Exploring the breadth of medicine: 8-year outcomes of a brief clinical summer immersion for premedical students
Open accessAbstract
Background: Exposure to the breadth of healthcare opportunities is crucial to high-school and college students considering a career in medicine. Most programs revolve around research or subspecialties, limiting exposure to the richness within medicine. Objective: We conducted a program evaluation of the Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) 2-week program, to understand learner viewpoints around CSI program utility, and to assess long term impact. We assess viewpoints by learner level (high school versus college) and participation mode (in-person versus virtual). Methods: In 2016 we launched a two-week premedical internship, incorporating AAMC core competencies. In 2022 and 2023, we surveyed past participants, collecting demographic data and evaluating/comparing CSI’s impact on educational and career paths, future preferences in healthcare careers, and influential factors of matriculation for high-school and college participants. Results: Of 411 past participants, 42% responded ( n = 173). We found minimal significant differences between high school and college students. The primary reason for joining was exploring a career in health professions. Notably, 82% acknowledged Stanford-CSI broadened their medical perspectives, 79% gained clarity on healthcare professionals' daily life, 79% heightened their interest in healthcare careers, 71% enhanced their resumes, and 72% learned valuable clinical skills. In-person participants reported developing more friendships (agree/strongly agree: 60% vs 35%, unpaired t-test: p = 0.01), while virtual participants reported having more interest in research careers (40% vs 68%, p = 0.01). Amongst high school matriculants ( n = 133), 46% are now in college and 4% in medical or nursing school. Amongst collegiate matriculants ( n = 40), 89% have graduated and 11% are now in graduate or medical school. All respondents believed Stanford-CSI was a worthwhile investment of time and resources, with nearly all reporting subsequent increased interest in medicine. Conclusions: Stanford-CSI's summer internship gives premedical students real-world medical profession exposure and fosters meaningful connections. Our findings and teaching framework can guide similar program developments, supporting future medical education initiatives.
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Prior work has shown that even short-term clinical immersion programs can broaden students' perspectives on healthcare and strengthen confidence in their career aspirations.
“Prior work has shown that even short-term clinical immersion programs can broaden students’ perspectives on healthcare and strengthen confidence in their career aspirations [12]”
From The Clinical Mentorship Program: a mixed-methods evaluation of a community-based medical education pathway program for high school students (2026) · cites this paper as [12]
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Hunt, V. M., Cheng, J., de Lomba, W. C., & Warrier, S. (2026) · BMC Medical Education · doi:10.1186/s12909-026-09852-x
- Authors
- Weinlander, E., Sams, E., Khemani, S., Jamal, A., & Srinivasan, M.
- Affiliations
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sams, Elizabeth
- Venue
- BMC Medical Education
- Published
- 2024-11-28
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1387-1387
- ISSN
- 1472-6920 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11606093
- OpenAlex
- W4404817889
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 1.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medical Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Keywords
- premedical students, program evaluation, high school students, university students, virtual participation, medical school matriculation, career choice, clinical skills
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Career Choice, Curriculum, Education, Premedical, Female, Humans, Internship and Residency, Male, Students, Premedical, Program Evaluation, Young Adult
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