{"id":20973,"date":"2014-07-20T15:09:30","date_gmt":"2014-07-20T19:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=20973"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:49:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:49:58","slug":"ma-in-biomedicine-a-good-thing-in-a-small-package-just-right-for-this-californian-from-a-huge-state-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/ma-in-biomedicine-a-good-thing-in-a-small-package-just-right-for-this-californian-from-a-huge-state-school\/","title":{"rendered":"MA in biomedicine: A good thing in a small package, just right for this Californian from a huge state school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kristie Nguyen knew that Eastern Mennonite University would be smaller than the University of California-Los Angeles, where she\u2019d studied as an undergraduate, and figured that life in Harrisonburg, Virginia, would be considerably different from Orange County in Southern California, where she\u2019d grown up.<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] I didn\u2019t realize how small it was until I got here,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cI actually feel like I know all my profs, which is a first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"
Kristie Nguyen (Photo by Michael Sheeler)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nguyen was a part of the first class to enter EMU\u2019s new MA in biomedicine program<\/a>. She graduated in the summer of 2014, after finishing up an independent study requirement. While she had always planned to become a doctor, Nguyen consciously chose a non-traditional route by majoring in anthropology at UCLA.<\/p>\n

The MA in biomedicine program at EMU, which Nguyen discovered through an online search, offered her the opportunity to retake some undergraduate-level science classes and lay a good academic foundation for med school, she said. Dissecting a cadaver<\/a> in anatomy class \u2013 an opportunity very few aspiring doctors have before their first year in med school \u2013 was one of her highlights from the two-year program.<\/p>\n

Nguyen, who wants to be a pediatrician, began applying to medical school after finishing her coursework at EMU.<\/p>\n

She said the prospect of moving across the country from California was both intimidating and exciting. It was also important to her to study at a Christian university, although she\u2019d never heard of Mennonites and did wonder whether Mennonite beliefs \u2013 whatever they turned out to be \u2013 would be imposed on her.<\/p>\n

At the end of her two-year experience at EMU, she said the worry was unfounded: \u201cIt\u2019s welcoming and it\u2019s very open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spending a few years in a small Virginia city provided a little extra enrichment. During her time at EMU, Nguyen notched her first visit to a pumpkin patch, stretched herself by living far away from friends and family \u2013 allowing her to focus on studying \u2013 and expanded her horizons simply by experiencing life in another part of the country.<\/p>\n

Before she chose EMU, Nguyen had been accepted to four MA programs. She chose the newest one (EMU’s), which meant she benefited from the attention given to the first set of students, but also experienced those organizational bumps typical of a newly opened program. But looking back, she says she would definitely pick EMU again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kristie Nguyen knew that Eastern Mennonite University would be smaller than the University of California-Los Angeles, where she\u2019d studied as an undergraduate, and figured that life in Harrisonburg, Virginia, would ... read more about MA in biomedicine: A good thing in a small package, just right for this Californian from a huge state school<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":20975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4515],"tags":[14854,14652],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-20973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","tag-biomedicine","tag-cadaver-dissection"],"yoast_head":"\nMA in biomedicine: A good thing in a small package, just right for this Californian from a huge state school - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/ma-in-biomedicine-a-good-thing-in-a-small-package-just-right-for-this-californian-from-a-huge-state-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MA in biomedicine: A good thing in a small package, just right for this Californian from a huge state school - 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