Drexel ACE University Campus Safety

[lillyambers]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking about attending the Drexel ACE program in Philadelphia next year. Unfortunately, I have spent all my life in the suburbs of California, so have no experience living in the city, let alone another coast! Is the Drexel campus and surrounding areas safe? I know I will have to travel to clinicals, so I am concerned about that too--I don't have a car, so sometimes will probably have to take public transportation? I probably sound like quite the scaredy-cat, but safety is important to me and has been something lingering in my mind. Imagining myself, a young girl in an unknown city, is very daunting! I'd love to hear some of your insight before making this big move.

Thanks any opinions would much be appreciated!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

The area in which the college is locate is pretty safe, they have campus security, bright lighting, etc.

I will be honest, Philly is like pretty much every major city; you have to be smart about your safety and surroundings; since I don't know what hospitals and facilities you will be doing your clincials at, most of the facilities inside the city are accessible through public transportation; however, you may be able to buddy up with some of your cohorts when it comes to clinicals; I did so, and I don't drive-yet-and have lived in the city for 20 years without a car and got around the city and surrounding areas for work and school successfully. It is possible.

Best wishes.

[chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Both the Drexel and the adjacent UPenn campuses are well-lit with a significant security presence and are as safe as any big-city college campus can be. The city of Philadelphia is actually reasonably safe overall but it is a large city and there are areas that are dreadful. Parts of West Philadelphia - not far from Drexel and Penn - fall into that category but those areas are not really directly adjacent to either campus.

Philly is a city made up of many different areas, the main Drexel campus is in a section known as University City. To the north is Mantua, which has some dicey areas but is not terrible and to the west is Walnut Hill which is similar. Directly to the east is the Schuylkill, one of two rivers in Philly (the other being the Delaware). This area is undergoing a major transformation, but is still in its early stages. As you move east, you are into the Graduate Hospital/Naval Square area which is largely safe and beyond that, Rittenhouse Square, one of the city's tonier sections. By the way, not many folks, including native Philadelphians (of which I am not one - I came here first as an undergrad at Temple then grad student at Drexel) know that Rittenhouse Square, along with Logan, Washington and Franklin Squares, circumscribes the old city of Philadelphia - and that the section of town called Old City, is actually outside of that area. I digress however.

The hospital/health science campus associated with Drexel, Hahnemann, is actually across the river from the main campus, not far from Logan Square/Circle, and very close to the Free Library, the first lending library (started by Benj Franklin - who was, ironically, originally from Boston) in the country. I believe that most of the nursing courses are taught at Hahnemann, named after Samuel Hahnemann, the founder or homeopathic medicine and kind of a kook (one of his theories was that many diseases were caused by coffee, which he later amended and ascribed to psora - what we now call miasma). Thankfully, Hahnemann (its medical college was known until its recent association with Drexel as the Medical College of Pennsylvania and I believe was the ifrst medical school in the US to admit women) subscribes to the allopathic medical model. By the way, either Drexel campus is easy walking distance to the Mutter Museum, one of the most unique museums in the world and another little-know and hugely under appreciated attraction in Philly. Again I digress.

It is with respect to clinicals that you may find a challenge. There are many hospitals in Philly and quite a few are located in less desirable areas. Public transportation is an option - the city has an excellent, and largely safe rail network that includes subway, elevated trains and trolleys as well as buses - and Philly is also gradually becoming the most bicycle-friendly city on the East coast. These are probably not the options you'd turn to if you were doing a clinical at Mercy in west Philly or Friends in Juniata Park. A taxi would probably be a better option and there are a number of taxi companies with on-call services. The best cab service is Uber however - will cost slightly more, but absolutely safe with door-to-door service.

Philly is a great town with a lot to offer - except for a nursing job when you graduate, but again I digress.