The sciences at Cabrini are a leading department. You need to look no further than the state-of-the-art Iadarola Center to see the technology and learning experiences that await science majors in all fields from biology to chemistry and everything in between.
But for science majors, how do you channel the learning into a degree?
Dr. Sherry Fuller-Espie, chair for the science department, said that with the new experiences that have come with the Iadarola Center, students are gaining even greater knowledge in the field when it comes to research.
“There are so many things you can do with a degree,” Espie said. “It used to be that a majority of our students would go straight into entry-level positions. Now we have a lot of students that go to graduate school. They don’t stop at Cabrini, they go on to masters programs and doctoral programs.”
Two Cabrini alumni from the class of 2011 have entered such programs. Both Tim Nacarelli and Frank Bearoff are currently enrolled at Drexel in Ph. D programs working toward further education.
Espie explained that students tend to go this route because it not only leads to better opportunities but because it also improves the likelihood that students get employed later.
“Today’s baccalaureate degree in biology or chemistry is like yesterday’s high school degree,” Espie said. “It seems like more and more employers are looking that you need to get more training in an area.”
Not many students at Cabrini further their education in medical schools. But the ones that do tend to get additional education first. Espie said that it medical schools are looking for well-rounded students.
“Another trend we’re seeing in our department is that a lot of our students are doing a master’s degree and then applying for medical school,” Espie said. “More and more medical schools are accepting their applicants at an older age. They are looking for maturity. They are looking for worldly experience.”
Since moving from Founder’s Hall to the Iadarola Center in 2005, students have been able to get much more experience hands-on in the sciences. Espie said that by obtaining more lab space and expanded the classrooms for science classes, students have pursued more in research and taken their career expectations to another level.
These new opportunities are created by new technology and thus provide science grads with more opportunities in the future.
But it has also changed the career paths of many science grads. It is rare to see them enter into the job market right away. More pursue further education first.
“What we’re seeing is because we have this beautiful facility and the students are able to do research in our labs, that it’s changing their career choices and changing what they are doing,” Espie said.
