The MMC curriculum has FIVE main strands:

• • Let’s Have Fun - Bonding activities to build trust between high school students and mentors
  • The Hidden Curriculum - Workshops about professional and life skills that are rarely explicitly taught
  • Celebrating Diversity in STEM - Scientist spotlights of various BIPOC professional role models
  • Let’s Learn Some Science - Activities such as reviewing biology concepts prior to Mini-Med School and tours of lab spaces
  • Individual Mentoring - Structured weekly check-ins with undergraduate mentors for support throughout the program

Sample schedule for 2023 (subject to change):

To be eligible, you must:

• • Be nominated by your science or math teacher
    
  • Be a current sophomore or junior (graduation year 2024 or 2025)
  • Be interested in STEM and/or health sciences
  • Be a US citizen or permanent resident (Green Card holder)
  • Attend a Mandatory Information Session after being nominated (January 25 or 27)
  • Complete our online application, which includes a recommendation letter from the teacher who nominated you

Students from backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences (e.g. BIPOC, low-income, first-generation college students, women, or students with disabilities) will be prioritized for this program.

Currently, the program is only open to students in the Boston area who have the ability to commute daily to the Tufts University Boston Health Sciences Campus.

The program runs from July 3-28, including weekends. 

Housing will be provided for students to live on the Tufts Medford Campus during the two weeks of the Mini-Med School program (July 8-21). When students are not living on campus, they will be expected to commute to the Tufts Campus. Programming will run from 10 am to 5 pm most weekdays. There will be some free time built into the weekends.

The timing of follow-up informal events in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 will be determined at a later date.

Your teacher must nominate you for the program by January 20. Once the nomination has been submitted, you will receive an email with instructions detailing how to sign up for a Mandatory Information Session. If you do not receive this email by January 22, have your teacher contact Valerie Solon at valerie.solon@tufts.edu.

You must attend a Mandatory Information Session on either January 25 or 27. If you are unable to attend a session on either of these dates, please contact Valerie Solon.

After you attend the Mandatory Information Session, you will receive a personal link to the application that must be filled out online. Applications are due by 11:59pm on February 28, 2023.

Letters of recommendation are due by 11:59pm on March 14. These will be submitted directly to us by your nominating teacher. However, you are responsible for making sure they submit a letter for you!

We will carefully review each application and may contact top candidates for an interview. Final acceptance letters will be sent by April 15. A total of 12-15 students will be selected for this opportunity.

Note: You should be able to leave the application survey and return to your saved responses. However, we cannot guarantee the system will work as expected. Therefore, we highly recommend that you write out your responses to the short answer questions before starting your application so that they are saved elsewhere.

Upon acceptance into the program, students and their parents will be required to sign a contract that outlines their expected duties.

The program is highly competitive and students are expected to be fully present for the 4 weeks of the program. Additionally, we hope students will participate in 3-5 informal meet-ups with their mentors on the Tufts Campus during the 2023-2024 school year.

This program is funded by an NIH grant, and as such, participants are asked to complete surveys and interviews that help us evaluate the efficacy of the program. While this is not required, it is an important part of the program!

Students enrolled in MMC will be provided with a full scholarship to the on-campus Mini-Med School program. This includes housing on Tufts Medford Campus and 3 meals a day from July 8-21. Additionally, students will be provided compensation of $1,400 upon completion of the four-week program. 

Please note that housing and food are not provided from July 3-7 or July 22-28.

Expenses for travel to and from the Tufts campus can be reimbursed if receipts are submitted. 

Students who opt to participate in the research study will receive $100 upon completion of the research related tasks as outlined in the study information sheet.