HPAIR — Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations
For Aspiring Middle School Future Doctors

Junior Doctor Fellowship

Six medical mysteries. Three weekends. One future doctor.

Saturdays & Sundays, 9:00–10:30 AM EDT. Roleplay specialists, diagnose mystery patients, explore body systems, and discover careers beyond the white coat — then present your capstone project at Demo Day. Grades 5–8, Harvard student mentor.

🚀 Cohort 1: Dec 19 – Jan 3, 2027🚀 Cohort 2: Mar 20 – Apr 4, 2027🚀 Cohort 3: Jun 19 – Jul 4, 2027🎓 Harvard Student Mentors🎒 Grades 5–8📅 3 Weekends
Upcoming cohorts📅 Cohort 4: Oct 9 – Oct 24, 2027
Apply for Fellowship, $499Book a Meeting
3 Weekends · 6 Sessions◆Sat & Sun 9:00 - 10:30 AM EDT◆Harvard Student Mentors◆15–20 Students Per Cohort◆A New Mystery Every Session◆Hands-On Activities◆Casebook Portfolio◆Capstone Presentation◆Weekly Parent Reports◆3 Weekends · 6 Sessions◆Sat & Sun 9:00 - 10:30 AM EDT◆Harvard Student Mentors◆15–20 Students Per Cohort◆A New Mystery Every Session◆Hands-On Activities◆Casebook Portfolio◆Capstone Presentation◆Weekly Parent Reports◆
🎓Harvard undergraduate facilitators
🔬Medically accurate case content
👥15–20 students per cohort
📋Casebook portfolio every student keeps
🌍Students in 12+ countries
The design philosophy

Medicine is not a subject.
It is a way of thinking.

Children at ages 11–14 don't learn medicine from slides. They learn it from mysteries, activities, debates, and the thrill of cracking a case. Every session is a new puzzle — and they can't wait for the next one.

There is a patient. There are clues. There is an activity that makes them feel like real doctors. And at the end — a Casebook they built themselves, presented at a Medical Conference. That's the Junior Doctor Fellowship.

"The best moment isn't when a student gets the diagnosis right. It's when they're in the middle of a debate, forget they're in a class, and start arguing like a real physician defending a case."

— Junior Doctor Fellowship curriculum design note
1
A new mystery every week
No single case dragged across three weekends. Every session opens a fresh case — variety keeps middle schoolers hooked and gives them a win every week.
2
Activities, not lectures
Roleplay, debates, outbreak mapping, competitive games. Students learn by doing — never by watching slides.
3
Patients are people
Every patient has a name, a family, and fears. Medicine is a human profession. We build that instinct from the very first session.
4
Build toward a capstone
Every week's deliverable adds to their Junior Doctor Fellowship Casebook — a real portfolio they present at the Week 6 Medical Conference.
The six mysteries

A new case every session. Each one unforgettable.

Six self-contained medical mysteries. Each session has its own patient, its own twist, and a hands-on activity that makes students feel like real doctors. Complexity builds — and in Session 6, they present everything.

Sess
1
🩺Welcome to Medicine

Theme: What does it mean to be a doctor? Understand different careers in healthcare, learn what 'pre-med' means, and begin thinking about why medicine matters in everyday life.

Sess
2
🎨Choose Your Project

Theme: Turn an idea into a health project. Choose a final project topic connected to medicine, health, the human body, or community care.

Sess
3
🔍Medical Mystery Case

Theme: Think like a doctor. Learn how doctors use symptoms, patient history, and evidence to make a diagnosis.

Sess
4
🧠The Gross but Cool Human Body

Theme: Body systems and surprising science. Explore major body systems and understand how the body works together to keep us alive.

Sess
5
🥼Beyond the White CoatPlot twist week

Theme: Different paths in medicine and science. Medicine includes many careers beyond being a doctor — research, public health, nursing, therapy, engineering, and global health.

Sess
6
🎓Demo Day and CelebrationCapstone

Theme: Present your work and celebrate. Present your final project, answer questions, and reflect on what you learned about medicine and healthcare.

Cohort Schedule

A rigorous 3-weekend path.
Every Saturday and Sunday.

The program runs across three focused weekends. Each day is a dedicated 90-minute live interactive session, guided by a Harvard student pre-med mentor.

🌐 09:00 AM – 10:30 AM EDT⏰ 06:00 PM – 07:30 PM GST (Gulf)⏰ 07:30 PM – 09:00 PM IST (India)
Dec 19 – Jan 3, 2027
Weekend 1Dec 19 – 20, 2026

Welcome & Project Kick-off

Healthcare careers, pre-med foundations, and choosing a capstone health project topic.

Sat · Dec 19 · Session 1Healthcare Careers
Welcome to Medicine
  • •Healthcare roles & specialists
  • •What 'pre-med' really means
  • •Deliverable: Career interest reflection
Sun · Dec 20 · Session 2Project Formulation
Choose Your Project
  • •Brainstorm 3 health project ideas
  • •Peer feedback circle (I like / I wonder / You could add)
  • •Deliverable: Project planning worksheet
Weekend 2Dec 26 – 27, 2026

Clinical Reasoning & Anatomy

Diagnose a mystery patient case, then explore the body systems that keep us alive.

Sat · Dec 26 · Session 3Clinical Diagnosis
Medical Mystery Case
  • •Symptoms & patient history clues
  • •Medical team diagnostic reasoning
  • •Deliverable: Diagnostic clues reflection
Sun · Dec 27 · Session 4Anatomy & Systems
The Gross but Cool Human Body
  • •Major organ & immune systems
  • •Body system commercials in teams
  • •Deliverable: Labeled body systems worksheet
Weekend 3Jan 2 – 3, 2027

Career Exploration & Scientific Showcase

Discover careers beyond the white coat, then present capstone projects to peers and Harvard mentors.

Sat · Jan 2 · Session 5Career Exploration
Beyond the White Coat
  • •Research, public health, therapy, global health
  • •Career card spotlight — 1-minute team explainers
  • •Deliverable: Career interest reflection
Sun · Jan 3 · Session 6Scientific Presentation
Demo Day & Celebration
  • •3–5 min capstone showcase
  • •Peer & mentor Q&A
  • •Deliverable: Graduation & Certificate Ceremony
Every session · Saturday & Sunday

How a Junior Doctor Fellowship session runs.

Every 90-minute session follows the same rhythm — designed to maximize discovery, activity, and fun. The facilitator is a conductor, not a teacher.

0:00–0:10
🔍
Cold Open
No greeting. No admin. Straight into: "Here's your patient. What do you notice?"
"Never start with 'Today we're going to learn...'"
0:10–0:25
📋
The Case Drop
New mystery revealed. Read dramatically. Pause. Let them react before anyone speaks. Hand out the clues.
"Confusion is productive."
0:25–0:55
🎮
Activity Time
The session's hands-on activity: roleplay, debate, outbreak mapping, diagnosis game. Every student participates.
"If they're not doing something, redesign the session."
0:55–0:80
📝
Casebook & Peer Review
Students write up findings in their personal Casebook, share clinical reasoning with peers, and defend their diagnosis.
"Individual thinking and debate are non-negotiable."
0:80–0:90
⚡
Facilitator Q&A & Teaser
Deconstruct the case study with clinical rationale, direct mentor feedback, and a teaser for the next mystery.
"Start thinking about what you'd do if..."
What students build

Skills that no classroom teaches.

🧠
Clinical reasoning
Generating, ranking, and defending a differential diagnosis. The core skill of medicine — learned through practice, not memorization.
Differential diagnosisEvidence evaluationHypothesis testing
🔬
Medical knowledge
Body systems, lab interpretation, clinical vocabulary — all learned in context of real cases, not abstracted into textbook lists.
Body systemsLab basicsClinical vocab
🎤
Case presentation
Presenting a case clearly under pressure, defending under live questioning, and changing position when new evidence demands it.
Oral presentationMedical writingDebate skills
⚖️
Medical ethics
Autonomy, beneficence, justice — not as definitions, but as real tensions in real cases. Students argue both sides of genuine ethical dilemmas.
Patient autonomyPublic healthEthical reasoning
🎯
Intellectual flexibility
The ability to abandon a theory when evidence demands it. The ethics debate in Week 4 is designed specifically to build this.
Cognitive flexibilityMetacognitionBias awareness
❤️
Patient empathy
Every patient has a name, family, and fears. Students don't solve cases — they help people. The instinct for empathy starts from session one.
Patient perspectiveWhole-person viewCommunication
📊
Evidence integration
Distinguishing symptoms, signs, and test results. Understanding which evidence is more reliable — and why it matters for diagnosis.
Data literacySource evaluationCritical thinking
🌟
"Why medicine?" clarity
Every student who completes the program can answer "Why do you want to be a doctor?" with something authentic — not rehearsed.
Self-awarenessCareer clarityNarrative foundation
Your child's facilitator

A Harvard pre-med student who is living this path right now.

Junior Doctor Fellowship facilitators are not former doctors or academic advisors. They are current Harvard undergraduates on the pre-med track — navigating the same pathway your child aspires to, right now.

That's the difference. They know what medical school admissions officers read last month. They know what clinical experiences matter in 2025. They know what the MCAT tested last semester. No advisor 15 years out of school knows these things with the same currency.

Spotlight Mentor
★ Cohort Leader
AS
✓

Anika Sharma

Harvard College · Class of 2026

Focus Area
Neuroscience & Molecular Bio
Research
Neuroscience at HMS
Background
Dubai (Gulf Journey Expert)
Experience
4 Cohorts Facilitated

Deeply familiar with the Gulf family's journey toward US medical school. Passionate about guiding young minds to unlock clinical reasoning and collaborative medical problem solving.

Neuroscience ResearchUS MD PathwayGulf Cohort ExpertHarvard Pre-Med
What facilitators actually do
Roleplay the case characters
Facilitators voice the patient, the parents, the school nurse — making the investigation feel real and urgent.
Challenge every answer
The facilitator never confirms if a student is right. Instead: "What evidence made you go there?" — keeping reasoning active.
Manage the student who figures it out early
When a student gets the answer fast, facilitators redirect without confirming — using them to elevate the group.
Write the qualitative assessment
After Week 6, every facilitator writes a 3-sentence assessment of how the student thinks — shared with parents.
Brief parents weekly
A 3-sentence email after every session: what happened in the case, what the student contributed, one thing to ask your child.
Pricing & Pathway

One cohort. Six mysteries.
The beginning of a 7-year journey.

The Junior Doctor Fellowship is the entry point to the Future Doctor track. Most families start here and continue through the Masterclasses and Fellowship programs.

Included in the Fellowship

→6 live interactive sessions (90 mins each) with Harvard pre-med mentor
→15–20 student cohort — mixed grades 5–8 together
→6 unique medical mysteries — a new case every session
→Hands-on activities every session: roleplay, debates, games
→Personal Junior Doctor Fellowship Casebook — built session by session
→Session 6 Medical Conference with capstone presentation
→Weekly parent brief after every session
→Qualitative assessment + Certificate of Completion
→Priority enrollment in Masterclass or Fellowship
The FDP pathway — where Junior Doctor Fellowship leads
Junior Doctor Fellowship
Now · $499
Masterclass
Grade 8 · Free
Future Doctor Fellowship
Grade 9–10 · $850
Full Track
Grade 9–12 · $10K
SCHOLARSHIP PRICING
$499
$899
per student · 3 weekends · 6 sessions
Limited to 15–20 students per cohort
Cohort 1 begins Saturday, Dec 19, 2026
Cohort 2 begins Saturday, Mar 20, 2027
Cohort 3 begins Saturday, Jun 19, 2027
Cohort 4 begins Saturday, Oct 9, 2027
Priority enrollment in Masterclass / Fellowship
Includes Certificate & qualitative Harvard mentor report
Apply for Fellowship, $499
Secure checkout. Installment options available at cohort confirmation.
Questions from parents

Every question we get asked.

My child has no science background. Is that okay?+
Completely okay — and expected. The program is designed for students who are curious about medicine, not students who already know it. Medical concepts are introduced through cases, not as prerequisites. A student who doesn't know what a white blood cell is will figure it out because they need to for the case.
How is this different from a summer science camp?+
Science camps teach science. The Junior Doctor Fellowship teaches how doctors think. A science camp teaches about bacteria. We put your child in a role where they have to figure out which bacteria caused an outbreak, interview the patient, debate the ethics, and present their findings. The reasoning skill is the product, not the knowledge.
What's the time commitment per weekend?+
Two sessions per weekend, 90 minutes each (Saturday & Sunday 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM EDT). There is no separate homework, as students update their Casebook directly during live sessions.
My child is in Grade 5 — will they keep up with Grade 8 students?+
Yes. Grade 5 is the youngest eligible grade, and the program is designed for mixed grades 5–8 together. Each mystery is accessible to a 10-year-old but challenging enough for a 14-year-old. The activities and discussions benefit from age diversity — older students model reasoning, younger students bring fresh perspectives. It works like a real medical team.
What does the Certificate of Completion mean for college applications?+
At this stage, it's not an application document — it's a foundation. The real value is the Casebook portfolio, the qualitative assessment from a Harvard student mentor, and the entry into the FDP track. Students who start here and continue to Fellowship build a Harvard student mentor relationship over 4–6 years.
What happens if my child misses a session?+
Sessions are recorded and shared within 24 hours. Since each day is a different mystery, missing one session doesn't derail the others. Students who miss can review the case materials and still complete their Casebook entry. Our target is 5 of 6 sessions attended.
Is the program available in Arabic, Hindi, or other languages?+
Sessions are in English — the language of medicine globally. For Gulf and India cohorts, facilitators are familiar with the linguistic context and explain concepts with cultural sensitivity. We're developing bilingual case materials for select markets.
Meet Your Mentors

Harvard students. Real ones.

Every cohort is led by current Harvard undergraduates pursuing medicine, neuroscience, and global health. Not tutors. Not actors. The students med schools admit.

Enaya Ahmad
Harvard '26

Enaya Ahmad

Neuroscience & Chemistry · Global Health minor

Senior at Harvard College. Researches brain tumor biology in the Shakhnovich and Rabkin Labs (senior thesis). Physics Teaching Fellow at Harvard Extension School and Director of Operations & Technology for Harvard Model Congress Middle East. Humanitarian Affairs Intern at the United Nations.

Jessica Zhuo
Harvard '27

Jessica Zhuo

Neuroscience · Mind, Brain, Behavior track

Junior at Harvard College. Researches deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics (Brigham & Women's / Harvard Medical School). Volunteer EMT with Harvard CrimsonEMS and co-president of the Asian American Women's Association.

Rohan Tyagi
Harvard '27

Rohan Tyagi

Neuroscience & Computer Science

Junior at Harvard College. Researches neurodegenerative disease mechanisms at the Yankner Lab (Harvard Medical School). Teaching Fellow for introductory neuroscience and active mentor for first-generation pre-med students.

Han
Harvard '26

Han

Human Developmental & Regenerative Biology

Senior at Harvard College. Researches stem-cell-based therapies at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Peer advisor for pre-med concentrators and contributor to the Harvard College Global Health Review.

Six mysteries. Three weekends.
One unforgettable start.

Cohort 1: Dec 19, 2026 · Cohort 2: Mar 20, 2027 · Cohort 3: Jun 19, 2027 · Cohort 4: Oct 9, 2027. Limited to 15–20 students per cohort.

Apply for Fellowship, $499