At Gettysburg College, students such as health sciences major and swimmer Paige McKim ’27 grow their knowledge and skills through experiential learning. Hands-on student-faculty research and mentoring from professors support our students’ successes.
For Paige McKim ’27, coming to Gettysburg College meant joining a community that made her feel like she belonged. McKim—a health sciences major, biology and writing double minor, and member of the women’s swimming team—credits Gettysburg for supporting her as she gained the confidence and determination to pursue a Pre-Health Professions track while developing communication and leadership skills.
During her childhood, McKim, a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, recalls examining the health sciences textbooks that her mom used during her doctoral studies to become a physical therapist. “That definitely sparked something in me when I was young, and I’ve had this seed of an idea to become a doctor, medical doctor, or OT (occupational therapist),” she said.
This summer, McKim followed in her mom’s health care footsteps. She researched the functions of proteins in Health Sciences Prof. Josef Brandauer’s lab through Gettysburg’s Cross-Disciplinary Science Institute (X-SIG). By evaluating protein expression in mice, she sought to understand how proteins in muscles function in response to certain conditions, such as exercise.
“This research can tell us a lot about how our bodies work, like how do drugs affect proteins in the body of someone who has diabetes? It’s a lot of protein analysis and DNA analysis,” McKim explained.
“Professors here know their students and know how to support their students based on their individual strengths.”
– Paige McKim ’27
With a faculty mentor like Brandauer, who listens, understands her motivations, and supports her, McKim has cultivated the confidence to believe in herself and her abilities.
“I didn’t do great the first couple of weeks of my anatomy class with Dr. Brandauer last year, and I didn’t really know how to learn. He took the time to teach me and other students how to apply the knowledge we were learning beyond just memorizing information. It was a huge mindset change for me,” she said.
“I learned a lot about science, but I also learned a lot about my strengths,” she added. “I think that’s so unique to Gettysburg that I don’t hear from a lot of my friends at other schools. Professors here know their students and know how to support their students based on their individual strengths.”
Brandauer—who was recently named dean of academic advising and student success for Gettysburg’s Center for Student Success—recognized McKim’s dedication in class and the lab.
“The chief reasons for Paige’s successes are her boundless curiosity and her ability to consider questions from multiple angles to understand the bigger picture,” he said. “Students sometimes find it difficult to transition from the role of a technician, who executes lab protocols well, into that of a scientist, who asks insightful and difficult questions, formulates hypotheses, and tests them rigorously. Paige has taken on this challenge with enthusiasm, and her writing background has helped her communicate her ideas and challenges throughout the process.”
Looking ahead to her future career as a medical doctor, McKim aims to make a difference in people’s lives by improving the quality of health care and ensuring patients are seen, heard, and understood by their providers. Dan Moorhead ’16, who researched with Brandauer as a student, provided McKim an opportunity to interact with and ask questions of an alum working in health care.
“For me, health care is not just about the science. It’s about relationships—showing your patients that you care about them. I hope that someday I can be that person for people,” she said.
As she prepares to begin her junior year and continued involvement with Gettysburg College’s Guided Pathways program, McKim thinks back to her campus visit the summer before her senior year of high school, during which she met Meem Noshin Nawal Khan ’24, a chemistry major from Bangladesh. Khan, one of many students participating in the X-SIG program in 2021, had described the limitless research opportunities and the small class sizes that fostered one-to-one connections with professors.
“With everything she said, I thought, ‘This is the place for me.’ That tour changed a lot for me,” McKim said.
During that same tour, she also spoke with women’s swimming head coach Greg Brown and assistant coach Pat Calhoun about the balance between athletics and academics. The community and connection she found on the women’s swim team impacted her decision to apply.
“Gettysburg became my top choice school very fast,” said McKim. “I like the well-roundedness of Gettysburg. I’ve heard that from many alumni who have said, ‘Not only did Gettysburg teach me the A, B, and C about science, chemistry, and biology, but it also taught me how to treat people right, how to write papers, and how to communicate with my boss or my co-workers.’ I think that’s been super profound.”
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By Michael Vyskocil
Photos by Diptiman Das ’27 and David Sinclair Photography
Posted: 07/25/25