Special Opportunities
If you’re planning to enter a health profession, you’ll need a lot more than strong academics.
At Elmhurst, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to gain real-world experience, conduct relevant research and much more.
Seminars and Workshops
Each year, the Russell G. Weigand Center for Professional Excellence brings in a variety of professionals and alumni to lead workshops and speak on a number of different topics. One week you might attend a lecture on ethics presented by a leading medical ethicist, and the next, you could participate in a workshop on preparing your application for professional school.
We also hold a Health Professions Fair, which is an outstanding opportunity to meet representatives of top-level professional schools and other health-related organizations.
Clinical Experiences
Elmhurst offers plenty of opportunities to gather real-world knowledge. You’ll have health care related experiences at some of the nation’s leading hospitals, laboratories and organizations, and you’ll have extensive shadowing opportunities.
- You might organize a blood drive or offer health screenings at an area homeless shelter.
- You might shadow during an open heart surgery or participate in a semester-long clinical experience in your field of interest.
- You might conduct research in the United States or abroad.
Research Opportunities
Elmhurst University offers plenty of opportunities to participate in faculty research—and design your own projects.
Recent Projects
- A study of the epidemiology of West Nile Virus, focusing on how the virus affects North American bird species and the role migrating birds may have played in introducing the virus into new regions of the United States
- A community project focusing on smoking prevention and cessation
- A study of the risk factors associated with speech-language and hearing disorders in children
- A comparative analysis of split-brain syndrome
- An investigation of the viability of salmonella cells in the environment
Elmhurst students also are regularly involved in summer laboratory research programs on campus and at local research labs or medical facilities.
Clubs and Organizations
Elmhurst sponsors chapters of several organizations and honorary societies geared toward students pursuing health fields.
- National Student Speech, Language and Hearing Association
- Student Nurses Association
- Pre-Veterinary and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
- Pre-Dental Club
- Aspiring Rehabilitationists Club (OT, PT, athletic training, and more)