Experience Donation & Transplantation Beyond the Classroom

June 8 – July 29, 2027 | Waltham, Massachusetts

8 weeks | 30–35 hours/week | $6,500 stipend

The Galen V. Henderson, MD Medical Student Summer Program is an 8-week, stipend-supported, OPO-led immersive experience that introduces medical students to the full continuum of organ and tissue donation and transplantation.

Students learn through direct clinical and community experiences; conversations with regional, national, and international leaders; interactions with donor families, transplant candidates and recipients, and living donors; and opportunities for optional mentored scholarship.

No prior experience in donation or transplantation – or intention to pursue a transplant-related specialty – is required.

Why the Henderson Program?

Organ donation and transplantation bring together medicine, surgery, critical care, ethics, public health, policy, communication, and some of the most consequential conversations physicians have with patients and families. Yet most medical students receive limited exposure to donation and transplantation during their training.

The Henderson Program was created to provide that exposure early in medical education.

Rather than experiencing donation and transplantation from a single clinical perspective, Henderson students learn about the entire continuum – from public education and donor registration through donor referral and evaluation, family conversations, organ and tissue recovery, allocation and utilization, transplantation, and the experiences of patients and families.

The goal is not simply to encourage students to pursue careers in transplantation. It is also to prepare future physicians across specialties to better understand donation and transplantation, communicate accurately with patients and families, appreciate the ethical and human dimensions of donation, and recognize the important role physicians play in supporting donation and transplantation.

What You Will Experience

Donation in Action

See organ and tissue donation and transplantation firsthand.

• Observing organ and tissue recoveries
• Accompanying NEDS recovery surgeons to donor hospitals and the NEDS Donor Care Center
• Learning about donor evaluation and management, organ allocation and placement, machine perfusion, and emerging recovery practices
• Shadowing transplant teams in outpatient and inpatient settings
• Attending virtual transplant candidate selection and organ utilization meetings
• Observing transplant and living donor surgery
• Participating in a corneal wet lab
• Participating in simulated family donation conversations
• Spending time in the NEDS Operations Call Center
• Participating in clinical learning sessions based on recent donation cases

These experiences allow students to see how clinicians, OPO professionals, transplant programs, donor hospitals, patients, and families work together across a complex donation and transplantation system.

Learn From Leaders – and From Patients and Families

Students participate in interactive seminars and conversations with professionals from across donation and transplantation, including transplant physicians and surgeons, OPO leaders, critical care specialists, infectious disease physicians, ethicists, researchers, policy experts, and other national and international leaders.

The program also emphasizes learning directly from the people most affected by donation and transplantation. Donor family members, transplant candidates and recipients, living donors, and tissue recipients share their experiences and perspectives with students throughout the summer.

These conversations provide perspectives that cannot be learned from textbooks or clinical observation alone.

Connect With Communities

Organ donation begins long before a donor referral. Public understanding, trust, communication, and opportunities to register as donors all influence the donation system.

Students work alongside NEDS Public Affairs and community engagement professionals and may participate in public education, donor registration initiatives, community events, multicultural outreach, and other public-facing activities.

Through these experiences, students explore how culture, communication, health equity, public trust, and community partnerships influence attitudes toward donation.

Optional Mentored Scholarship

Students interested in scholarship may pursue a mentored project related to organ donation or transplantation. Projects may involve:

• Data or health services research
• Quality improvement
• Program development or evaluation
• Ethics or policy
• Evidence synthesis or reviews

Projects are matched to student interests, experience, available mentorship, and what can reasonably be accomplished during the summer.

Prior research experience is not required, and participation in a scholarly project is optional.

Hear From Our Students

What is it really like to spend a summer immersed in organ donation and transplantation?

Henderson students enter the program with different backgrounds, interests, and career plans. Many begin with little formal exposure to donation or transplantation. Over 8 weeks, they learn from clinicians and OPO professionals, patients and families, community leaders—and one another.

“The Connect to Purpose sessions offered the rare opportunity for us as medical students to learn from incredible patients and donor families that were willing to be vulnerable and share tremendous knowledge from their experiences.”

“This program exposed me to such meaningful experiences. I’ve appreciated the honest conversations we’ve had about the history and current state of organ donation. The sincerity of the people involved in this work has only deepened my passion for donation advocacy even more.”

“The organ recovery cases were exceptional and unique to the program. The NEDS surgeons are excellent examples of leadership, teachers, and team members. They stand as models for the kind of surgeon I hope to become. Seeing them in action, organizing a team, finding calm in chaos, while respecting the humanity of the donor and spending the time to teach us was awe-inspiring.”

“The mission, power, and purpose of organ donation are truly encompassed throughout this program. It not only exposes students to the medical aspects of organ donation but also allows us to understand the full picture of the process from patient referral to transplantation while learning directly from people working in each of these areas of the field.”

Meet Our Henderson Students

2026 Cohort

Callie Gu, University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Class of 2029

Linzsey Lyle, University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine, Class of 2029

Rincon Jagarlamudi, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2029

Emerald Wong, University of Massachusetts T.H. Chan School of Medicine, Class of 2029

Mia Haynes, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Class of 2029

Silvana Varela Benavides, Tufts University School of Medicine, Class of 2029

Adwik Rahematpura, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2029

Harsimar (Sima) Ahuja, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Class of 2029

2025 Cohort

Jamie Bozeman, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Class of 2027

Riley Cable, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Class of 2028

Ria Goyal, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2028

Lila Medeiros, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Class of 2028

Vivian Nguyen, Harvard Medical School, Class of 2027

Aspen Pierson, Tufts University School of Medicine, Class of 2028

Alison Yong, University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine, Class of 2028

Honoring Galen V. Henderson, MD

The program honors the life and legacy of Galen V. Henderson, MD, former Associate Medical Director of New England Donor Services and a respected neurointensivist, educator, mentor, and leader at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Henderson was deeply committed to medical education, mentorship, inclusion, compassionate patient care, and organ donation. Throughout his career, he created opportunities for students and trainees, particularly those who might otherwise have had limited access to mentorship and professional development.

The Henderson Program carries that commitment forward by creating opportunities for medical students to learn from patients and families, clinicians, community leaders, donation professionals, and one another.

Apply for the 2027 Henderson Program

Applicants must:

• Be enrolled full-time and in good standing at an accredited U.S. medical school.
• Be a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident, or U.S. noncitizen national.
• Be available to participate fully in the program from June 8 through July 29, 2027.

Prior experience in organ donation, transplantation, or research is not required.

Students do not need to be considering a career in transplantation or a transplant-related specialty to apply.

While some priority will be given to students attending medical school in New England, we encourage applications from students attending any accredited medical school in the United States.