to search for research opportunities.