MD Camp at Ohio State

Offering high school students the opportunity to learn about and engage in the various aspects of a medical career.

Summer camp for high school students interested in medicine

Students in the 2021 MD Camp MD Camp, sponsored by The Ohio State University Area Health Education Center, is an intensive, three-week summer day camp providing participants an experience in the rigors of medical school. MD Camp students will have the opportunity to shadow clinicians and researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. By the end of MD Camp, students will have a greater grasp of what a career in medicine is like and how to go about becoming a successful physician.

MD Camp is open to rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors who are interested in pursuing careers in the health professions, including biomedical research. All interested students are welcome to apply.

Ultimately, MD Camp strives to inspire students to pursue a career in medicine by challenging them intellectually and facilitating their academic and social development.

Program curriculum

MD Camp participants learning how to wrap a broken arm MD Camp is administered by rising second-year medical students. During the three-week camp, MD Camp participants learn from Ohio State College of Medicine faculty, staff and medical students through:

  • Lecture Component: Medical school faculty will give lectures covering a broad range of topics and pathologies, from head-and-neck anatomy to the physiological changes that lead to heart attack. Students will also hear lectures about issues that face the medical community every day, including ethics, and the health disparities in underserved populations in the United States.
  • Problem-based Learning: Students will work out complex clinical cases in a group-discussion format.
  • Introduction to Research: Students will gain perspective of what medical research looks like. They will learn how to effectively read academic work. There will also be several opportunities for students to hear from current undergraduate and medical students about their research experiences. At the end of MD Camp, students will be able to analyze experimental design, methods, and results from a research paper and know how to get involved in research of their own.
  • Community Project: Students will give back to their community by spending an afternoon participating in a community service project.
  • Clinical Workshops: Students will learn and practice common procedures in medicine, such as phlebotomy, suturing, intubation, taking a basic history of a patient, use of the stethoscope, and much more.
  • Clinical Shadowing: Students will shadow physicians in a hospital setting in different specialties, such as pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, etc. Students will observe rounds, discuss cases, and get a feeling for what an average day is like for a physician.
  • Clinical Skills Assessment: Students will learn how to diagnose and treat a select number of common clinical pathologies. In the finale of the clinical component of the curriculum, students will be presented with a common clinical scenario. They will use their knowledge gained from lectures, shadowing and clinical workshops to assess and treat standardized patients presenting one of these pathologies.
  • Guest Speakers: Selected physicians, health care workers, and other speakers will be brought in to discuss a wide range of topics and to interact with MD Camp students. From these speakers, students will acquire a greater depth of understanding and appreciation of what the pursuit of medicine will entail.

How to apply

To be competitive, it's recommended that a student have:

  • A cumulative grade point average at least a 3.0 and a math and science GPA of 3.3 or higher.
  • Two letters of recommendation with at least one from a mathematics or science teacher. Both letters of recommendation should be signed by the recommenders, preferably on school letterhead.
  • A completed application, which includes scholastic and extracurricular activities, essays and a current high school transcript, submitted in a timely fashion for scholarship consideration. 

At this time, we are only accepting students that are residents of the state of Ohio. Students will be responsible for finding their own housing and transportation accommodation for the duration of the camp. 

Apply for MD Camp 2026

All application components are due by 11:59 P.M. EST on March 17th, 2026. Late applications cannot be accepted. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions as you are completing your application. 

The dates for the 2026 MD Camp are June 8th, 2026 to June 26th, 2026. The camp will run from 8 A.M - 4:30 P.M. on weekdays at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, with June 19th off in observance of Juneteenth.

Apply now Submit your recommendation letters

Financial assistance  

Tuition is $325. Applicants are awarded full and partial scholarships based on financial need and quality of application.

Want more information or have questions?

We will be hosting two virtual information sessions over Zoom! Learn more about MD Camp logistics, day-to-day schedules, application requirements, and ask any questions to the members of our executive board about camp! Please register below if you would like to attend one of the two sessions. These sessions are purely informational and attendance will have no bearing on your application.

Session dates and times:

Email us at mdcamp.osu@gmail.com or follow our Instagram: @mdcamp.

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