30 HS students spend their summer at Cooper Medical School's MEDacademy

CAMDEN, N.J. (WPVI) -- More than two dozen high school students spent their summer working on research projects they hope will propel them into a future as doctors and scientists.

"Last year, I actually had a surgery on my heart," said Victoria Milano, Paul VI High School.

And that's when Milano, a high school senior, decided she wanted to be a doctor.

"Interacting with the nurses, seeing the physicians doing their job, it made me know what I wanted to do," she said.

So this summer she didn't shy away from this rigorous program at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden.

Like the 29 other students at Med Academy, she wanted to get a closer look at what it means to be a doctor.

On Friday, they presented their final projects.

Their research ranged from hot topics in the news like Ebola and child vaccinations to the future. For instance, ambulance drones are now being tested in the UK.

"It carries like a defibrillator to a person in a remote area and it gets there in a minute," said Damon Briggs, St. Augustine Prep.

Faculty here say this four week program is the first of its kind in South Jersey.

Students attend lectures and get hands-on demonstrations.

"In the morning we'd talk about the GI tract and in the afternoon we'd actually go in and look at it," said Briggs.

What surprised many students, and interested them, is the sheer amount of knowledge they have to learn.

"You need to know what symptoms are for a disease, but you need to know on a molecular level what the cells are actually doing," said Darshan Kalola, Deptford Township High School.

"I think, in many respects, we hoped this would be eye opening to them, not to frighten them but actually excite them," said Paul Katz, Dean of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.

Their research projects took a lot of hard work and there's more of that to come if these students want to become doctors. But they tell me they're ready for it.

"It's a lot more difficult than it looks but it's definitely something I want to do," said Milano.