Today is a historic one for Pennsylvania and especially Scranton. For the first time in more than 40 years the Keystone State has a new medical school.
With butterflies in their stomachs and years of hard work ahead, future doctors filed into the first day of classes at the new Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton.
"I could barely sleep last night. I was so ready to learn," said Ryan Wilson of Northampton.
"I'm so excited. I've been preparing for this for a long time," said Joe Marchese of Dunmore.
"It's going to be hard but I'm ready for the job at hand," said Jeff Farrell of Pittsburgh.
The job at hand started at 8 a.m. at the college's temporary location, Lackawanna College.
The medical school's president gave a quick pep talk before students started their studies.
Nearly 1,300 people applied but only 65 students were accepted, 40 men and 25 women and the majority of these future doctors is from our area.
"I'm from Green Ridge. I grew up on North Washington Avenue. It's definitely awesome to come home and have something like this going on in the city," said Melissa Rader. "My mom does my laundry still so it's fine!"
The president said what sets this medical school part from all of the others is the fact that students actually do the beginning of their clinical work after a few months of classes whereas other places wait until after the first year.
Some of that hands-on work will include students following a local multi-generational family for four years.
Other experiences will be in the school's clinical and simulation center.
"They'll learn to listen to lungs, listen to hearts to assess our simulated patients just as they would with real patients in real life," explained Maria Olenick of the Clinial Skills and Simulation Center.
With the heavy course work ahead students said it helps to have so much support.
"Everyone here is so receptive of us. They're treating us like rock stars up here in Scranton," Wilson added.
Rock stars who may just end up saving your life one day.
Source
Friday, August 28, 2009
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)