High School Program Overview

University Medical Summer are geared towards high schoolers interested in pursuing medicine. What sets us apart is that students get tangible things they can list on their resume such as AHA, ASA and ACS certifications, and a first-hand immersion experience of what medicine is like. This is important because BSMD programs want to know why one wants to go into medicine, and what type of knowledge/experiences have they had to be able to make that decision while still a teenager. Unlike other programs, UMS programs are taught by board-certified practicing physicians who are also medical school faculty and bring over 45 years of collective teaching experience. We are also independent (not owned by venture capitalists or private equity like many other pre-med summer camps) and thus can afford to be selective. 

Our high school students publish their work as the first author in PubMed indexed peer-reviewed journals and present their clinical research at national medical meetings. Students who take the clinical research course have presented their work at the American Academy of Neurology, Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, American Society of Plastic Surgery, American Academy of Dermatology, and the American Medical Association. 

Our students have published their work in: Archives of Dermatologic Research, Orthopedic Reviews, Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, JACEP Open, Health Psychology Research, International Journal of Emergency Medicine, Case reports in Neurology, Radiology Case Reports, BMC Psychology, Journal of the National Medical Association, and the New England Journal of Medicine, to name a few.

Our program alumni have gone to places such as the Brown PLME (every year), UCF Burnett Medical Scholars program, Virginia Commonwealth University Guaranteed Admission Program, University of Pittsburgh BS MD Guaranteed Admissions Program, Drexel BA/BS+MD Early Assurance program, Albany Medical College/Union College Leadership in Medicine Program, Boston University 7-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program, Augusta University/Medical College of Georgia 3/4 BS-MD Program, The University of Rochester REMS program, and others.

University Medical Summer camps are held on the University of Central Florida campus, located at 4000 Central Florida Blvd. Orlando, Florida. UCF’s 1,415-acre main campus in east Orlando is impressive in size and even bigger in potential. Modern facilities and state-of-the-art technology keep you connected to classwork and social communities, while 800 acres of woodlands, lakes, and an arboretum help you reconnect with nature. Whether you’re inside a classroom or outside exploring, our campus is an exciting place to learn — and an easy place to love.

Programs

HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM (For students entering grades 9-12)

We offer six weeks of summer programming. The Trauma & Surgical Skills, Cardiology & Resuscitation, Neurology, Dermatology & Plastic surgery courses can each be taken as stand-alone courses. In order to take the Medical Writing & Publishing course, students must take 3 out of 4 clinical courses (Trauma & Surgical Skills, Cardiology & Resuscitation, Neurology, or Dermatology & Plastic surgery). In order to participate in the Clinical Research Program, students must take all four of the clinical courses.

1) The Cardiology and Resuscitation course (June 2-6, 2025) is an intensive one-week camp covering courses designed by the American Heart Association and American Red Cross, and obtain official course certifications. Topics covered include resuscitation, anaphylaxis, opiate overdose, cardiopharmacology, and more. During this week we do hands-on medical simulation, a heart dissection, and delve into acute care resuscitation topics. We will also complete a course on EKG interpretation, and learn how to read a chest x-ray.

2) The Trauma and Surgical Skills program (Session I: June 9-13, 2025; Session II: July 14-18, 2025) teaches hands-on skills such as suturing, splinting, basic point of care ultrasonography, airway management, epistaxis control, abscess incision and drainage, history and physical examination skills. We also have formal didactics on special topics in medicine, including a certification from the American College of Surgeons. We will solve various clinical cases using problem-solving skills, including laboratory and imaging interpretation.

3) The Medical writing & publishing course (June 16-20, 2025) introduces students to medical writing, study design, and how to search the medical literature and report results to support their work. We will also learn how to critically appraise published works. Students work on an individual project that will be published in a Pubmed indexed peer-reviewed medical journal. All students are first authors on their paper.

4) The Neurology course (June 23-27, 2025) covers stroke, epilepsy, brain injury, headache, CNS infections and more. We learn how to use a reflex hammer, perform a lumbar puncture, use a peripheral nerve stimulator, perform cerebrospinal fluid analysis, obtain certifications from the American Stroke Association, and learn how to read a brain computed tomography (CT) scan. We keep it intriguing, and even solve a neurologic emergency in an escape room setting. We partner with the American Academy of Neurology for this course.

5) The Dermatology & Plastic Surgery course (June 30-July 3, 2025) covers skills such as punch biopsies, KOH prep, melanoma recognition, and how to do a skin exam. Students will learn advanced suturing techniques using their own simulated facial laceration trainers, including the ear, lip and nose. We also learn surgical knot tying, techniques to minimize scarring, the science behind skin grafts, and more. Our guest faculty includes a practicing oculoplastics surgeon.

6) The Clinical Research program (July 7-11, 2025). Students are introduced to research methodology and biostatistics in medicine, and work on their own individual dataset. They will learn how to code variables, and how to write questions to get the information they need. Once data collection is complete, students will learn how to analyze these results and write them up for publication. All students are first authors on their research paper, which will be published in a Pubmed indexed peer-reviewed medical journal. Students will also learn how to write a research abstract and present their work at the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine meeting on July 12th, 2025. Acceptance into the clinical research program is very competitive and class size is capped at 35.

VIRTUAL OPTIONS

For students who are unable to join us in person, we offer the Cardiology and Resuscitation course virtually from July 14-18, 2025. This course has more of an independent study component, where students receive the course material after registration. Class time is used for exam review.

PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 4-8

MINI-MEDICAL SCHOOL (May 27- 30, 2025) introduces students in grades 4-8 to the wonders of medicine through hands-on exploration and lectures. Activities include how to take a  patient history and obtain a review of systems. We will learn to use the Physician's tools- such as the stethoscope, otoscope, sphygmomanometer & more. Students will also get their own suturing kit and learn how to splint broken bones and control life-threatening bleeding. Students become certified by the American Red Cross in First Aid. Students also get to test their knowledge in mini-competitions with prizes.  Tuition is $1000.  

FORENSICS & GENETICS (June 2-6, 2025) is a hands-on laboratory medicine program where we learn about select diseases and pair them with relevant lab testing.  We will create DNA models, and manually make the sequences that result in diseases such as sickle cell anemia.  We will solve a murder mystery using forensic skills that depend on laboratory techniques such as ABO blood typing, polymerase chain reaction , gel eletrophresis, hair analysis and DNA fingerprinting.  Tuition is $1000