So you are nearing the end of your application season. You have spent years completing prerequisite courses, engaging in thoughtful and philanthropic extracurricular pursuits, preparing for the MCAT, and of course submitting primaries, secondaries and interviewing at your desired medical schools. Maybe you have multiple letters of acceptance in hand; maybe you have not yet received your fat envelope. But there is one school that has stolen your heart. And unfortunately, your love might be unrequited.
Casey Paton, BS, MA, is a first year medical student at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. She graduated from Cornell University in 2015 with a degree in Human Biology, Health and Society and four years of biomedical research experience. She earned a Master of Arts degree from Fisk University, analyzing the effects of oxidative stress on dopamine neuron degeneration. She has worked as a Research Assistant at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, studying the epigenetics of learning and memory. Casey has been the recipient of two national research fellowships including the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship. She is an enthusiastic power lifter, distance runner, and a Certified Personal Trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine. Casey is passionate about basic science research and hopes to lead her own research lab in the future.