Prospective Students

The Keck School of Medicine of USC offers a rich, structured pathway for medical students to engage in research throughout their training.

Students can explore projects through the Scholarly Project requirement, summer programs, and elective research rotations, or take a dedicated research year as a Dean’s Research Scholar.

Keck provides extensive mentoring resources, workshops, and office hours to help students find mentors, design studies, and present at the annual Medical Student Research Forum.

Funding is available for summer research, travel to conferences, and competitive grants, while specialized support includes biostatistics help, IRB guidance, and emerging tools like AI for research.

Overall, Keck integrates research into every phase of medical education, preparing students to think critically, contribute to scientific discovery, and embody the school’s “Physician–Citizen–Scholar” mission.

Student in lab holding a pipette and smiling at camera

Student presenting a research poster at a conference

DRS Student Group during a DRS get together

Students holding their rolled up posters smiling

A student presenting research at the Keck Medical Student Research Forum

Girl sitting at panelist table speaking with an audience member and smiling

Medical student stands by scientific poster at a conference

Judge and student talking and smiling in front of poster

Student in graduation regalia looking at the camera smiling

Tyler Gallagher was awarded the 2024–2025 Irving I. Lasky, M.D., Memorial Award. “My research focuses on epidemiology, disparities, and patient-centered outcomes within all of otolaryngology but particularly within head and neck cancer. Some of my more notable research has investigated the association between cannabis use and head and neck cancer, disparities in diagnosis and treatment of anxiety and depression among head and neck cancer survivors, and discovered a survival advantage of treatment of anxiety and depression among head and neck cancer survivors. The disparities I saw between LA General and Keck made me interested in epidemiological research, and my own history of otolaryngologic surgeries made me interested in the field. I am excited to continue my research as an otolaryngology—head and neck surgery resident at USC/LA General Medical Center”