Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale offers a great graduate training experience. Some of the main areas of focus are metabolic and vascular biology, multiple myeloma, receptor signaling, molecular modeling, and cancer research. The smaller campus offers a close-knit feeling in which you interact with post-docs, technologists, and students from the other labs on a daily basis. You also get to know the principal investigators very well and can ask them for advice. Everyone is very friendly and willing to offer their expertise when trouble-shooting.

As for living in Scottsdale, I could not have made a better choice. I enjoy the beautiful sunsets and the surrounding mountains for hiking after a long day in the lab. Arizona is a beautiful state that has the Grand Canyon and is just a short trip to San Diego or Las Vegas. Mayo Graduate School offers a three-day visit to Jacksonville or Scottsdale to meet the students and investigators and to see if it is a possible fit for one of your rotations. This visit and rotation option is unique to Mayo Graduate School. All living accommodations are taken care of which include a furnished apartment and rental car. Jenny Ho, Arizona Education Manager of Operations, is friendly, knowledgeable, and easy to talk to if you have any questions. So if you get the chance, do not miss out on the opportunity to visit Mayo in Scottsdale!

-Danielle Miranda
Arizona Student Representative
Clinical and Translational Science PhD Candidate

Alright, experiment is almost up, timer is running low, and you only have time to read one more sentence. Give a Mayo Clinic in Florida rotation a chance. Now, those of you still reading are obviously procrastinating, so take this well deserved opportunity to hear me out. At the expense of sounding like a broken record/car salesperson, I just want to let you know that you have nothing to lose. I can attest. I'm a born and raised Minnesotan, and man, I do love that Midwest comfort. But there is also a thing called Southern comfort (and no, I am not referring to the alcohol). I went to my Mayo interview knowing very little about Mayo Clinic in Florida. But as an aspiring scientist, three things can really convince me (in no particular order): impressive top-tier research, passionate people, and free stuff (i.e. flight, housing, transportation, sun). So I gave it a chance (this is the rotation part). Many new friends, trips to the beach, hours in the lab, diverse restaurants, successful/unsuccessful experiments, weekday night trivia victories, insightful seminars, and empowering talks with faculty later, I'm still loving it. And the best part is, I still have 3 more years to go.

-Kevin Bieniek
Florida Student Representative
Neurobiology of Disease PhD Student

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