Harvard Medical School MEDscience is a one-week summer day program at Harvard Medical School in Boston where students in grades 9 to 12 treat simulated medical emergencies on a lifelike patient simulator and practice skills such as vital signs, suturing and IV insertion. It is not residential and not for credit, admission is described as competitive, and the 2027 application runs from January 1 to March 10, 2027. It is separate from the Harvard Pre-College Program, which is a two-week residential program run by Harvard Summer School.
Students searching for a “Harvard pre-med program” in high school usually mean one of these two. Here is what MEDscience is, who can apply, what a week looks like, how to apply, how it differs from Harvard Summer School and how it compares with other medical summer programs for high schoolers.
What Is Harvard Medical School MEDscience?
MEDscience is a biology program for high school students built around simulated medical emergencies. Its official site describes semester programs with partner schools, week-long summer programs and school-break modules. Students learn from Harvard Medical School staff and other healthcare professionals in the program’s own simulation laboratory at Harvard Medical School, on Longwood Avenue in Boston.
The program’s history page says it was founded by Nancy Oriol, MD, and James Gordon, MD, MPA, as the Harvard Summer PreMedical Institute, with its first summer program in 2005. Today it reaches up to 3,000 students a year across all its formats.
Which MEDscience Summer Programs Are Offered?
The summer program overview lists several one-week options:
- MEDscienceClinical: a simulated emergency department where small teams diagnose and treat a patient simulator.
- MEDscienceLAB: starts with a simulated patient case, then moves into work in a Harvard Medical School research lab.
- MEDscienceLAB Forensics: lab science applied to forensic cases.
- MEDscienceTECH: design thinking, artificial intelligence and surgical robotics.
The program notes that MEDscienceDental is not currently offered.
Who Can Apply to MEDscience?
Students in grades 9 through 12 at the time of application can apply; current 8th graders are not eligible. According to the summer FAQ, there is no GPA requirement and no transcript is required, and international students are welcome. Some programs add their own age or eligibility rules, and alumni may apply only to programs they have not already completed.
When Is MEDscience and What Is the Format?
MEDscienceClinical runs eleven sessions in summer 2027, from June 7 to 11 through August 16 to 20. Most sessions are five days and two are four days. Each day runs roughly 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM Eastern time.
MEDscience is a day program, not residential. Families arrange their own travel and lodging, and a student who is not local must stay with a parent, guardian or responsible adult for the whole program. There is no online version of the summer program.
What Do Students Do in MEDscienceClinical?
Students work in small groups through a series of simulated emergencies, treating a lifelike simulator patient called “STAN” with guidance from physicians, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists and medical students. According to the MEDscienceClinical page, the week includes:
- Taking vital signs and working through a patient’s history and symptoms as a team
- Suturing, IV insertion, intubation practice and a birthing simulation
- “MEDchats,” informal career conversations with healthcare professionals
- Stop the Bleed training and American Red Cross CPR/AED certification (not included in the four-day sessions)
The program advertises “no textbooks, no homework.” The focus is on thinking through cases under pressure, the way a clinical team does.
Is MEDscience Clinical Experience?
MEDscience is simulation-based, so students work with a simulator rather than real patients. That makes it pre-clinical preparation: excellent for learning how emergency teams reason and communicate, and a natural first step before a hospital-based program. Our explainer on pre-clinical vs. clinical programs explains how admissions readers tend to view each.
How Do You Apply to MEDscience?
The application has two parts: a student application with essays, submitted online, and a Teacher Assessment, which can come from a teacher, guidance counselor, school official, coach or mentor. For summer 2027, the FAQ lists this timeline:
| Step | Date |
|---|---|
| Applications open | January 1, 2027 |
| Application deadline | March 10, 2027 |
| Decisions emailed | April 5, 2027 |
| Enrollment due | April 19, 2027 |
How Selective Is MEDscience?
The FAQ states that acceptance to MEDscience summer programs is competitive and is based on the essays and the Teacher Assessment. MEDscience does not publish an acceptance rate or class size, so treat percentages on other websites with caution. Because there is no GPA requirement, the essays carry real weight: explain what draws you to medicine and what you want to learn from the simulations.
MEDscience vs. the Harvard Pre-College Program: What Is the Difference?
They are different programs run by different parts of Harvard. MEDscience is a Harvard Medical School day program in Boston focused on medical simulation. The Harvard Pre-College Program is run by Harvard Summer School, part of the Division of Continuing Education: a two-week residential program in Cambridge where students take one noncredit college-level course, including options in a psychology, medicine and public health course group.
| HMS MEDscience | Harvard Pre-College Program | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | Harvard Medical School | Harvard Summer School |
| Location | Longwood Medical Area, Boston | Harvard campus, Cambridge |
| Length | 1 week, day program | 2 weeks, residential |
| Who can apply | Grades 9 to 12 | Rising juniors and seniors, age 16+ |
| What you do | Simulated emergencies and clinical skills | One college-level course |
| Credit | Not for credit; certificate with full attendance | Noncredit, with no grades |
| Admissions | Described as competitive | Described as selective |
If you want classroom depth, the Pre-College Program fits; if you want hands-on clinical simulation, MEDscience fits. Some students do one of each in different summers.
How Should You Prepare for MEDscience?
Preparation starts with the application. For the essays, pick one specific reason you are drawn to medicine and say what you want to learn from working through emergencies as a team. Ask the adult writing your Teacher Assessment at least three weeks before the March 10 deadline, and give them a short summary of your science classes and activities.
Before the week itself, review basic anatomy, normal vital sign ranges and common medical abbreviations, so you can follow the team’s reasoning from the first case. Practice speaking up: simulated emergencies reward students who share observations clearly and listen to teammates. If you are traveling to Boston, confirm lodging with your accompanying adult early, since summer sessions coincide with a busy season in the city. Our guide on how to get into a competitive summer medical program covers essays and recommendations in more detail.
Is MEDscience Worth It?
It is worth it if you want an intense, hands-on introduction to how medical teams think, and you can be in Boston for a week. Running simulated emergencies with physicians and nurses gives younger students a vivid sense of clinical work and specific stories for later essays. As with any one-week program, its value grows when you build on it.
After the week, add steady school-year experience, such as hospital volunteering or HOSA, and consider a longer program that puts you around real patients. Our guides to pre-med programs during the school year and what to do after a pre-med program cover the next steps.
An Abroad Option: Our High School Internship in Kenya and Peru
For students ready to move from simulation to real hospital settings, our medical internship program for high school students places students ages 15 and older in public and private hospitals in Mombasa and Nairobi, Kenya, and Cusco, Peru, for two to twelve weeks. Under supervision and within their training level, interns rotate through general medicine, pediatrics, emergency care, surgery and women’s health, assist with noninvasive tasks and join community health outreach; they do not diagnose, prescribe or perform invasive procedures.
Programs include daily medical language lessons, a global health seminar series, a mentor, gated housing with 24/7 staff, a certificate of completion and a physician-authored recommendation letter. Sessions run in summer and winter; see the program dates. Our guide to what to expect from a summer medical internship shows a typical day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MEDscience part of Harvard Summer School?
No. MEDscience is a Harvard Medical School program in Boston. Harvard Summer School, which runs the Harvard Pre-College Program, is part of Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education.
What is the Harvard MEDscience acceptance rate?
MEDscience does not publish one. Its FAQ says acceptance is competitive and based on the student’s essays and a Teacher Assessment.
Does MEDscience provide housing?
No. It is a day program. Families arrange lodging, and students who are not local must stay with a parent, guardian or responsible adult during the program.
Do you get college credit for MEDscience?
No. MEDscience summer programs are not for credit and do not provide transcripts. Students who attend every day receive a certificate of completion.
Can 9th graders apply to MEDscience?
Yes. Students in grades 9 through 12 at the time of application can apply. Current 8th graders are not eligible.
Which MEDscience program should I choose?
Choose MEDscienceClinical if you want to experience emergency medicine and clinical teamwork, MEDscienceLAB if you are curious about research, and MEDscienceTECH if you are interested in engineering, artificial intelligence or surgical robotics. Check each program’s page for its own eligibility rules and session dates.
