Student Opportunities

The following student opportunities are housed within NSU's Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the NSU Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, Department of Biology.

Student Opportunities

The Clinic Exploration Program (CEP) offers students the opportunity to shadow medical professionals on the job in many of NSU’s medical and health clinics. Program participants gain a broad perspective that shows how various medical fields work together and a practical, up-close review of several medical career options. 

 All undergraduate students may take part in CEP, no matter what major they pursue. Each rotation lasts two hours per week, for three weeks. 

 Who Can Participate 

Any NSU undergraduate student in good standing who wants to participate in CEP must: 

  • have a 3.0 GPA or higher 
  • be registered for classes 
  • complete OSHA and HIPAA trainings 
  • be curious about various health professions 
  • conform to scheduled assignments, dress codes, and other professional responsibilities 

How to Enroll 

  • complete the Clinic Exploration Program Application  
  • schedule and complete OSHA blood-borne pathogen safety training 
  • take HIPAA Privacy and Security training 
  • Students are offered the opportunity to participate in CEP each semester. Registration for the program is open during the previous semester. 

Participating Clinics 

  • Athletic Training 
  • Audiology 
  • Dentistry 
  • Internal Medicine 
  • Optometry 
  • Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine 
  • Pediatrics 

  • NSU Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Clinic

Nova Southeastern University provides foundational study in core and emerging disciplines and technologies to prepare students for graduate and professional study, career development, and responsible citizenship.  While producing highly educated graduates, undergraduate students will benefit from the basic science/clinical researchers and research opportunities exhibited by medical centers listed below. The internship allows for intercampus and institutional interaction in scientific research disciplines whereby young scientists gain exposure, direction and guidance during their developing career paths. 


Who Can Participate 

  • Participants will be limited to undergraduate students with the rank of JUNIOR or SENIOR in the semester following the summer internship.
  • Candidates must submit a completed application with 3 letters of reference (two science and one non-science reference), have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (overall) and 3.0 (basic sciences). 
  • The student must have satisfactorily completed Organic Chemistry and one other upper level biology course (Microbiology or Cell and Molecular Biology).
  • A transcript of grades or the CAPP report equivalent for all applicants shall be required.
  • Strong emphasis will be placed on the candidate’s personal statement and desire to seek a career as a basic science/clinical researcher AND explore another culture. 

Participating Centers: This unique collaboration and joint project between the Halmos college of Natural Sciences and Oceanography at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and:

  • Spain
  • Medical University of Graz, Austria
  • MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas
  • Harvard Medical School/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA

How to Enroll 

Students are offered the opportunity to participate in internship programs every summer. Registration for the program is open during the prior fall semester.

Access the pre-health advising site for more information and resources.

Annual Trick to the Treat of Research and Internships 
Come and learn about the research and internship experience from your fellow NSU Biology Students  

Health Professions Career JourneysCome and hear from professionals in health-related fields. Many of our presenters were biology students here at NSU. You can also register for a mock professional/graduate school style interview  

Ocean Science Research Symposium 
An opportunity to showcase your research and hear from graduate students and researchers in the College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography 

Undergraduate Symposium 
A Research Symposium where undergraduate students present their work in a variety of fields 

TEDxNSU – Talks by Faculty and Students TEDxNSU occurs every winter semester 

Mako - Undergraduate Student Journal Submit your paper to our very own journal designed to showcase undergraduate research 

Outreach

  • Julie Torruellas Garcia working with the NSU Chapter of American Association of University Women to share STEM-learning activities with girls in this Broward County School. More information can be found here and by contacting Dr. Torruellas Garcia.

This is a program where NSU faculty, students, alumni and friends are able to develop hands on science lessons to share with grade school children (grades K-12). The first step in being able to volunteer with this group is to become a Broward County Public Schools volunteer by completing the application and contacting Dr. Aarti Raja and Dr. Emily Schmitt Lavin.

Description of the Science Alive! Program

Additional outreach opportunities are possible at the NSU Library as part of the STEM Outreach Program

Every year Dr. Deanne Roopnarine and her students bring Physiology lessons to local grade school students. This is part of the larger program sponsored by the American Physiological Society.

Read about the program.

Dr. Mahmood Shivji and Dr. Matthew Johnston
Shark Tracking projects and conservation efforts are highlighted through the NSU Guy Harvey Research Institute and a real time shark tracking website. 

Student Organizations

Advisor: Dr. Emily Schmitt  

ASBMB is devoted to building a national community of undergraduate students and faculty members for the advancement of biochemistry and molecular biology research, education and science outreach. The Society’s mission is to provide networking and career-development opportunities at regional and national levels, access to research and science outreach, as well as grants and awards to facilitate these aims.

Advisor: Dr. Omar Eldakar  
HOSA is an organization that prepares students for health professions by enriching our members with responsibility, information regarding the medical field and leadership skills. Events that past HOSA members have sponsored or done are raise money for certain diseases, run blood drives, gain medical field internships and prepare our members for national and regional HOSA competitions. These competitions have given our members a chance to receive awards and scholarships. There are a fundamental amount of qualities and objectives that one can acquire by joining HOSA. This includes long term friendships, preparation for the future and aspiration to be the best that one can be. 

 Advisor: Dr. Mir Saleem  

A Pre-Professional health organization for undergraduate students pursuing all kinds of health professions related to Pediatrics. The purpose of this organization is to help undergraduate students pursuing a career in pediatric medicine become more involved and aware of what the position entails. Through various volunteer opportunities, discussions with physicians and patients, and working closely with the Graduate Pediatrics club; the members of this club will hopefully get a sense of direction as to what specific pediatric field they would like to pursue, and how to make themselves better candidates when applying into Graduate School. In addition, hopefully some way can be found to help set up the students in the club with volunteering and shadowing opportunities. Through shaping medical professionals and helping children, this club hopes to leave its mark at Nova Southeastern University and touch the hearts of many children. 
 

Advisor: Dr. Mir Saleem  

Our mission is to help families achieve greater freedom from the constraints of poverty, empowering them to live healthier lives. Our patients did not choose to be poor, but they have chosen to strive toward a better life; MEDLIFE stands beside them in this pursuit. We aim to achieve this goal through partnering with motivated individuals in poor communities working to improve their access to MEDs: Medicine, Education and community Development. MEDLIFE believes access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. To this end, we commit our time, resources, knowledge and hope to bring Medicine, Education and Development to Low Income Families Everywhere. MEDLIFE believes that in order to improve the overall health and welfare of families and communities in need, a comprehensive approach is needed. With this goal in mind, MEDLIFE seeks to deliver aid through three broad avenues: Medicine, Education, and Development. 

Advisor: Dr. Deanne Roopnarine 

The Multicultural Association of Pre-Health Students (M.A.P.S.) is an organization that serves to enhance the placement of pre-health students into all health care fields through the provision of professional networking, development, as well as exploration opportunities to aid in the preparation of members for professional health programs. Our nature as a multicultural organization means that we remain socially conscious of the cultural disparities in the medical profession and health care that unfortunately still exist today. Our goal is to provide knowledge, skills, and experience for pre-health students who have aspirations of entering a health-related profession

Advisor: Dr. Paul Arena  

Nature Club is an organization that promotes green choices on campus and is all about getting students out into nature. Nature Club is dedicated to making NSU's campus and community more aware of Florida's native flora and fauna through education and hand on experience in hiking, snorkeling, and camping. Members of Nature Club enjoy things such as our annual turtle release, beach clean-up, invasive species removal, BBQ's, and so much more. Nature Clubs mission is to educate the campus and the community about the environment. Nature Club strives to help protect the environment through volunteer work with other environmental agencies, animal protection, and activist organizations, doing research and different events on campus. Above all, Nature Clubs goal is to preserve our environment and protect wildlife by awareness through education, so that others may be empowered to do the same. 

Advisors: Dr. Mark Jaffe and Dr. Katie Crump  

Our objective is to familiarize students with the various specialties within the field of dentistry and to provide them with helpful knowledge and resources. We are aimed at helping students to become better applicants when applying to dental school. The NSU Pre-Dental Society is an undergraduate organization directed towards helping you get into Dental School

Advisors: Dr. Mark Jaffe and Dr. Deanne Roopnarine  

The mission of the Pre-Medical Society at Nova Southeastern University is to benefit ourselves as a group, educationally and socially, by involving every member in as many medically-oriented opportunities as possible and to assist in each student's journey toward an esteemed profession in the medical field. The mission of the Pre-Medical Society at Nova Southeastern University is to benefit ourselves as a group, educationally and socially, by involving every member in as many medically-oriented opportunities as possible and to assist in each student's journey toward an esteemed profession in the medical fiel

Advisor: Dr. Mark Jaffe  

Pre-SOMA is the only undergraduate pre-medical organization focused exclusively on Osteopathic medicine and directly affiliated with the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). To promote osteopathic medicine, its philosophy and ideals, and to create an environment for undergraduate students interested in medicine to learn more about the profession. 

Advisor: Dr. Aarti Raja 

NSU Public Health and Education Outreach Club (PHEO) is an organization for NSU students interested in a career in the fields of health care or public health. The goal of this organization is to educate its members and other students at NSU about the field of public health, what constitutes public health, how it affects our lives every day and how we can contribute towards it. The organization will also work with our local community to educate and improve our community’s overall health. Members of PHEO will strive to educate the NSU student body and Broward County on how to live a healthy lifestyle through inviting guest speakers to the NSU campus and having yearly events such as health fairs, and other community outreach events. The purpose of PHEO is to educate the NSU student population on how to live a healthy lifestyle, as well as the Broward County community. This organization will also educate its members on the field of public health and the opportunities that this field holds.

Advisor: Dr. Santanu De  

Student Research Society (SRS) works to connect students with research on NSU’s campus and beyond. The group helps students connect with researchers and develop the skills needed for research. SRS also assists students in learning about research workshops and conferences. 

Advisor: Dr. Katie Crump  
 

Beta Beta Beta is a National Honor society specifically for biology majors . The mission of Tri-Beta is to promote scientific research and interest in the many fields of biology. Improving the understanding and appreciation of biological study and extending boundaries of human knowledge through scientific research. 
 
Students have been published in the National Tri-Beta Journal, Bios 

Natalie N. Negrón: 
The Student's Forum: How internships changed my life: advice from one pre-med to another 

Amal Bhullar: 
The Student's Forum: My experience in the pursuit of the all-encompassing biology research 

Kaitlin Donovan:  
Service learning in science education: a valuable and useful endeavor for biology majors 

NSU Chapter President: Dr. Veronica Fortino

Student Scholarships

Information on scholarships are available here.