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In the pink


Skidmore’s pre-med and other health studies are thriving, popular, and on the grow BY SUSAN ROSENBERG


UNDER A TENT on barren dirt, a doctor in a ball cap and exam gloves looks over a young boy while his brother and mother wait their turn. They need medications for parasites they’ve picked up from the local water. Also the mom gets gynecological screenings and the kids get lessons in tooth-brushing. College students help set up, handle intakes, and observe operations at these mobile clinics for needy communities in the steep, rocky outskirts of Lima, Peru.


That was last year’s spring break for 10 Skidmore students on a medical mission with the nonprofit Med Life. With the prospect of trips like that, no wonder Skidmore’s Pre-Med Club is growing. More than that, though, the rising populari- ty of health sciences is fueling such opportunities for more and more students.


The 2012 Peru trip followed up on a 2011 mission to Hon- duras. Pre-Med Club activities have also included alumni pan- els and networking (a very popular event with career-minded students), guest speakers, and other visits. For this year’s co- president Julie Ochs ’14, shadowing clinicians in Peru “gave us not only the opportunity to learn about health care in an- other country but also a unique experience to see firsthand the importance and results of what we’re studying.” While the student club is just a few years old, Skidmore’s faculty-based Health Professions Advisory Committee has


18 SCOPE FALL 2012


been at work since the 1960s. Chemistry emeriti Paul Walter and Eleanor Samworth were early chairs, and biologist Bernie Possidente has chaired it for the past 15 years. The charter purpose of college HPACs was to give institutional impri- maturs to students’ applications at medical schools. Skid- more’s HPAC has enlarged its purview to advising a wide range of students on everything from course choices to life goals, facilitating internships and job shadowing, and sup- porting applications to medical, dental, nursing, and other graduate programs, including veterinary.


“When I started,” Possidente says, “the natural sciences at Skidmore were relatively small and just starting to grow.” In recent years, Skidmore has boosted its recruitment and admis- sion of science-minded students while also improving facili- ties and expanding academic programs in the natural sci- ences. At the same time, more science students across the


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