Discover the Benefits of Research When Pursuing Pre-Med
Summary: Research for aspiring doctors isn’t necessarily a requirement for pre-med students, but it is highly beneficial. Here, you’ll discover pre-college online medical courses, including one that improves your research skills.
Key Points:
- Research allows us to gain a better understanding of the unknown.
- Research for aspiring doctors isn’t necessarily a requirement for pre-med students, but it is highly beneficial.
- There are six types of research, including basic, narrative medicine, clinical, AI, public health, and public policy.
- If studying medicine and honing in research skills interests you as a high school student, pre-college online courses are a great option.
- Prelum, Powered by Kaplan, partners with top universities across the nation to provide pre-college online enrichment courses in a variety of fields, including medicine.
If you’re a student considering a potential pre-med future, you may wonder whether focusing on research is essential. The short answer is no; research for aspiring doctors isn’t necessarily a requirement.
However, it is a valuable addition to any pre-med application, as being involved in a research project trains pre-meds to think critically about an unresolved problem, demonstrating initiative and focus. Pre-med students involved in basic science research often study cells, viruses, bacteria, and genetics. This research may also involve the use of animal and tissue specimens.
Research allows us to gain a better understanding of the unknown. It’s critical in the medical field, as our current knowledge of medicine is based on clinical research (a branch of healthcare research that seeks to improve health and understand disease). Drugs we prescribe to patients undergo rigorous clinical trial studies, and diagnostic work-ups and treatment plans rely on evidence-based medicine informed by research data.
In this article, we’ll review the six typical types of research, how pre-med students typically integrate research into their studies, the benefits of research on a pre-med application, and pre-college online courses that allow you to get a head start while in high school.
As you continue investigating adding research to your roster, let’s review the six typical types of research.
6 Types of Medical Research
According to U.S. News & World Report, there are six common health-related research directions commonly pursued by pre-meds that reflect the breadth of research you can pursue. They are:
- Basic science research: Often referred to as “bench research,” it is the traditional type of research conducted in a laboratory setting. It tackles our fundamental understanding of biology.
- Clinical research: Tests the safety and effectiveness of diagnostic products, drugs, and medical devices on human subjects.
- Public health research: Examines the health of communities and populations to improve the health of the general public. Topics can range from vaccine access and disease prevention to disease transmission, substance abuse, social determinants of health, and health education strategies.
- Health public policy research: Aims to understand how laws, regulations, and policies can influence population health.
- Narrative medicine research: Involves gathering stories from patients and their loved ones to understand the patient experience.
- Artificial intelligence research: Pre-med students can utilize AI to analyze a large set of data to discover new medical findings.
Does honing in your research skills as a high school student interest you? Did you know that pre-college online courses that center on research are now available to you?
High School Pre-College Online Research Course in Medicine
Prelum, Powered by Kaplan, partners with top universities across the nation to provide pre-college online enrichment courses, plus courses for college credit, including those that improve your research skills. One research course is even centered on medicine.
The Georgetown University Pre-College Online Program offers a college-credit course where you can choose to hone your research skills with a medicine-related project. In Research Project: Medicine, you'll gain invaluable skills by designing and executing your own independent research project, from formulating compelling questions to critically evaluating sources and compiling your findings. This unique course provides a powerful head start for your academic future and equips you with the confidence to tackle real-world challenges.
By the end of the course, you will not only have earned three college credits but you will also have produced a portfolio-worthy, original project that demonstrates your ability to tackle authentic issues with academic rigor and intellectual independence. And guess what: this portfolio-worthy project will look great on your college applications.
Not ready to tackle a research project yet? Perhaps you’d like to explore other online college credit courses for high school students offered by Georgetown University. Or maybe you’re curious about different high school pre-med enrichment courses you can add to your college application?
Pre-College Online Enrichment Courses in Medicine
In the Rochester Pre-College Online Program course, Personalized Medicine: Customizing Care Through Genetics, you’ll explore the mysteries of human genetics and connect specific patterns to traits and diseases. Learn about how breakthroughs in personalized medicine are being used to create tests and treatments more precisely targeted than ever before. Study genomic sequencing, practice reading gene data, and identify mutations that cause disease.
In the Georgetown University Pre-College Online Program course, Medical Research: Clinical Trials Resulting in Medical Discoveries, you will study medical journal articles to understand a research article’s components and how to interpret them. You’ll learn the process researchers use to formulate, conduct, and evaluate the evidence they gather, and will be tasked with developing your own study using professional methods.
William & Mary also offers pre-med courses for high school students, including Medicine: Disease, Diagnostics, and Interventions. In this course, you’ll focus on common biological causes, such as viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens. You’ll learn how diseases jump between hosts, understand how influenza can metastasize into a pandemic, and delve into bacteria, staph infection, and the battle against antibiotic resistance. Ultimately, you’ll witness how doctors utilize microbiology, biotechnology, and gene therapy to transform the landscape of medicine.
All enrichment courses give you the freedom and flexibility to study anytime, anywhere. You’ll receive support from mentors and hear from renowned professors from top universities. Lastly, a Certificate of Completion will be awarded to you—a great addition to your college application.
If you have your sights set on a future in medicine, getting started while in high school is easy with Prelum, Powered by Kaplan.
This was last reviewed by Ashley Simmons on 08/29/2025.
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