At the National Student Leadership Conference on Medicine & Health Care, serving as a health professional becomes a reality. While at the NSLC, you will perform clinical rounds, learn medical examination and surgical techniques, and participate in diagnosis and treatment while solving the mystery of a fatal outbreak sweeping the nation. You and your team will grapple with controversial medical issues, learn about today’s health care challenges and explore advanced scientific research in areas such as cancer and HIV/AIDS.
Program Highlights
Gain surgical experience
Practice essential skills including suturing, dissection, and surgical knot tying.
Clinical diagnostics simulation
Throughout multiple patient visits you'll learn how to ask the right questions, order the proper tests, and give an accurate diagnosis.
Tour medical facilities
Get a preview of medical school and talk with current students, researchers, and residents.
Public health project
Keep a community healthy by creating a media campaign to spread information on illness and disease prevention.
Dates & Locations
Note: Space is limited. Please login to the online application to see up-to-date session availability.

American University
- June 17 - June 25
- June 29 - July 7
- July 11 - July 19
- July 23 - July 31

Duke University
- June 11 - June 19
- June 23 - July 1
- July 5 - July 13
- July 17 - July 25
The NSLC is not sponsored by Duke University.

Northwestern University
- June 24 - July 2
- July 6 - July 14
- July 18 - July 26
- July 30 - August 7

University of California, Berkeley
- June 23 - July 1
- July 5 - July 13
- July 17 - July 25
- July 29 - August 6

University of Miami
- July 14 - July 22
- July 26 - August 3

Yale University
- June 24 - July 2
- July 6 - July 14
- July 17 - July 25
The NSLC is not sponsored by Yale University.
Hands-On Simulations
The NSLC on Medicine & Health Care uses an interactive approach to learning that gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the challenging complexities of the medical profession. Our youth leadership summer medical programs for high school students will expose you to the techniques of doctors and other medical professionals during hands-on clinical rounds.
You will work with your team to identify a public health issue affecting your community. Then, you will develop an intervention to address that concern. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you and your team will work quickly to diagnose and treat your patients in a true-to-life outbreak simulation.
Hands-on workshops include:
- Suturing
- Testing Vital Signs
- Surgical Knot-Tying
- Identifying Cranial Nerves
Exclusive Guest Speakers
While at the NSLC’s summer high school medical program, you will meet with and learn from leaders in the medical community. In past years, NSLC students have heard from special guest speakers including the Surgeon General, the Director of the American Red Cross and top medical researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the J. David Gladstone Institutes.
Examples of past guest speakers include:
Dr. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health
Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy
U.S. Surgeon General
Dr. Rachel Brem, M.D.
Director, Breast Imaging and Intervention Center
Dr. Michael Terry, M.D.
Head Team Physician, Chicago Blackhawks
Dr. Warren Wallace, M.D.
Associate Dean for Admissions, Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Cindy Chang
USOC Chief Medical Officer, 2012 London Olympics
Dane Peterson
CEO of Emory University Hospital
Dr. Costas Hadjipanayis, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief of Neurosurgery, Emory University Hospital Midtown
Dr. Ira Schwartz, M.D.
Director of Admissions, Emory University School of Medicine
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
An important part of the NSLC summer high school medical program is seeing the sites around some of our nation’s greatest cities. These trips are designed as both sightseeing tours and exclusive educational trips specifically tailored to the area of Medicine.
These trips may include:
American University
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine | University of Maryland School of Medicine | Walter Reed Medical Center | The Smithsonian Institution | Historic D.C. Monuments at Night | Baltimore Harbor | Capitol Hill
Duke University
Duke Human Simulation & Patient Safety Center | UNC Clinical Skills & Patient Simulation Center | Franklin Street | West Campus | North Carolina Museum of Natural Science
Northwestern University
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | Northwestern Memorial Hospital | Northwestern University Simulation Center | Magnificent Mile | Navy Pier
University of California, Berkeley
The Gladstone Institutes | Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital | UC Berkeley School of Optometry | Fisherman’s Wharf | Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square
University of Miami
University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies Simulation Hospital Advancing Research and Education | Philip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science | Lincoln Road
Yale University
Yale School of Medicine | Massachusetts General Hospital, the oldest & largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School | Medical Simulation Lab | Boston Museum of Science | Historic Faneuil Hall & Quincy Market
Leadership Training
At the heart of each of our youth leadership programs is a curriculum designed to build concrete leadership skills that will help you succeed. Interactive lectures and small-group workshops will give you an opportunity to build upon your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
Leadership topics tailored to the Medicine & Health Care program include:
- Personality Styles and Group Dynamics
- Conflict Resolution
- Negotiation
- Public Speaking
- Intrapersonal Communication
College Credit Option
American University (AU) and NSLC have a unique partnership that enables you to earn college credit by enrolling in a supplemental online course designed to correlate with your NSLC program’s area of study. By enrolling in this credit course, you will enjoy a stimulating, innovative, and personalized college-level learning experience that builds on your NSLC accomplishments. The course is for one credit and is taught in a self-paced, asynchronous format across six weeks, allowing ample time to complete assignments. The course is designed to work within the framework of NSLC; students are not expected to complete coursework while on campus. Students may register for college credit via their personal student portal (myNSLC) once they have enrolled in an NSLC session.
Click here to learn more about this opportunity.
Tuition
Program tuition includes housing, all on-campus meals, course materials, academic expenses, and activities. Tuition also includes chartered, air-conditioned motor coaches for off-campus briefings and tours. Note: Students are responsible for the cost of travel to and from the program as well as individual spending money for souvenirs, laundry, and a few off-campus meals during fields trips and tours.
Click here to view our cancellation and refund policy.
Location | Tuition |
---|
Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. | $3,795 |
Durham | $3,895 |
New Haven | $3,995 |