About Summer Medical Academy
Our signature program, the Summer Medical Academy (SMA) is an educational summer program that provides high school-age students with unique and exciting opportunities to explore the world of medical training and practice. SMA is for students who have an interest in healthcare as a career, and to inspire those students to become caring, insightful health professionals in a complex and rapidly changing world. The program utilizes a mixture of lectures /interactive discussions, hands-on skills clinics, group projects, career panels, and team building/networking/self-care activities.
Throughout the program, faculty, group mentors, and program staff encourage and support students to identify and reflect upon their interest and motivation for pursuing a career in healthcare. SMA is coordinated by the Rady Children’s Center for Healthier Communities in collaboration with a number of community partners, such as the UCSD School of Medicine, Illumina, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the UCSD Skaggs School of Pharmacy, and the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine.
Learning, Doing, Sharing – During this 2-week intensive, learn about the wide range of possibilities in a healthcare career; gets hands-on experience through different skills clinics; hear about key topics in medicine from experts; and make connections with future colleagues.
Learn about the results of our latest 2-week programs through the 2022 program summary.
The 2024 Summer Medical Academy application have closed for this year. Please check out our Weekend Medical Academy offerings and check back in November for SMA 2025!
After completing our 8th year of programming, the Summer Medical Academy now has 447 program alumni and is consistently highly recommended by students. To learn more about the 2022 Summer Medical Academy and the experience of students who participated, watch our Graduation Celebration Videos below.
“It’s fantastic. I’ve learned so much important information about the health care field. This whole experience has reassured my desire to go into medicine. I hope I can participate in more academies and programs.”
“The Summer Medical Academy greatly exceeded my expectations. Each day was different and in depth about each topic. I loved it.”
