Gaining Experience
Summer Science Research at Hamilton
Students interested in medicine often spend one or more summers conducting research in the sciences. 91制片厂 offers extensive opportunities for funded research, and each summer over 90 students receive grants to conduct collaborative research in math and science with Hamilton faculty. The on-campus selection process begins in late January but interested students may want to reach out to faculty in the fall semester.
Non-Science Research at Hamilton
Not every student heading toward the health professions chooses to focus on science. Social science research is important to understanding the socio-cultural determinants of health. Grants from the Emerson Foundation and the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center offer opportunities for collaborative research with Hamilton faculty on any topic of particular interest.
Off-Campus Research
Summer research opportunities are offered through many medical schools as well as foundations such as the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. To get you started in your search for summer experiences, visit and search for “health research” and/or “clinical research”. For comprehensive lists of summer opportunities, visit the following schools’ web sites:
Swarthmore -
RIT -
Students with very specific research interests may find opportunities by going to the web page of the university/medical school where they would like to work and sending an email with an attached resume to the researchers doing work in the desired field.
Medically-related Experiences
Clinically-oriented opportunities can be more challenging for college students to obtain since most positions involving patient interaction require specialized training and/or licensure. Short-term, summer opportunities are most likely to be volunteer experiences. However, there are both summer and post-grad opportunities listed in ; under “Jobs”, do a keyword search for “clinical”.
Serving the community shows that an individual values helping others. Service can be done in your hometown, at Hamilton, and/or in the surrounding area of Oneida County. Graduate schools look for students who volunteer in service to their communities even if unrelated to healthcare. The Community Outreach and Opportunity Project (COOP) houses many opportunities for students interested in service and can be found on the third floor of the chapel. The COOP oversees a variety of opportunities and organizations such as the Hamilton Association for Volunteering, Outreach, and Charity (HAVOC), A Better Chance (ABC) Tutoring, Hamilton Reads and many more. For more information, visit the COOP website. Additionally, the majority of these programs will send out all-campus emails at the beginning of each semester regarding descriptions of upcoming volunteer opportunities and instructions on how to become involved.
Most hospitals and healthcare organizations have volunteer programs that can be found on their website. Often hospitals have minimum volunteer requirements and all will require medical clearances, which will take several weeks to complete; it is important that you seek out these opportunities early (winter or early spring before the end of second semester) because you will need to submit paper work. There may also be a mandatory orientation, so make sure to check dates.
A way to open the door for yourself is to simply walk in or call a local hospital, emergency care center, or clinic and ask the front desk staff if there are any opportunities for volunteering available at their facility. Volunteering is also a great way to build connections that may help you seek out more clinical experiences.
Students interested in volunteering at Utica Hospitals should check Handshake for more information. Note that some hospitals require a weekly commitment.
Where to Volunteer
Clinical research
Clinical technician/assistant
Patient care services
Clinical volunteering
Urgent care center
Academic research
Administrative management
Service volunteering
Clinical teaching programs
Healthcare fundraising
Quality improvement
Data management
Medical/health education
Community outreach
Communications and marketing
Community services and outreach
Data management and analysis
Patient navigator/translator
Public health research
Health awareness promotion and education
Biotechnology research
Biopharmaceutical research
Healthcare market research & analytics
Healthcare consulting
Medical device research
Clinical research support services
Medical/health educator
Clinical & hospital administration/management
Healthcare insurance services
Government healthcare policy & management
Medical safety & quality assurance
Outpatient medical care services
Contact
Contact Name
Courtney Hance
Director of Health Professions Advising
