Stanford Medicine Clinical Summer Internship: A Comprehensive Guide

The Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) offers high school and college students invaluable exposure to the multifaceted world of healthcare. This article will explore the program's requirements, structure, impact, and key takeaways, drawing heavily on an evaluation of the program and participant feedback.

Introduction

For high school and college students contemplating a future in medicine, understanding the breadth of healthcare opportunities is crucial. The Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) is a premedical program designed to provide early learners with a broad exposure to career possibilities within healthcare. It includes clinical skills training, direct observation and shadowing opportunities within several clinical specialties, hands on procedures and broad perspective workshops led by faculty in both clinical and non-clinical disciplines. Many premedical students encounter only a limited range of exposure to clinical practice during their early years, which may make it difficult for them to make an informed decision about pursuing medicine as a career. Consequently, many premeds miss the opportunity to broaden their view on potential medical careers and to seek early experiences that hone their curiosity and skills for their future careers.

Program Overview

The Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) is designed for rising high school juniors (age 16 or older), seniors, and undergraduate pre-med students. The program aims to empower and energize diverse learners as they delve into the art, science, and joy of practicing medicine. Participants gain clinical skills and knowledge across a wide variety of specialties as well as insights to help plan for a career in medicine. The richly diverse and unique curriculum includes skills sessions, interactive lectures and hands-on activities in a variety of specialties.

Program Goals

The main goal of the Stanford-CSI program is to ignite passion in young premedical students by offering them a wide-ranging look into the art, science, and joy of a medical career. The program seeks to broaden perspectives, clarify career paths, and foster meaningful connections within the medical field.

Program Structure

The Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) curricular map and schedule is based on American Academy Medical Colleges clinical competencies. The program integrates core themes into all seminars, simulations, hands-on and skills-building workshops. Clinical skills workshops are modeled after educational activities undertaken during medical school.

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In-Person Sessions

For those who thrive in a traditional classroom setting, Stanford offers a 2-week, on campus session. Stanford's state-of-the-art facilities provide a conducive environment for collaborative learning, networking, and hands-on experiences. From 2015-2018, the Stanford-CSI was conducted in-person. A single session was offered in 2015, expanding to two the following years. Class size was kept small at 30 learners, to create an intimate learner-centered environment. Responding to participant feedback, a Stanford Campus residential component was added in 2017.

Virtual Sessions

Recognizing the importance of flexibility, Stanford offers a 2-week virtual learning session, allowing students to attend classes from the comfort of their home. In 2020, as a result of the pandemic, the program pivoted to video-based Zoom format, expanding each of the two class sizes to 40, and then to 50 in 2021.

10-Week Virtual Fall Intensive

The 10-week fall intensive program is designed for individuals who need to balance their extracurricular studies with their already busy academic schedule. It consists of a 90-minute live Zoom session each week.

Curriculum

The CSI curriculum, based on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) core competency framework, emphasizes critical thinking, teamwork, cultural competency, empathy, oral communication, scientific inquiry, and skills acquisition/exposure. Participants practice hands-on activities.

Hands-on Activities and Skills

In keeping with the program's clinical focus, participants practice basic history and physical exam skills (with medical and physician assistant students, and faculty oversight). For dissections, pig hearts and kidneys, and sheep brains are provided. For suturing, pigs feet and suture kits are used. The program utilizes existing resources including injection and venipuncture models, suturing kits, glucometers, bedside ultrasounds, obstetrics and neonatology simulations, prehospital emergency care supplies, virtual colonoscopy and minimally invasive surgical techniques in the surgical simulation lab.

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Career Exploration

The program collaborates with experienced educators to showcase diverse healthcare career options and flexibility, in interactive medical lectures and “Day in the Life” seminars. It highlights a broad array of healthcare specialties, including primary care, specialty medical and surgical care, psychology, psychiatry, nurse educators, dieticians, and pharmacists. Students’ capstone projects are clinically focused.

Shadowing and Mentorship

Stanford faculty and staff available to students in-person for shadowing opportunities included: generalist & specialty physicians and primary care physician assistants and nurse practitioners. In lieu of the shadowing experiences for the virtual CSI program, Stanford faculty from multiple departments were invited to talk to the students about their professional life & experiences. The program often includes current medical and physician assistant students to allow for mentorship opportunities, role-modeling and to decrease the learner to teacher ratio.

Program Materials

Both in-person and remote students receive a Stanford-CSI backpack containing a blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, tourniquet, and Stanford-CSI ware. Remote students also receive preserved dissection specimens (animal heart, kidney, brain), suture/dissection kits, and a shopping list of optional material (ie. glucometer, oximeter).

Admission Requirements and Application Process

Stanford-CSI participants are selected from undergraduates and high-school juniors and seniors, using holistic review. Holistic review includes academic standing, standardized test scores, two essays, extracurricular activities, and a professor or guidance counselor recommendation. Standardized test scores (SAT and ACT) were excluded from consideration during the pandemic and are optional for students to submit as of 2023. Classes are composed with attention to participant diversity (i.e. gender, geographic, learner level, ethnicity). Each class enrolls around 10% international students.

Application Components

To apply for the Stanford Clinical Summer Internship, candidates must submit a completed application and resume. Cover letters and letters of recommendation are not required. As part of the application process, applicant will complete written section of the applications. Applicants will be able to indicate preference of areas the are interested in within the application.

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The following documents must also be uploaded:

A current resume
Score reports for the PSAT, SAT or ACT
A letter of recommendation from a recent STEM teacher (recommenders have 7 days after the application deadline to complete the web form).

Selection Criteria

Undergraduate intern candidates must be pursuing a bachelor's or associate's degree from an accredited institution. For general administrative experiences, a specific major or prior healthcare experience is not required. Instead, the program looks for the following skillsets:

Problem Solving: This includes the ability to adapt, seek information to understand the root cause of an issue, show attention to detail, prioritize work, and raise thoughtful questions.
Communication: This includes actively listening to others, clarifying assumptions, and adjusting communication method and style appropriately to the situation.
Self-Management: This includes clarifying how you fit into the team and your goals, demonstrating self-awareness, accepting constructive feedback, and adjusting based on what you've learned.

In the data analysis track, demonstrated statistical analysis skills, modeling, and sometimes coding language understanding are also considered.

High School intern candidates must be currently enrolled in high school or equivalent education program.

Screening and Interviews

Applicants are selected based on their resume and application. Applicants will be required to answer questions such as listed below:

What motivates you to choose Healthcare and SHC for your internship.
Share a situation when you encounter a problem and how you solve it.
Describe a time when you receive constructive criticism.

The intern program team may conduct further screenings to clarify points on your resume or prompts, confirm your availability for the summer, and answer questions from you. Preceptors or hiring leaders may conduct interviews virtually with the top candidates recommended for their position based on the application. Behavioral [short answer] interview questions are used, and these questions are graded using a rubric.

Financial Aid

Program fees vary yearly based on cost structure (virtual vs. in-person, facilities, faculty and staff time, lunches, and supplies). Need-based financial scholarships were initially awarded to 10% of non-international students, expanding to 14% in 2021 with the help of a matching division grant and donor support. By 2023, 20% of students received full program and/or residential aid. The availability and distribution of scholarships varied based on institutional and philanthropic funding. U.S. citizens and permanent residents with a household income under $80,000 annually, or who are enrolled in a program that supports low-income families, may request an application fee waiver.

Program Evaluation and Outcomes

A program evaluation of the Stanford Clinical Summer Internship (CSI) 2-week program was conducted to understand learner viewpoints around CSI program utility, and to assess long term impact. Alumni were surveyed anonymously through Qualtrics XM Survey Tool, with an 16 item survey that included multiple choice, Likert-like (five-point scale, strongly agree to strongly disagree), and open-ended questions. Students shared their reasons for program participation, program contribution to perspectives regarding career opportunities and aspirations in health care, use of their time and resources, and program impact on educational and career path insights. The ability for virtual participants to engage with program material was also assessed.

Key Findings

Broadened Perspectives: Learners reported that Stanford-CSI broadened their perspective about healthcare (82%).
Increased Interest: College students reported that the program contributed to an increased interest in healthcare (90%), while high school students reported that the experience clarified what the daily life/career in medicine entailed (77%).
Valuable Use of Time: Regardless of learner level, students reported that Stanford-CSI was a good use of their time and resources (80%).
Reinforced Career Choice: College students reported that their experience reinforced their career choice (80%), while high school students reported that the program gave them valuable clinical skills (70%).
Improved Networking: College students also indicated that their experience improved their professional network (50%) and led directly to new opportunities (50%).
Friendship Formation: In-person participants reported forming more friendships (agree/strongly agree: 60% vs 35%, unpaired t-test: p = 0.01).
Interest in Research: Virtual participants showed a higher interest in pursuing research careers (40% vs 68%, p = 0.01).
Time Savings: Students participating virtually reported that it saved them time (63%).
Meaningful Connections: Half of the virtual participants connected meaningfully with instructors or faculty (51%), and just over one-third connected meaningfully with classmates (35%).

Alumni Outcomes

Amongst collegiate matriculants (n=40), 89% have graduated and 11% are in graduate or medical school as of the time of the survey. Amongst high school matriculants (n = 133), 46% are now in college and 4% in medical or nursing school.

Participant Feedback

Learners reported that Stanford-CSI broadened their perspective about healthcare (82%). College students reported that the program contributed to an increased interest in healthcare (90%), while high school students reported that the experience clarified what the daily life/career in medicine entailed (77%). Regardless of learner level, students reported that Stanford-CSI was a good use of their time and resources (80%). College students reported that their experience reinforced their career choice (80%), while high school students reported that the program gave them valuable clinical skills (70%). College students also indicated that their experience improved their professional network (50%) and led directly to new opportunities (50%).

“I never truly understood the broad range of professions in healthcare. Participating in this program prompted me to explore other career options."
“Stanford CSI participation helped deepen my understanding of the medical field and numerous specialties and their roles. The program reaffirmed my desire to become a physician."
“Stanford CSI provided me with a much deeper understanding of not only the field of medicine but also the path to becoming involved in that field and the various lifestyles it could lead to. It helped me clarify my choice of major and career in a more holistic way, considering the emotional and mental aspects of a career in medicine, alongside the academic ones."
“Stanford CSI gave me a much more in-depth understanding of my path towards medicine, but also in how I could tailor a career to fit my personal interests and passions. Shadowing at the Pacific Free Clinic gave me a taste of the sort of medicine I hoped to practice, and the time speaking with welcoming staff, residents, and med students left me curious and inspired. Aside from helping me confirm my interest in medicine, it gave me perspective on the incredible variety available within the career."
“Two weeks felt short but it was the perfect amount of time. I appreciated the time to meet and socialize with others in the program during lunch - I made lifelong friendships there! During the program, I met a mentor there who I still keep very closely in touch with."
“I am so thankful that Stanford CSI exposed me to the scientific knowledge and occupational routines of so many different medical specialties. The internship strongly reinforced my excitement and wonder regarding the field of medicine. I am most grateful for the hands-on demonstrations, dissections, and techniques (such as suturing) th…"

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