UC Irvine School of Medicine MedAcademy Summer Healthcare Experience

You learn from physicians, nurses, administrators, research scientists and allied health professionals at UC Irvine School of Medicine, and you network with medical students as well. The program was founded in 2014 by Dr. Nimisha Parekh, a UCI Health gastroenterologist and professor at the School of Medicine. In 2024, that year's group of 35 shadowed physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and researchers at UCI Medical Center in Orange, although UC Irvine hasn't published a daily timetable or a venue for 2027.

• Surgery simulation lab

  You practice suturing techniques in a hands-on session.

• Group project

  You work with other participants on a health awareness project.

• Mentors and peers

  You meet mentors and other local students who are aiming for healthcare careers.

You need to be a high school student aged 16 to 18 who'll be a rising junior or senior, and you must have turned 16 by the day the program starts, so a younger rising junior should check their birthday against the dates once they're posted. UC Irvine reviews only fully completed applications with every required material, and the application includes essays. Its own advice is to proofread them and make sure your answers show who you are and what you care about, and it suggests parents ask to read the essay and point out where more detail would help.

Groups are small, with 35 students in 2024 and more than 330 participants since 2014, but UC Irvine publishes no acceptance rate. Past participants can reapply, although preference goes to students who'll get the most from the program, so a returning applicant should explain clearly in the essays what they hope to gain from a second week.

Tuition is $1,550 for the week, and participants receive a program T-shirt and matching scrubs. There's no overnight stay, so getting to and from the program each day is up to your family. Family members of UC Irvine staff and faculty get 10% off, which brings tuition to $1,395.

UC Irvine also offers 10 full scholarships based on financial need and merit. To be considered, you tick the scholarship box on the application, send transcripts showing your grades from 9th grade (unofficial copies are fine) and answer the scholarship question. Leave out any one of the three and you won't be considered.

If you need to cancel, you email the program coordinator, and you get a full refund up to a cutoff date that UC Irvine will set for the 2027 session.

The certificate of completion shows you took part, but it isn't academic credit, so the more useful thing to leave with is the letter of reference, along with the interview coaching and essay preparation you get during the week. UC Irvine reports that 90% of the alumni it has contacted are pursuing a healthcare career, which counts only the alumni it reached and doesn't show what the program itself changed for them.