Skip to main content

Office of

Medical Student Research 

Research Opportunities

Research, scholarly pursuits, clinical, and service experiences are an important aspect of any medical student’s training.

Medical students may conduct scholarly activity at any time during their training. However, the summer after the first year of medical school is an ideal time to engage in these endeavors.

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine maintains a database of current research, scholarly, clinical and service opportunities that students may reference anytime. This includes positions at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children's, local programs, and programs nationwide. Listings consist of both summer programs and year-long opportunities and are divided into Internal (UC/CCHMC) Research and External Research. Resources available to students interested in research and scholarly activity to assist in finding a mentor/project:

  • Identify a research mentor by perusing the research section of the UCCOM Departmental webpages and/or the CCHMC Division webpages.
  • The UC Research Directory allows users to enter keywords or search for UC experts based on last name, grant funding, or type of studies conducted.
  • The Medical Scientist Training Program maintains a list of UCCOM/CCHMC faculty and their research projects.
  • The Internal Medicine Research Symposium provides opportunity to view projects and learn of faculty actively mentoring research.
  • The Research & Service Symposium (RSS) provides an opportunity to view projects and learn of faculty actively mentoring research. Details for the next RSS are on this page as well as an archive for past symposiums.
  • Medical students may also identify researchers with active research support through NIH Reporter using Cincinnati as the search term in the “City” field. This approach only identifies researchers with active NIH research support and does not include non-US government, foundation, private, or industry-sponsored grants or funding.

Additional information may be found on the Office of Research page including research portfolios for all COM departments and Core Facilities.

Fall 2026 Summer Opportunities Series

The Summer Opportunities Series includes several events that provide first-year students the chance to identify where their own research and service interests lie. First-year medical students are encouraged to participate in all activities as events have been scheduled to prevent interference with academics.

The list of events for 2026-2027 will be posted below as they are confirmed.

summer-opps-flyer-pic
Date, Time, LocationEvent
August 2026
Designing an Engaging Research Poster (M2s)
October 21, 2026
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Location TBD
Introduction to 2027 Summer Research & Service Opportunities (M1s)
November 4, 2026
12:00 - 1:00 pm
Kresge Auditorium
Medical Student Grand Rounds (entire college)
2026 Research and Service Symposium Keynote Address
November 4, 2026
1:00 - 3:00 pm
E-level MSB and CARE/Crawley
2026 Research and Service Symposium Poster Sessions (entire college)
Second-year medical students present summer research/service projects.
November 2026Summer Research Mixer (M1s) - sponsored by RIRC
An informal meet-and-greet for first year medical students to interact with faculty researchers, program directors, and upper-level students who have previously completed summer research.
December 2026
Writing a Research Project Proposal for the UCCOM CommonApp (M1s)
December 2026
Summer Opportunities Peer Panel Discussion (M1s)

Research and Service Symposium Archive

Please login to view the Research and Service Symposium archive

Research and Service Symposium Resources

The annual Research and Service Symposium is co-sponsored by the Internal Medicine Interest Group and the Office of Student Affairs. It provides an opportunity for second-year medical students to showcase and present their summer research and service experience while allowing first-year medical students and the College of Medicine community to learn about their work.

2025 Poster Templates

Abstract Guidelines and Poster Presentation Review Criteria

For additional questions about the Research and Service Symposium, contact the Internal Medicine Interest Group or Diana Mullenix.

Abstracts must be submitted online before Sunday September 7, 2025, 11:59pm using the Abstract Submission Form (opens Fall 2025). You will be required to include your ORCID number in the abstract submission.

Posters (PDF) must be submitted online no later than Sunday, October 19, 2025, 11:59pm using the Poster Submission Form (opens Fall 2025).

Students Presenting Research in MSB
Intranet Login

Contact Us

Office of Medical Student Research
Amy Thompson MD
Director of Medical Student Research Initiatives

Medical Sciences Building 4556C
231 Albert Sabin Way
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0526
Email: amy.thompson@uc.edu

Diana Mullenix
Program Director

CARE/Crawley Building E870
3290 Eden Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0555
Email: diana.mullenix@uc.edu