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Practice clinical skills and create a research poster in this 2-week medicine program for high school students on UCLA’s campus.
Course Description
A patient’s symptoms are only the starting point. Try clinical tools and simulated cases to see how medical professionals work toward an explanation.
In this course you will connect biology and evidence with diagnosis and treatment.
Use a stethoscope and pulse oximeter, take blood pressure, test lung function, and explore blood typing. Simulations let you work through disease detection, diabetes, kidney conditions, meningitis, and concussion scenarios. The science also includes cancer, hypertension, genetics, and causes of death. Suturing practice and Red Cross CPR certification introduce further practical skills.
Visits to a UCLA research lab and undergraduate anatomy lab show where medical knowledge develops and is applied. Compare the path to an MD with other healthcare and research careers, then investigate a disease for your own research poster. Trace its symptoms, transmission, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, and present the findings. Explaining that research gives you a taste of the communication behind clinical decisions.
This two-week course takes place at UCLA. The course is available to residential and commuter students. The program is developed by UCLA and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery.
What You Will Do
• Use a stethoscope, pulse oximeter and blood-pressure equipment
• Work through simulated diabetes, kidney, meningitis and disease-detection cases
• Conduct blood-typing, lung-function and concussion research activities
• Practice suturing and complete Red Cross CPR certification
• Visit UCLA research and undergraduate anatomy labs
• Research a disease and present its diagnosis, treatment and prevention on a poster
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain the basic pathology and diagnostic process for several common medical conditions
• Use selected clinical tools and apply evidence in simulated patient-care activities
• Research and present accurate information about a disease and its management
You’ll leave with your disease-research poster, Red Cross CPR certification, and a certificate of completion.
Why Healthcare Skills Matter
Medical reasoning connects knowledge of the body with careful observation and evidence. A blood-pressure reading, lung-function result or pattern of symptoms has meaning only when it is gathered correctly and considered in context. Students practice that connection through clinical tools, simulations and research.
The course also builds communication. A medical professional must explain findings clearly, distinguish what is known from what still needs testing and consider how a condition affects the patient. Researching a disease and presenting a poster helps students organize complex information into an accurate, useful explanation.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
If medicine interests you, this course offers a way to explore both clinical work and the paths that lead into it. Biology, patient care, and research come together through practical activities, simulations, and a disease-research poster. You’ll work with detailed health-science ideas and explain what you find. A prior high school biology course is recommended but not required. Practical activities call for careful, responsible participation.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in Summer Discovery’s 2026 UCLA high school program.
Your Summer at UCLA
UCLA gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing university life in Los Angeles, a city where entertainment, technology, business, science, and culture constantly intersect. The campus has its own community and rhythm while connecting students to a wider environment built around creativity and new ideas.
Students learn alongside peers, navigate a large campus, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class expands the experience through friendships, campus life, and opportunities to notice which subjects and settings hold their attention. For families, UCLA offers a valuable combination of substantive academics, personal growth, and clearer direction about what a student may want to study, experience more deeply, or pursue next.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive