How healthcare and biotech recruiting works
Healthcare has no single recruiting season. Drug and device makers open internship applications anywhere from August to December, while hospitals, labs and research roles often hire one position at a time. This guide covers the main roles, how to prepare, a plan for each class year, and what Upwind's catalog shows right now.6,10,29,30
Healthcare and biotechin Upwind’s catalog
- Internship listings
- Full-time listings
- Employers
How healthcare and biotech recruiting works
At drug, biotech and device companies, hiring runs through internships, co-ops and, for new graduates, rotational leadership development programs. Johnson & Johnson, for example, describes internships of 4 to 12 weeks, co-ops of 6 to 12 months and leadership development programs of two to four years.1
Calendars differ by company more than in most fields. Medtronic takes undergraduate internship applications from August 1 to October 13, Pfizer's summer 2027 program takes them from October 5 to November 8, 2026, and Vertex posts its 2027 internships in December 2026.6,5,10
Hospitals, health systems and research labs hire differently again. Career offices describe large hospital systems opening summer cohorts in the winter, individual clinics posting roles continuously, and research and coordinator jobs hiring year-round.30,29
Interviews are often digital. Johnson & Johnson currently holds all its interviews digitally, either a short pre-recorded interview or a live video interview of 30 to 60 minutes, and Medtronic runs a first round in October and a second round, with offers, in November and December.4,6
The main roles
Research and lab science
Run experiments, prepare samples and keep laboratory work accurate and repeatable.19
BLS describes biological technicians as setting up lab equipment, preparing samples, running experiments and recording results, usually with a bachelor's degree in biology or a related field. Students gain that experience through internships with drug manufacturers or in university labs.19
Leading research is a longer path. BLS notes that medical scientists usually hold a PhD, and some hold a medical degree.21
Medical device engineering
Design, test and manufacture medical devices and equipment.20
Biomedical engineers combine engineering with the life sciences, usually starting with a bachelor's degree, and BLS notes that students often do co-ops or internships with hospitals and device or drug makers.20
Device makers hire engineers well beyond design. Medtronic's engineering interns work in research and development, in operations engineering on manufacturing processes, or in quality engineering.7
Clinical research
Coordinate clinical studies: enrolling participants, managing consent and keeping study records.24
Clinical research coordinators schedule participants, oversee informed consent, prepare review-board paperwork and record adverse events, and most positions ask for a bachelor's degree.24
These jobs are a common bridge to medical or graduate school. Career offices describe full-time research assistant and coordinator roles as a paid way to gain research experience during a gap year.28
Manufacturing, quality and supply chain
Make, test and release products under the FDA's quality rules.25
Drug manufacturing runs under current good manufacturing practice: the FDA describes it as requiring strong quality systems, sound operating procedures and investigation of quality deviations. Device makers follow the FDA's Quality Management System Regulation, which took effect on February 2, 2026.25,26
Rotational programs exist for this path. Johnson & Johnson's global operations program runs two and a half years across operations, procurement, quality, planning, logistics and engineering, and counts internships and co-ops toward its experience requirement.3
Business roles at drug and device companies
Marketing, sales, finance and strategy for medical products.
Career offices list commercial and business strategy among the common biotech and pharma internship types, alongside research, data, quality and operations.27
Selling scientific products usually takes a bachelor's degree, sometimes in a field related to the product, and BLS notes that new representatives often train by accompanying experienced ones on sales calls.23
Health administration
Run the business side of hospitals, clinics and health systems.22
BLS describes medical and health services managers as usually holding a bachelor's degree, with employers typically wanting administrative or clinical experience in a healthcare facility.22
Health systems and insurers run their own programs. Cleveland Clinic's undergraduate administrative internship is open to rising juniors and seniors of any major, and UnitedHealth Group says its recruiting generally runs from September to November and from January to March.13,12
What matters and how to prepare
Lab, testing or technical experience
Medtronic's engineering internship prefers prior design, testing, manufacturing, quality or lab experience, and experience writing technical documents such as lab and test reports.7
A résumé, or a CV for research roles
For research applications, list each project with the lead investigator, your title and dates, what you did and what you found. Thermo Fisher's résumé advice: one page, your expected graduation date, keywords from the posting and quantified results.31,11
Know each program's GPA rule
Some programs state a minimum. Pfizer Futures and Stryker both state a 3.0, and Medtronic's engineering internship lists 3.0 as preferred.5,8,7
Stories in the STAR format
Thermo Fisher and career offices both advise preparing behavioral answers with the STAR method: the situation, the task, the action you took and the result.11,27
Clinical paperwork, early
For clinical roles, gather vaccination records and background checks ahead of time, because hospital onboarding can be slow.30
Strategy and common mistakes
Strategy
Apply while windows are open, and early
Many programs review applications as they arrive. Bristol Myers Squibb accepts rolling applications for most of its early-career programs, and Medtronic's undergraduate window closes in mid-October.9,6
Apply without every preferred qualification
Career offices advise applying even when you don't meet every preferred qualification on a posting.27
For NIH, contact investigators directly
Submitting the NIH summer application is only the first step. NIH advises reaching out to individual investigators and pointing them to your application.16
Stay flexible on location
Medtronic notes that flexibility about where you work increases the number of internships available to you.7
Common mistakes
Assuming one deadline fits the field
Healthcare windows open anywhere from August to December. Medtronic's closes in mid-October, while Vertex posts its internships in December.6,10
Skipping the fall career fair
Biomedical engineering career offices advise attending every campus career fair, starting with the fall one, since internships can lead to a full-time job after graduation.32
Planning summer classes around a research internship
NIH summer internships are full-time, so interns cannot take classes during work hours, and NIH does not provide housing.16
Your plan by class year
First-year
Research is the most open door. NIH's Summer Internship Program accepts students enrolled at least half-time in college, and applications for summer 2027 close on January 26, 2027. There is no central selection: individual investigators choose their own interns.16
Campus labs hire too, and career offices note that they recruit at the start of each semester.30
Most corporate internships open a year later. Johnson & Johnson's summer 2027 technology internship, for example, asks that you be at least a sophomore by the start date, though Stryker says it considers freshmen and sophomores who meet its minimum qualifications, including a 3.0 GPA.2,8
What to do this year
Apply to summer research programs
Besides NIH's summer program, NSF funds undergraduate research sites (REUs) in biology, chemistry, engineering and other fields, open to undergraduates who are US citizens, nationals or permanent residents. Each site pays a stipend, picks its own students and usually sets a deadline between January and March.17
Ask to join a campus lab
Labs recruit at the start of each semester, so write to a professor whose work interests you before the term begins, and ask what a new undergraduate would do in the lab.30
Find clinical experience close to home
Career offices suggest building clinical exposure gradually through shadowing and volunteering, and note that you can create your own clinical internship by contacting practitioners and local organizations directly, including your own physician or dentist.28
Sophomore
Several research programs take sophomores. Amgen Scholars is open to sophomores, juniors and non-graduating seniors interested in a PhD or MD-PhD, with a February 1, 2027 deadline, and Mayo Clinic's summer research fellowship asks for a completed sophomore year.15,14
Some corporate programs reach sophomores as well. Medtronic's summer 2027 engineering internship accepts graduation dates through spring 2029.7
What to do this year
Apply to corporate programs that take sophomores
Pfizer Futures asks only that you be a full-time undergraduate with at least a 3.0 GPA, and takes summer 2027 applications from October 5 to November 8, 2026. Johnson & Johnson's technology internship takes sophomores by the start date.5,2
Line up references before winter
Research programs ask for more than a résumé: NSF's REU sites often want a statement of interest, a transcript and reference letters. Ask a professor or lab supervisor in the fall, ahead of deadlines that usually fall between January and March.17
Write to smaller companies and practices
Smaller employers often hire later. One career office's guide puts mid-size biotech and pharma at November to February and startups at January to April, and individual clinics post roles continuously, so a direct note to a smaller local company or practice can find work after the large programs close.29,30
Junior
Junior year is the main corporate internship year, and the windows vary widely. One career office's guide puts large biotech and pharma at August to October, mid-size companies at November to February, startups at January to April, medical technology at September to February, and providers and payers at September to November, peaking from December to March.29
Specific programs show the spread: Stryker begins recruiting summer interns the September before, and Pfizer's summer 2027 program takes applications from October 5 to November 8, 2026.8,5
What to do this year
Apply to the large programs by mid-fall
Large drug and device makers close early: Medtronic's undergraduate window ends in mid-October and Pfizer's on November 8, 2026. Keep a list of each employer's dates, because they differ widely.6,5
Keep applying after the fall deadlines
Mid-size companies, startups and health systems recruit later. One career office's guide has provider and payer hiring peaking from December to March, and Stryker recruits on a rolling basis into early March.29,8
Treat this summer's internship as your interview
Johnson & Johnson says its co-op participants often move into full-time roles or its leadership development programs, and biomedical engineering career offices note that an internship can lead to a full-time job after graduation.1,32
Senior and new grad
Rotational programs recruit in the fall for the following year. Johnson & Johnson recruits co-ops and leadership development programs in the fall for roles that start the next year, and career offices say new-grad programs wrap up by winter.1,29
Research, quality, manufacturing and clinical roles are often filled one at a time, throughout the year.29
Planning a gap year before medical or graduate school? Career offices say most research assistant and coordinator jobs are posted in the spring, and NIH's postbaccalaureate research program takes applications year-round.28,18
What to do this year
Apply to rotational programs in the fall
Johnson & Johnson recruits its leadership development programs in the fall for the following year, and Stryker starts recruiting for its rotational programs in September. Your internships and co-ops count: J&J's global operations program counts them toward its experience requirement.1,8,3
Watch for roles that open one at a time
Research, quality, manufacturing and clinical jobs are often posted individually through the year, so follow the employers you want and apply soon after a role appears.29
What Upwind’s catalog shows
These figures come from a read of Upwind’s catalog on October 3, 2026. 18% of healthcare and biotech listings state a deadline between October 2026 and March 2027; the rest don't state a deadline, say applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, or name a later date. October 2026 holds more of those deadlines than any other month: 35% of them.
When stated deadlines fall
Share of listings with a stated deadline between October 2026 and March 2027, by month.
| Month | Bar | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Oct | 35% | |
| Nov | 34% | |
| Dec | 22% | |
| Jan | 4% | |
| Feb | 0% | |
| Mar | 4% |
Read the chart as one slice of a long season. Healthcare employers open their windows anywhere from August to December, and many research and clinical roles hire year-round, so check each employer's own page as well.6,10,29
The catalog files drug makers, device makers, diagnostics companies and care providers together under this field, which is why the employers below range from pharmaceutical companies to a pharmacy chain.
- Bayer
- Stryker
- CVS Health
- Boston Scientific
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Gilead Sciences
Counts are rounded down, and they count listings: one role posted in three cities is three listings. We can’t guarantee every listing is current, so confirm dates on the employer’s own site before you apply.
Sources
- Johnson & Johnson. Early-in-career programs at J&J: Internships, apprenticeships, co-ops and LDPs explained. Published March 4, 2026.
- Johnson & Johnson. Technology 2027 Summer Internship.
- Johnson & Johnson. Global Operations Leadership Development Program.
- Johnson & Johnson. How we hire.
- Pfizer. Pfizer Futures.
- Medtronic. Early Careers.
- Medtronic. Engineering Intern – Summer 2027.
- Stryker. Getting to know Stryker: Student and graduate programs in North America. Published August 7, 2025.
- Bristol Myers Squibb. Internships & Co-ops.
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Internships.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific. Early Talent Resources.
- UnitedHealth Group. Early careers.
- Cleveland Clinic. Undergraduate Administrative Internship Program.
- Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Application Process.
- Amgen Scholars Program. United States – Amgen Scholars.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Intramural Training & Education. Summer Internship Program (SIP).
- US National Science Foundation. NSF REU: Information for Students - NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates.
- National Library of Medicine. Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Awards (IRTAs) Program.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Biological Technicians: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Medical Scientists: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Medical and Health Services Managers: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales Representatives: Occupational Outlook Handbook.
- O*NET OnLine, US Department of Labor. Clinical Research Coordinators (11-9121.01).
- US Food and Drug Administration. Facts About the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP).
- US Food and Drug Administration. Quality Management System Regulation (QMSR).
- Harvard University, Mignone Center for Career Success. Breaking into Biotech & Pharma: Summer 2026 Recruiting. Published November 14, 2025.
- Harvard University, Mignone Center for Career Success. Getting Experience.
- Yale University, Office of Career Strategy. Hiring Timelines.
- University of Michigan, University Career Center. Health Career Track.
- University of Connecticut, Office of Undergraduate Research. Undergraduate Research CVs and Résumés.
- Purdue University, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. Internship Program.