PIPS Program Experience

Students spend 30 hours per week in the PIPS program. These hours are divided between the following aspects of the PIPS program:

Research Experience

Students spend 23 hours per week working on their research project. All students are paired with a faculty mentor and research lab within the area of maternal and child health to complete a research project during the program. This research project will be completed under the mentorship of the faculty mentor and members of the faculty’s research team, including lab staff, postdoctoral scholars, and students. Students complete a research poster, which summarizes their research project and they present their research project during the Poster & Family Symposium at the end of the program (described below).

PIPS Curriculum

Students spend 6 hours per week together as a cohort in interactive workshops learning how to conduct research, exploring a wide variety of career paths available in science and medicine, and developing leadership skills. Students also participate in hands-on workshops on preparing for college applications, including how to make a college list, how to complete the college application, and navigating the financial aid process.

Near Peer Mentor Program

A unique feature of the PIPS program is our Near Peer Mentor (NPM) program. All PIPS students are paired with 2-3 NPMs, who are Stanford undergraduate, graduate, medical students, residents, and fellows from diverse backgrounds. PIPS students meet with their NPMs weekly for 1 hour to discuss their progress in the PIPS program, learn about their interests and goals, and share about their own journey into college and careers in medicine. PIPS alumni rate the NPM program as one of their favorite components of the PIPS program!

Poster & Family Symposium

The culmination of the PIPS program is the Poster & Family Symposium where our PIPS students prepare a professional-format scientific poster summarizing their research project and present their research for feedback from our Stanford Pediatrics research community. 

PIPS student family members are also invited to the Symposium, which is an event to celebrate our students and allow family members to see the work students have completed over the past 6 weeks!