Third-Year Medical College Rotations for Premedical Honors Program Undergraduates

Oct 15, 2026

Honors programs attract many students aspiring to medical education, yet medical school acceptance rates average around 6.1%. Success requires more than strong grades and MCAT performance; applicants must also demonstrate clinical experience, personal qualities, and work ethic. Stenger and Ziegler describe an honors program internship for undergraduates that emulates third-year medical college clinical rotations, forming a full-time, semester-long experience. The model can be adopted by other institutions at relatively low cost with an established partnership with a suitable medical facility.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

High-impact practices and experiential learning

Defining internships as high impact

Premedical internship benefits

Research as a high-impact experience

Third-Year Medical College Rotations for Premedical Honors Program Undergraduates Harvey G. Stenger, Jr., and William L. Ziegler Binghamton University—State University of New York Abstract: Honors programs typically enroll many students interested in the healthcare field, and honors administrators and faculty do their best to ensure that those students’ dreams are fulfilled. With Medical Doctor (MD) program acceptance rates averaging just 6.1%, students need a standout application. Experience has shown that getting accepted into a medical school is more than earning a great GPA and excelling on the MCAT exam; it also requires convincing a committee of professionals that an applicant has the right personal qualities and work ethic to succeed in the field of medicine, and applicants need to highlight their clinical experience as a method of standing out from the crowd. The authors describe an honors program internship for undergraduate students to participate in a unique experience that emulatesthe third-year curriculum of medical college, referred to as clinical rotations. The full-time, semester-long medical internship becomes an extraordinary and unusual asset on any student’s medical school application. Of particular interest is that this program can be adopted by other higher education institutions for a relatively low cost to the college/university, contingent on a committed partnership with an appropriate medical facility. Keywords: higher education honors programs and colleges; premedical; internship; educational innovations; high-impact practice; experiential education; medical school/college; Binghamton University – Scholars Program Citation: Honors in Practice, 2024, Vol. 20: 241–262 Stenger and Ziegler INTRODUCTION M any students accepted to honors programs begin their academic journey with their sights set on medical school/college upon graduation. In this article, we highlight an honors program opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in a unique experience that emulatesthe third-year curriculum of medical college, referred to as clinical rotations. With exceptionally low medical school applicant acceptance rates asa backdrop, this program helps students create a standout application and provides an unparalleled high-impact medical experience for its undergraduate participants. Background High-impact practices, typically in the context of experiential learning, have been a long-standing element of honors education. A strong focus on highimpact practices received renewed attention in 2008 when the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) published “High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter”(Kuh, 2008) . Research on high-impact practices points to positive outcomes (Miller et al., 2018; Kilgo et al., 2015), and some studies recommend that students participate in multiple high-impact experiences (McNair & Albertine, 2012) . Other studies suggest not just that these practices should be add-ons to a student’s academic learning but that they should be integrated into the curriculum (Chorazy & Klinedinst, 2019; Kuh, 2008). Recent research also shows that high-impact practices correlate with higher levels of academic challenge and student engagement as well as improved retention and graduation rates (Kuh & O’Donnel, 2013) . One of the typical high-impact practices is the internship experience. However, internships in and of themselves are not necessarily high impact. As summarized in the research conducted by O’Neill (2010, p. 5): An internship is more likely to be “high impact” for students when it is intentionally organized as an activity that leads to particular learning outcomes; when students apply what they have learned in courses to work experiences, reflect on these experiences, and receive feedback that helps them to improve; when students build mentoring relationships with supervisors, faculty, and peers; whe

FAQs

Why do honors program students focus on medical school during their undergraduate years?

Many students entering honors programs set their sights on medical school/college graduation. The article frames this aspiration as a common starting point that the described program helps support.

What makes an internship “high impact” for students?

An internship is more likely to be high impact when it is intentionally designed around learning outcomes, connects course learning to work experiences, includes reflection and feedback, fosters mentoring relationships, exposes students to diverse ways of thinking, and asks students to clarify their values and goals.

How does the program’s medical internship differ from a typical internship?

The program is a full-time, semester-long medical internship intended to emulate third-year medical college clinical rotations. It is positioned as an extraordinary and unusual asset for medical school applications.

Oct 15, 2026

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