Rosalind Franklin University Campus Visit

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, home of one of the only 11 accredited PathA programs in North America (9 in the US). This school and Wayne State have been my top choices, as they are the nearest. Most of the other programs are on the East Coast, a little too far and unfamiliar for me, though I may still apply to one or two.

This was my first campus visit to any of the PathA schools, though I did go to an info session of sorts for the health science programs at Wayne. Overall, this was a fantastic experience. An admissions counselor gave a presentation about the school and its offerings, as well as application information and tips. The most intriguing part about the school was the interprofessional focus - it's a relatively small school and only houses health science programs such as medical, pharmacology, psychology, PA's, etc, so it seems the community of students is tight-knit both in and out of the classroom. Students in one program take classes with students of another (where there is crossover, of course, like anatomy), and there are even interprofessional courses where you learn to work with other disciples directly, learning how each profession would approach a case. I would expect it gives students a more holistic view of medicine, and a greater ability to work in teams. It reminded me of my days in advertising - so I'm hoping I can use that as an edge in my applications!

Me being a nerd

Another thing that struck me about RFU was the namesake herself - she's everywhere! If you don't know about Rosalind Franklin, educate yourself - she is best known for her research on the structure of DNA, though you may not even know that because Watson & Crick are in the textbooks. As a woman in science at that time, she wasn't as respected, and her lab partner basically slipped them her notes behind her back, and they got all the credit. But my inner feminist digresses - it's actually very awesome how the school has embraced her legacy and turned it into a model for education. And because I'm a nerd, it's cool how it influences other things - there's a part of the building with a giant DNA double helix!!

We also went on a campus tour. All of the buildings are connected - fantastic news for someone like me who HATES being in the cold in the winter! They have a really neat SIM lab, which has super fancy robot patients that can be controlled to have symptoms and squirt blood. Fortunately I will not be learning patient care (at least, live patients!) so  I won't have to worry about that. But I did get to see the cadaver lab!

Overall, I was very impressed, and I'm very excited about the prospect of attending RFU. After this tour, it's definitely my number one prospect right now. Everyone cross your fingers for me!

Instead of the usual Harry Potter quote, I'll leave you with one by Rosalind Franklin herself:

"Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated. Science, for me, gives a partial explanation for life. In so far as it goes, it is based on fact, experience and experiment."