Judson science department celebrates graduates’ successes

We’ve been celebrating successes for a long time,” said Thomas Wilson, head of the biology department at Judson College. “For a small college, we’ve been very successful in helping our students get into graduate programs they’ve applied to and, for most of them, to the number one school on their list.”
   
Wilson and George Williams, division chair for the science department and professor of chemistry, took time recently to recount some of these successes.
   
“I use the phrase, ‘minimum requirement,’ deliberately,” Wilson said. “For the past 30 years, every student who has met the minimum requirements in this department has been successful in graduate study.”
   
He defined minimum requirement with an example. 
   
In the pre-med curriculum, requirements include a 3.5 grade point average or better, a score of 24 or above on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), having “shadowed” a physician to learn from him or her, some hours of community service and a recommendation from the college.
   
Wilson admitted some students don’t meet the minimum requirements and either “batten down the hatches” and get serious about their career goals or change majors.
   
“I think a positive about Judson is that George and I and our colleagues take a personal interest in our students and help them with their career planning,” Wilson said. 
   
“This isn’t true in other places that have a career counselor who does all this himself of herself,” he said. “We specialize, in this place, in individual attention.”
   
The current student/teacher ratio at Judson is 10-to-1.
   
Williams noted that William B. Deal, retired dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medical School told him, “Judson College has a sterling example for preparing young women for medical school.”
   
Wilson and Williams listed recent successes in their department: 
   
• Megan Pilarczyk, class of 2003, of Graceville, Fla., has been accepted to the doctoral program at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., as a research assistant.
   
• Carrie Helton, class of 2004, of Shiloh, Ga., to the UAB public health master’s program.
   
• Sara Beth Bush, class of 2005, of Pinson to UAB medical school.
   
• Jamie Bludsworth, class of 2005, of Ozark to the Kansas City School of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri.
   
• Amanda York, class of 2005, of Cullman and Jessica East, class of 2005, of Meridianville to the Harrison School of Pharmacy at Auburn University.
   
• Ashley Upton, class of 2005, of Albertville to the UAB toxicology doctoral program as a research assistant.
   
• Joanna Metcalf, class of 2005, of Union Grove and Christina Ryan, class of 2005, of Robertsdale to the UAB doctoral program in physical therapy.
   
• Rebecca Givens, class of 2004, of Mobile to the Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans.
   
• Alicia Creel, class of 2005, of Birmingham and Dani Cooper, class of 2005, of Weogufka to nursing school.
   
Judson’s success in the sciences should draw students to the school, Wilson believes. “All who teach in this division — science and math — are accountable to the school and the students. We’re grateful to see our students do well here at Judson and doing well in their graduate degree program and careers.” (JC)