Alumni Research Spotlight: Dr. Rachel Ranson (‘21) Dr. Rachel Ranson (‘21) was the first Campbell Medicine student to receive Honorable Mention from the AACOM Student Researcher of the Year Award. Dr. Ranson took a gap year as an MS-III to participate in a research year at New York University’s Orthopedic Surgery Department and is now in residency for orthopedic surgery at George Washington University in Washington, DC. She recently shared the details of her experiences with medical research before and during medical school that she believes were instrumental in her receiving Honorable Mention as well as her continued work while in residency. “I would like to thank Dr. Craig Fowler for telling me about the AACOM Research Award and for mentoring me regarding the required letters of recommendation, personal essay and CV of my research. Dr. Fowler also advised me through the process of seeking a research gap year, and I was very fortunate to get accepted to NYU for a 2019-2020 research year where I gained significant research experience. “There were hundreds of applications, a winner, the runner up, and a handful of honorable mentions. To be among those who received Honorable Mention was amazing because a huge component of the award criteria is osteopathic – ‘how is your research helping osteopathic students?’ Unfortunately, I hadn’t published anything of that nature yet, even though I’m working on it now, I was really honored that they respected my drive and what I’m doing.” WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO APPLY FOR THE RESEARCH YEAR AT NYU? I went to medical school to be an orthopedic surgeon. I really knew what I wanted to do. I was obviously open to other things, but in my heart, I knew that’s what I wanted. So, I tried to get involved in some research, but it was difficult to get ortho specific research without a home [Campbell affiliated] ortho program.
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Doctor Fowler showed me an article about gap years research years. A lot of allopathic students have been doing this, and he suggested I pursue one. It was really hard to grapple with taking a year off - knowing you are putting another year between you and graduating losing a year of pay. But, I decided if it can solidify a spot in something I know I want to do, I’ll do it, and then I got the most amazing opportunity.
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