The Texas Medical Center Summer Research Internship Program has a rich history of accepting highly motivated Augustana students to their program. What many don’t realize is that students from a wide assortment of majors have had successful experiences with the program. In other words, the TMC is not just for science majors!
Augustana is one of a select few colleges and universities, many of the country’s top research schools-invited to send student research interns to the world-class Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston, Texas each summer. Its anchor institutions are MD Anderson Cancer Center, a top ranked U.S. cancer care hospital, and Baylor College of Medicine, a top ranked biomedical research facility and medical school.
The TMC is the largest medical complex in the world, home to 21,000 physicians, scientists and researchers in more than 50 member institutions. Its anchor institution is the MD Anderson Cancer Center, a top-ranked U.S. cancer care hospital.
Students interested in any aspect of healthcare may apply for the internships, which are available to all majors. Along with biology, chemistry, and pre-med, previous Augustana interns have had majors in art, business administration, communication science and disorders, English, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, pre-law and more.
TMC Interns work with top surgeons, researchers and other health care professionals, gaining unmatched research and practice in their field, lifelong connections and a stand-out experience for their career preparation.
Many of the Augustana TMC interns have had one-on-one mentoring relationships in clinical or research medicine, allied health, psychology, neuroscience or veterinary research. Others have worked in human resources, health care economics, medical illustration, pastoral care, finance and law. As part of their experience, several inters have co-authored papers with their mentors, for publication in peer reviewed journals.
FAST FACTS:
This program is for students who have completed their junior year.
In addition to $2,000 through Augie Choice, students will receive a stipend and have access to supplemental grants.
Before the summer internship, TMC interns take two spring seminars on campus to prepare for the residency. Three follow-up seminars (two in summer and one in fall) focus on the vocational and ethical aspects of their training.
Summer 2024 Intern Reflections
“What appeals most to me about thisinternship is the freedom that I have to learn new things.There have been multiple times during this internshipthat my bench mentor has asked me what I wanted tolearn, and my response was always “as much as I can”.This lab has really been welcoming and is not afraid to askme if I want to watch what they are doing, or if I want totry it out myself, which is great because it allows me to see a little bit of everything.” – Kira Nelson ’25
“The most appealing thing to me about this internship is that daily, you are working and interacting with people who are the most knowledgeable and understanding on a single subject than probably anyone else in the entire world. Just going off to my small lab alone, I work with two Ph. Ds and one doctorate, all of which specialize in cell biology and organoid formation. The level of detail they can describe any part of cellular function and the use and future of such nichetopic-like organoids is staggering and incredible. To put it simply, these people make you feel dumb, but in the best way possible. They don’t look down on you for not knowing what took them over half a decade to learn; they see you as inquisitive and perceptive. They all love that you want not only to learn but to learn from them specifically. I have yet to run into a person at Baylor who, if you asked nicely, wouldn’t share what they know we’re doing in their lab, and to me, this is by far the coolest and most appealing thing about this internship so far
“It was really useful to use skills I’ve learned in my classes in the real world and to learn how to work independently, balance my time, and when to ask for more work. My mentors really helped with career guidance and with deciding what I want to do after Augustana.” –Clay DeBaillie ’25
DATES AND DETAILS:
Based at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, the TMC-SRIP is a high-quality, competitive summer internship program AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS OF ALL MAJORS WHO COMPLETED JUNIOR YEAR.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Find the TMC-SRIP application here
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
- Resume
- PersonalStatement
- Unofficial Transcript
- Two letters of Recommendation (at least one must be from an Augustana faculty member)
APPLICATION DEADLINE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 06 at 6:00 PM
DECISIONS ANNOUNCED THE WEEK OF: DECEMBER 16, 2024
For more information contact:
Dr. Heid Storl, Director TMC-SRIP
Beth Ford, Career Coach in CORE – Schedule an appointment through Handshake to discuss the application process and materials.
