Complete Guide to Extracurricular Activities for Premeds in New York City
/How to find clinical volunteer opportunities “near me” in the Big Apple
everything you need to know about the best extracurriculars in new york city
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Part 1: Introduction
New York! The city that all other cities are trying to be. The city that never sleeps. But what can the Big Apple offer you as a premed student? For a first timer, the sheer size and scale of NYC might seem overwhelming. Alternatively, maybe you’ve lived in NYC your whole life but aren’t sure where to look for the crème de la crème of extracurricular experiences.
In either case, don’t fret! We’re here to help you navigate the gritty city streets to gain the experience you need for med school. There are endless possibilities for aspiring doctors in NYC, from shadowing opportunities to community service engagements, from research grants and scholarships at one of the half dozen med schools in the borough of Manhattan alone, and everything in between.
Whether you want to shadow a neurologist, clock hours taking cell cultures in the lab, or volunteer at a Bed-Stuy soup kitchen, New York has every opportunity and more. See below for a list of extracurriculars available to high school and college premeds in and around NYC.
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Part 2: Quick City Details
State: New York
Population: 8.4 million
What the world knows as “New York City” is actually a collection of five boroughs—Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island-–each of which feels like a city within a city. Manhattan is the beating heart of NYC and the place that most people think of when they picture this city. This is where the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building have been standing tall for nearly one hundred years; it’s home to the Rockefeller Center, World Trade Center, Greenwich Village, Soho, Harlem, and Central Park.
Med Schools in New York City
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
CUNY School of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York College of Podiatric Medicine
New York Hydropathic and Physiological School
New York University Grossman Long Island School of Medicine
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine
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Part 3: Extracurriculars in NYC
Below you’ll find our curated list of extracurriculars (EC’s) for medical school in New York. We've organized these opportunities by who each EC is for. You find a badge indicating whether an EC is for high school students, undergrads, high school and/or undergrad, or all ages. We've also marked highly selective or paid opportunities. See the key below for reference.
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Morningside Heights (Manhattan Upper West Side) |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description |
Mount Sinai’s Morningside volunteer program is a fantastic way to start building clinical exposure early on in your career, especially for high school students living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The program offers avenues in five different sectors of clinical life, from Unit Support (minimum age 15) to helping out in the Emergency Department (minimum age 18), to the Animal Assisted Therapy Program (minimum age 18). The JuMP program (Junior Medical Program) is a Mount Sinai Morningside summer volunteer program for high school students between 15 and 17 years of age where you will “learn from healthcare professionals, in both clinical and non-clinical areas, and contribute to overall patient satisfaction.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper East Side, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Although this program is highly selective, only admitting 32 students per year, it is an incredible opportunity to gain clinical experience, not to mention it’ll look pretty impressive on a resume. “SSRP Scholars will participate on a research team designed and guided by scientific trainees from the Tri-Institutions (Rockefeller, MSK, and WCMC).” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program dependent (programs throughout New York City at large) |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | The NYC Science Research Mentoring Consortium offers an eclectic assortment of volunteer opportunities, from Staten Island to the Bronx and every city street in between. Although the program webpage states that “each program has its own eligibility and application process and varies in structure, length, and research focus,” all of the programs offered by the Consortium are connected by a shared set of ideals and structures, including over 100 hours of mentored science research, as well as a culminating project where students present their own research. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper West Side, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | If you’re a high school student interested in neuroscience, this is the program for you. This program is “an immersive seven-week science research experience, where scientists mentor high school students in neuroscience research.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent: “We've placed students at Columbia Engineering, Weill Cornell Medicine, the New York Proton Center, and life science companies.” |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | New York Bioforce is a “workforce development internship program” that “provides NYC high school students with hands-on lab training designed to meet the needs of biomedical research labs, biotech start-ups, and biopharmaceutical companies.” If you hail from a low-resource background, New York Bioforce is especially interested in helping prep you for higher education in STEM. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent, three main programs - Lower Manhattan (Lower East Side, Chinatown / Upper Manhattan (Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood) |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | If you’re an NYC high school student looking to gain experience in scientific research, BioBus is an excellent opportunity—not to mention, it’s paid. “BioBus aims to address historic inequalities in education and STEM by giving preference to students that self-identify as a member of groups historically excluded from STEM and/or economically disadvantaged.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper East Side, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Designed for students interested in pursuing biomedical science careers, the Summer Student Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is a fantastic way to gain research experience. You can explore research opportunities in topics as diverse as Cancer Biology, Pharmacology & Drug Development, and even Engineering, Optics, and Imaging. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper East Side, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | If you’re looking for experience at the bench and at the bedside, the Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center might be perfect for you. The program boasts having “one foot in the lab and one foot in the clinic,” bridging the gap “between the basic science and clinical research worlds.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens) |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | According to NYC Health + Hospitals website: “Each year, more than 8,600 volunteers contribute more than 715,000 hours of service to NYC Health + Hospitals facilities.” Such a huge volunteer program means a myriad of unique opportunities, from something as simple and enjoyable as “playing with children and babies” to “clerical and computer work in virtually any department.” You can even help with gardening and landscaping! |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Queens |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | If you live in Queens and you’re searching for opportunities to work with patients one-on-one, look no further than Mount Sinai Queens, whose volunteer mission is “to help make the hospital experience as comfortable as possible for our patients and their families.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | East Village, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | According to the Mount Sinai website, volunteers in this program “range in age from high school students to retired professionals, from all walks of life and many different cultures.” Are you interested in becoming an ENT? Then apply for this program ASAP! |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Midwood, Brooklyn |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Mount Sinai Brooklyn offers a variety of important experiences for aspiring healthcare professionals, from the Emergency Department to the surgical inpatient unit. Most of all, however, MS Brooklyn is focused on community, and is searching for volunteers who want to make a positive impact in that community. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Offering both Basic Science Laboratory Research and Clinical Research, Mount Sinai’s Research Volunteer Programs have everything you need to start your journey on the “bench” side of medicine. Be aware, these program positions are limited. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Upper East Side, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | The Abilities Research Center, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai provides incredible research opportunities for its volunteers, who will “learn about how to create hypothesis-driven research studies using data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Borough Park, Brooklyn |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | We can’t make a list of volunteer opportunities without including Maimonides Health, which boasts one of the largest volunteer programs in the city. Check out their extensive list of volunteer opportunities:
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| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Rivaling even Maimonides, NewYork-Presbyterian’s volunteer program offers positions in areas as varied as the Center for Autism and Developing Brain (CADB) and the Ronald McDonald House Hospitality Cart. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Program Dependent - Kips Bay, Manhattan / Brooklyn |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | The Patient Advocacy Volunteer Program in Emergency Room Services at NYC Langone Health “offers students the opportunity to gain patient interaction experience and learn about medicine through emergency department (ED) observation, approved structured tasks, and a series of monthly lectures.” |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bronx / Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | Volunteer in Emergency Medicine at Montefiore Einstein, and gain critical experience in the field of healthcare. |
| Program | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kips Bay, Manhattan |
| Eligibility Requirements |
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| Description | In the Summer of 2025, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, which is the oldest hospital in the United States, hosted a volunteer program for ten students interested in pursuing a career in medicine. The participants “play a vital role in enhancing Patient Experience by providing non-clinical support, assisting with comfort measures, and ensuring a welcoming environment for our patients and their families.” Check out the website for updates on applying for the program in 2026! |
Learn More:
New York is huge, and the city is home to even more resources available than what we could list here. One resource you'll want to check out is NYU’s extensive list of clinical experience opportunities in Manhattan, including summer programs and more.
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Part 4: Frequently asked questions
Do extracurricular activities cost money?
No. Unless you count college tuition toward the “cost” of an EC, clinical volunteer opportunities from conducting research to shadowing do not coast money.
How many hours of extracurricular activities do you need for college?
Aim for roughly fifteen hours per week, but also keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity when it comes to EC hours (this goes for med school as well). Admissions committees care more about the experiences you had and the lessons you learned than the sheer number of hours you’ve clocked.
How many hours of extracurricular activities do you need for med school?
We recommend a bare minimum of 100 hours, though if you want to be competitive, aim for 300. Check out our Extracurricular Guide for more details.
When should I get started on extracurricular activities?
As soon as possible! Today! Whether you’re a high school student trying to rack up hours for college or a premed undergrad gearing up your first med school application, earning hours and gaining crucial experience in your chosen field will only help your future self.
Final thoughts
Sifting through extracurricular options for premeds in New York City can be a huge challenge, especially when it comes to narrowing down your options. However, with the resources we list in this guide, you can get a head start on your search, ensuring you'll have plenty of experiences for standout med school applications.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For over 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
