Insight Biomedical Summer at UW

The Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, which is part of the University of Washington School of Medicine, runs an incredible summer program for high school (as well as undergraduate and graduate students) designed to introduce students to public health, biomedical research and medicine. It’s one of the few summer programs that we know of that provides a really deep dive into the fascinating world of public health and medicine. The program is rigorous, and research oriented. You’ll leave with a real project (which can also be a jumping-off point for further research and even publication).

“Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (HIPRC) is part of the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. As a collaborative multidisciplinary center, HIPRC is a worldwide leader in injury and prevention research comprised of Core Faculty, Associate Faculty, Staff, Trainees, Affiliate Members, and Advisory Boards who represent more than 30 departments and organizations within the UW community.

The 2022 INSIGHT High School Program is an exciting and interactive four-week program designed to introduce young scholars to public health, biomedical research, & medicine.

Our high school program provides valuable exposure to the medical and public health fields, emphasizes social justice and highlights health disparities. During the course of the high school program, scholars will work together through four challenging, fun and busy weeks.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand core public health concepts

  • Conduct public health field research data collection and analysis

  • Practice and improve critical thinking, public speaking, and data visualization skills

  • Complete a public health capstone project on a predetermined injury and violence prevention topic

  • Better understand the importance of social justice as it relates to the individual and community health

Activities and Experiences:

  • An original, collaborative public health research project with a focus on developing introductory research skills.

  • Skill building seminars: How to design a compelling resume, workshops on creating presentations, learn essentials of public speaking, and more

  • Virtual injury and violence prevention research seminars

  • Variety of speaker panels: INSIGHT undergraduates, healthcare professionals, & community health organization speakers

  • Peer networking opportunities: Build ongoing relationships in your desired field of higher learning

  • Interactive remote social activities

  • A Certificate of Completion for students who complete all program requirements.

Project:

  • Best Route for Injury Support during an earthquaKe (BRISK): build a walking plan with the fewest potential barriers. In the event of a traumatic injury from a future high-magnitude earthquake, you need to escape danger and navigate to the closest trauma care center. Telecommunication and road infrastructure are often disrupted during these events. This exercise is intended to build plans for the shortest walking path to navigate while injured.

Scholars will also present their capstone project to physicians, researchers, medical professionals and college students at an online research symposium on the final day of the session.”

How do I get started? Click here.

How do I expand this narrative arc? Keep going with the research! Network like crazy during the summer, and enlist someone to help you continue with all of your hard work during the following school year. This is an incredibly rare opportunity. If you’re more interested in the pure research side, consider one of these programs in the future:

Summer Program, ResearchBetsy PutnamScience