You keep hearing that research looks good. Nobody tells you what a high schooler can actually research. You do not have a lab. You do not have patients. So what is left?
Quite a lot, it turns out.
The topics below come from the Research section of our project ideas library, which lists 117 ideas across nine categories. This post pulls out the research ones and shows you how to turn one into a question you can genuinely answer. If you want the bigger picture first, read what healthcare projects a high school student can do.
Jump to section - What counts as a research topic - The topics - Turn a topic into one research question - What you actually need - Keeping it safe - What to do with your finished work - FAQ
Direct answer: A medical research topic is a question you answer with evidence, not opinion. Pick something specific, use published data or a small anonymous survey, and finish with a short paper. The twelve topics below all work from a desk, with no lab and no special access.
What counts as a research topic
A research topic has three parts: a question, a source of evidence, and an answer you can write down. If one of those is missing, you have a subject, not a project.
It is not a campaign or a volunteering project
Running a mental health awareness week at your school is a campaign. Volunteering at a clinic is service. Both are worth doing. They are just not research. Research asks a question and answers it with evidence. A campaign tries to change something.
It ends in something written
A research project finishes as a paper, a poster or a presentation. That written piece is the point. It is proof you asked a question and followed it through.
It is small enough to finish
"Is social media bad for mental health?" is too big. "How much do students at my school use social media, and how do they say it affects their sleep?" is a question one student can answer.
The topics
All twelve come from the Research category of the project ideas library, where each one has a full step-by-step guide. Levels match the library: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.
| Topic | The question you would ask | What you would use | Level | Grades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting time analysis | How do hospital waiting times differ across regions? | Your country's published health service data | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Telemedicine literature review | What do published studies say about video appointments versus in-person care? | A literature search | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Student mental health survey | How do students at my school feel about the support available? | An anonymous survey | Intermediate | 11 |
| Antibiotic resistance trends | How have resistance rates changed over the past decade? | WHO datasets (UK example: PHE, find the equivalent where you live) | Advanced | 11-12 |
| AI diagnostic accuracy review | How accurate are AI diagnostic tools compared with doctors in published studies? | A literature search | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Disease risk prediction model | Can a simple model predict disease risk from public health data? | A public dataset and basic Python | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Vaccination uptake study | How do vaccination rates vary across my area, and what might explain it? | Published local health data | Intermediate | 11 |
| Maternity outcomes comparison | How do maternity outcomes compare across hospitals? | Published hospital statistics | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Social media and mental health | How much do my classmates use social media, and how do they say it affects them? | An anonymous survey | Intermediate | 11 |
| Hand hygiene interventions | Do reminders change how often students wash their hands? | A before-and-after survey | Intermediate | 11 |
| Air pollution and respiratory admissions | Do respiratory hospital admissions rise when air pollution does? | Open air-quality and hospital data | Advanced | 11-12 |
| Long COVID in young people | What do published case studies say about long COVID in people under 25? | A literature search | Advanced | 11-12 |
How to pick your level
Beginner means you can start this week with no new skills. Intermediate means you will need basic statistics or survey design. Advanced means a longer project with more moving parts. There is no prize for picking the hardest one. Pick the one you will actually finish.
Turn a topic into one research question
A topic becomes a project when you can say your question in one sentence. Here is how that looks in practice.
Notice what she did not do. She did not try to prove reminders work. She did not promise a result. She picked a question she could answer honestly either way.
What you actually need
No lab. No special equipment. For every topic in the table, you need three things.
- A computer and internet access, for published datasets and papers.
- A spreadsheet. Excel or Google Sheets both work.
- A teacher who will read your plan and your draft.
For the disease risk prediction model, you will also need basic Python. Most of the data you need is already public. Health services publish waiting times, vaccination rates and hospital statistics. The WHO publishes global datasets. Your job is to ask a good question of data that already exists.
Keeping it safe
Some topics involve asking people questions. That changes the rules.
If a project involves surveys or interviews about anyone's health, run it with a teacher or parent involved, ask permission first and keep every answer anonymous.
A few more ground rules. Stick to published data or anonymous answers. Never collect names with health information. Do not try to diagnose anyone or give anyone medical advice. And if your findings surprise you, talk them through with a teacher before you share them.
What to do with your finished work
A finished project is a paper, a poster or a presentation. Keep your question, sources, methods and limitations with it. Our guide on building a pre-med portfolio in high school shows where research fits. You can also read the pre-med profile guide for the broader picture.
You can also show it. Our Student Project Showcase is where finished student work goes. If you want to take a public health question further, the Global Pre-Med Challenge has a public health track for Grades 8 to 12. And if you want to build a bigger project with someone guiding you, the Future Doctors Fellowship includes a capstone project built with a Harvard student mentor.
FAQ
Do I need a lab to do medical research in high school?
No. Every topic in the table above is desk-based. You work with published data, published papers or anonymous surveys. A literature review or a data analysis counts as real research.
How long does a research project take?
Plan for a few weeks to a term, depending on the level. A short literature review is quicker than a before-and-after survey. Pick a question small enough to actually finish.
Can I do research if I am in Grade 9 or 10?
Yes. Start with an Intermediate topic from the table and a question you can answer with one dataset or one short survey. You can always take on a bigger question later.
What if my data does not show what I expected?
That is a normal result, and you can write about it honestly. Say what you looked for, what you found, and what you would try next. That is what researchers do.