Hands-on exploration

Research

Dickinson’s campus overflows with opportunities to explore life sciences through research. To support research projects, our science professors have won an exceptional number of foundation and government grants, ranking third among 136 undergraduate schools for grant awards per science faculty member.

This funding allows us to constantly improve our science curriculum and purchase top-caliber equipment giving:

• Chemistry students the use of research-grade instruments
• Physiology students the ability to conduct operations in a surgical suite
• Molecular genetics students the opportunity to gather evidence from mock crime scenes to conduct DNA analysis
• Advanced biology students access to macroarray technology to examine the genetic causes of leukemia
• Neuroscience students the opportunity to investigate the effects of drugs on rat behavior.

Lotte Bonneau ’06 performs an experiment in an organic chemistry lab.

Recently, Dickinson joined top Pennsylvania research universities on two multimillion dollar projects related to medicine: A study of cancer subtypes to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment, and a program to reduce racial/ethnic and socio-economic disparities in health care. Our students are active in both projects.

Many science students get paid to conduct summer research in their major fields of study. In addition to grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, The Mellon Foundation and The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, students can apply for Dickinson’s Dana Research Assistantships for summer and academic-year work with faculty.

Scholarships

Dickinson offers several competitive scholarship opportunities for pre-health students. The college currently stands as one of 40 schools nationwide—including only five liberal-arts colleges—to receive funding from the prestigious Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation to support undergraduate scientists.

For students planning to attend medical, dental and veterinary programs, Dickinson has two merit scholarships: the Forney P. George Scholarship (awarded in the sophomore or junior years) and the Mohler Prize (awarded to a graduating senior accepted to medical school).

Advising and Career Services

The Dickinson Career Center offers advising services tailored for students pursing medical careers. The Committee for the Health Professions, composed of six teaching faculty and a graduate/professional school counselor from the Career Center, serves as the foundation of Dickinson’s Pre-Health Program. Unlike other small liberal-arts colleges, where one person oversees pre-health advising, this committee draws professors from chemistry, biology, physics and psychology/neuroscience.

These dedicated faculty work with you every step of the way to explore options in medicine. Pre-health advisers guide you in choosing courses, activities, summer jobs, scholarships and research opportunities. And they help you consider the big picture—how to develop a back-up plan in case you don’t get into your first-choice school, or if you decide not to go to medical school right after graduation.

Internships

Many medical schools expect students to spend a certain number of hours on site at a clinical practice. The Career Center can help you get a jump on those hours through the Medical Shadowing Rotation Program, an intensive 10-week mentoring program with local health care professionals. Current rotation sites include ophthalmology, pediatrics, surgery, physical therapy, obstetrics, plastic surgery, neonatology, microbiology, oncology and emergency-room services.

Dickinson Works, our networking program, gives students access to alumni in medical fields. Students find internships with alums in doctors’ offices, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms and government research labs.

Ashfaq Bengali, associate professor of chemistry, briefs, from left, Sunita Jadu ’07, Janaki Chinnaswamy ’06 and Alexandria De Aranzeta ’07 in the new nanotechnology lab.

Pre-Health Society

The student-run Pre-Health Society organizes question-and-answer forums with health care practitioners, review sessions, field trips and other activities to acquaint pre-health students with health-related careers.

Recommendations

Recommendations are a crucial part of the application process for graduate study in health fields. At the end of each semester, pre-health committee members encourage their advisees to obtain performance evaluations from their professors and internship supervisors. The Career Center keeps these evaluations on file for life, and the pre-health committee uses them in preparing letters of recommendation, an evaluation tool that’s required by most medical-school admission committees.

For qualified students, the committee writes a recommendation letter that is included in the student’s medical-school applications.

Global Education

Dickinson has long been a leader in global education. Our 14 study-abroad centers and various semester- and summer-long programs allow students to become global citizens. Nearly one half of the science majors who graduated in the class of 2005 studied abroad. With careful planning, many pre-health students study at our science-based programs at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England and at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Dickinson alums: In their own words

Back to Admissions