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Experiences and Opportunities

1. Student Research Opportunities

Many Knox students engage in independent research and other creative projects. Outstanding students may elect to undertake College Honors in their senior year, carrying out an advanced research project. Some students will even present their work at national or international conferences. Here are a few recent projects by pre-health students:

  • “Effects of Curcumin on ApoE Expression and Cell Morphology in C6 Glioma Cells,” Akash Patel ‘21, biochemistry major (pre-medicine).
  • "Sympathy vs. Empathy in Family Owned Dogs", Caitlin Hemby '16, biology major (pre-veterinary medicine). 
  • "The Role of Fear in Conditioned Sexual Arousal of College-Aged Women", Florina Corpodean '16, neuroscience major (pre-medicine). 
  • "Investigation of Physical Properties of Liquid Crystalline Copper(II) m-Toluate Dimers", Daniel Hong '16, chemistry major (pre-medicine).
  • "Measurement of Extreme Hyperfine Fields in Two-Coordinate High-Spin Fe2+ Complexes by Mössbauer Spectroscopy: Essentially Free-Ion Magnetism in the Solid State", Bryan et al., Inorganic Chemistry 2014(53): 12100-12107, Annelise Hablutzel '16, physics major (pre-medicine).

2. Off-campus Study

Knox offers you plenty of opportunities to begin exploring the world while still a student. Almost 50% of Knox students participate in off-campus study and consider their studies abroad to be the highlight of their college experiences. Off-campus programs of interest to pre-health students include:

  • Oak Ridge Science Semester
  • DAAD Research Internships in Science and Engineering 
  • DIS Denmark: Medical Practice and Policy, Neuroscience, or Biomedicine
  • DIS Stockholm: Medical Practice and Policy, Translational Medicine, or Public Health
  • FIE London: Spring Quarter Health Option (Policy, Ethics, and Genetics in Healthcare and Nursing)
  • IES London: Health Practice and Policy 

Visit the Stellyes Center for Global Studies to discover more opportunities to study abroad in the area of medicine, public health, and health policy or to explore international internships and volunteer opportunities.

3. Shadowing

Pre-health students often shadow local doctors and health practitioners in Galesburg or their hometowns. Here are a few of our students' recent internship and shadowing experiences, arranged with assistance from the Bastian Family Career Center:

  • Undergraduate Research Intern, Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont, California. Rosemary Momoh '17, chemistry and computer science major (pre-medicine).
  • Veterinary Intern, Southwest Veterinary Service, Durango, Colorado. Bonne Matheson '17, biochemistry major (pre-veterinary medicine).
  • Physical Therapy Job Shadow, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Hannah Steele '16, psychology major (pre-physical therapy).
  • Pulmonary and Critical Care Job Shadow, OSF Health Care, Galesburg, Melissa Wollmer '15, biology major (pre-medicine).
  • Vascular Surgery Job Shadow, Northshore University Health System, Chicago. Leandra Knapp '14, physics major (pre-medicine) and Maggie Brick ‘18, anthropology and sociology major (pre-medicine).
  • Student Athletic Trainers, Knox College Athletics. Drew Diaz '14, chemistry and sports medicine major (pre-medicine) and Nolan Interial '15, biochemistry major (pre-medicine).
  • Hospice and Palliative Medicine Job Shadow, OSF Health Care, Galesburg. Hatim Mustaly '13, neuroscience major (pre-medicine).

4. Service Opportunities

The Galesburg area is home to one hospital, as well as a number of physical therapy and health clinics, hospices, nursing homes, and community health organizations. The Kleine Center for Community Service coordinates additional service opportunities for Knox students within the Galesburg community and service opportunities are also available through a variety of student clubs on campus.