Joseph Giordano

Current Position: Thomas Jefferson大学Sidney Kimmel医学院的医学生

I've always been interested in science; however, 我一开始学的是护理专业，一年级就学完了. For the next three years, I fast-tracked Biology.

My end goal was to attend medical school, and I thought I could do this via a nursing major, but it turned out that the prerequisites did not match up. Nursing was just too specialized to fit everything.

I was drawn into Biology after talking to Dr. Barbieri, the medical school advisor at GMercyU. 她为我列出了所有的选择，让我走上了正确的道路——这是我非常感激的.

Biology was just the best fit for my goals. 然而，它最终成为一颗未经雕琢的钻石，我度过了一段美好的时光. I can't say enough about GMercyU's STEM staff. 他们对学生的关心和对学科的了解是无与伦比的.

Experience in Biology Program

GMercyU的生物学课程因其优秀的，无与伦比的员工而脱颖而出. The professors truly care about students. 气氛是一种友谊和导师，而不仅仅是老师. 校友们经常回来拜访，我认为这种情况短期内不会改变.

由于学生人数较少，教授可以提供个性化的帮助. 在我自己的经历中，我在大学三年级的时候生了一场重病. 我不得不休息很长一段时间，并与大学就退学一事进行了反复磋商. 我能留下来完成这一年的唯一原因是教授们愿意和我一起工作，并彻底改写了我这一年的计划. 最后，我完成了作业，这是我成绩最好的一个学期.

This outcome was no miracle; it was because the professors in GMercyU's Biology program are excellent. At a bigger school, this scenario would have never happened, and I would have been forced to withdraw. 即使在另一所规模较小的学校，这种事情发生的可能性也很低. 这次经历确实说明了生物学/STEM教授对学生和他们的成功的关心.

我还发现，小学校的感觉让我可以轻松地与领导职位高于我的人或任何上级交谈. 这种适应环境对社交技能有极大的好处——这是不可低估的.

As far as professors who stood out in particular, the Biology program truly had no weak points in teaching. 生物学的所有教授都很优秀——实验室、研讨会等等. I am especially thankful for Dr. Barbieri because she was my advisor and kept me on track.

在本科期间，我做了很多摆脱电子游戏mg官方网站糖尿病视网膜病变的研究. My lab studied the metabolic processes in this disease state, 尤其是那些与氧化应激/应激途径有关的. I am a co-author on one article from this time. 今年夏天，我目前在同一实验室担任实验室技术人员.

Life Outside the Classroom

At GMercyU, I played lacrosse, 曾任学生科学协会(SAS)会员及副会长, and participated and was a mentor for the E-STEM program. 我还做了一些志愿者项目和相当数量的工作见习.

Playing lacrosse was awesome. It certainly made time management much more difficult, 但它教会了我一些宝贵的教训，并让我结交了一些世界上最好的朋友. The clubs and programs I was a part of were also awesome. I had a blast in both SAS and E-STEM. E-STEM在培养道德批判性思维(可以说是医学中最重要的东西)方面的价值具有独特的影响力。.

Mercy Focus on Haiti

Mercy Focus on Haiti是GMercyU Bio在我大四那年才开始帮助我的项目，但这是一个非常棒的倡议. After going back and forth with the Sisters of Mercy in Haiti, 我们决定把时间花在帮助海地的母鸡身上是最好的. This was a program with the goal of raising chickens for eggs in Haiti; however, in the past, the hens had become malnourished and died. 我们的目标是找出缺少的营养成分以及如何补充这些营养成分.

I grew up in a small farming town, 所以我在业内联系了一些人，了解母鸡需要什么. 我们想出了一些可以使用的简单的鸡饲料食谱. When COVID hit, communication became greatly limited, 自疫情开始以来，我一直没有听到任何消息. This is something that deeply saddens me. 当世界上发生的苦难并不在你家门口时，你很容易把自己从苦难中解脱出来. 我认为这个项目和其他类似项目的影响有助于向人们展示真正的需求.

I'm sure, in some ways, this has made me a more compassionate person; however, 我不确定从个人利益的角度来看待这件事是否正确. I just hope they are doing well there, that tensions with war are slowing down, peace is spreading, 母鸡的问题解决了，市民就可以吃上新鲜的鸡蛋了. 我认为所有的学生都应该参与这样的项目，以帮助他们了解并不是每个人都像我们在GMercyU的学生一样富裕.

Post-Graduation Journey

在大四和毕业后，我申请了医学院. 这个申请是一个漫长的过程，包括为MCAT学习, a primary application, a secondary application, and interviews. 自毕业以来，我也一直在做工作见习，在实验室做过园林绿化和实验室技术员.

Currently, 我打两份工，等待着在费城托马斯·杰斐逊的西德尼·金梅尔医学院开始医学院的学习.

The Biology professors at GMercyU are world-class. 不要害怕和你的教授成为朋友，因为最好的导师是你可以信任的人. 无论你的目标是什么，这些教授都会真诚地关心你的成功. 根据我的经验，他们会尽其所能帮助你实现这些目标. This support is something super rare at the college level. The benefit of it can't be understated.

At GMercyU, you are not just a number, you are a person. 如果你想建立有意义的联系，而不是仅仅通过课程, choose GMercyU.