Living in Glenside and Philadelphia for Genetic Counseling Students

Glenside, Pennsylvania

Located just north of Philadelphia, Arcadia University’s Glenside campus offers genetic counseling students the best of two worlds: proximity to a major metropolitan city and a small, close-knit suburban community.

It’s just a short walk from campus down Easton Road to experience the small-town charm of Glenside. Here you’ll find the renowned Keswick Theatre, unique stores, cafés, restaurants, street fairs and more. Learn more about the area.

Philadelphia

Vibrant Center City Philadelphia is just 25 minutes from campus. It’s easily accessible by car, bus or train. Whether you are looking for “30 Awesome Things to do in October,” water ice, cheesesteaks or Amish donuts worth waiting in line for, you can find it in Philadelphia. The city offers historic sites such as the Liberty Bell, the oldest farmer’s market in America, year-round professional and college sports, world-class museums, plus traditions and street festivals dating back centuries. Learn all about Philadelphia and surrounding area at VisitPhilly.com.

Many genetic counseling students chose to live in Center City or in neighborhoods such as Manayunk and Roxborough that are located between Glenside and Center City, and convenient to both campus and many clinical sites. Others live close by campus in local off-campus housing.

Philadelphia is a rich and exciting place to become a genetic counselor. The city is home to many historic developments in medicine, science and genetics, but its importance is not just historical. Philadelphia has more than 100 hospitals, 150 research labs, five medical schools, the country’s number one children’s hospital and four specialty hospitals that offer cutting-edge care and produce ground-breaking research and treatment in Philadelphia. Additionally, the greater Philadelphia region is the second largest medical research and education center in the U.S. Arcadia Genetic Counseling students are fortunate to learn from the experienced clinicians and distinguished faculty at these internationally renowned sites. 

Philadelphia Chromosome

In 1960, Peter Nowell of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and David Hungerford of Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Institute for Cancer Research published their discovery of a chromosomal abnormality, a shorter than normal chromosome 22, common to almost all chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients.

The mutated chromosome 22 was named the Philadelphia Chromosome for the home base of the two researchers. It was a landmark discovery, the first direct, consistent link between a chromosomal abnormality and malignancy, and understanding it led to the development of the genetically targeted cancer drug Gleevec. 

Philadelphia Firsts in Medical Education

• the first school of medicine in North America at the College of Philadelphia
• the first medical college to confer degrees of medicine upon women (the Female Medical College, now Drexel University College of Medicine)
• the first permanent school of nursing in the U.S., at the Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• the first school of anatomy in the Americas
• the first college of pharmacy in the Western Hemisphere
• the first medical society in North America, the American Medical Society

Philadelphia Firsts in Medical Care

• Pennsylvania Hospital: the first establishment in North America devoted to the relief of the sick and suffering
• the Philadelphia Dispensary, the first institution dedicated to the medical relief of the poor in the United States
• the first hospital in America: the Philadelphia Hospital
• Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP): the first hospital to focus exclusively on caring for children
• Fox Chase Cancer Center: the first cancer hospital in the United States
• Wills Eye Institute: the first eye hospital in the U.S.
• the first American benevolent association designed to mitigate the horrors of small-pox through inoculation: the “Society for Inoculating the Poor”
• Bartram's Garden: the first botanical garden, for the cultivation of plants having medicinal properties

Philadelphia Firsts in Education

• the first public school in the American colonies
• the first university in America, the University of Pennsylvania
• the first public library
• the American Philosophical Institution, the first institution devoted to science in North America