APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi » 2008 Winter, Volume 2, No. 3 » A Voice of Our Own: The Birth of a Student Council

A Voice of Our Own: The Birth of a Student Council

Debbie Dao, Institutional Representative (2007-08), University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

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In 2002, second-year MD/PhD student Marlene Mathews decided that it was time that the MD/PhD program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) had its own student council. She was struck by the fact that the MD/PhD program is "fragmented by its very nature," particularly in graduate training when students separate into their respective departments and have little chance to interact with other students in the program. Marlene notes, "the medical and graduate schools [had] always had student councils, but this was lacking for MD/PhD students," who have unique needs. It was time to "take initiative in building a [more cohesive] community."