NSU Horizons Fall 2017

38 NSU HORIZONS At NSU’s College of Medical Sciences, no one in the graduate program or at the medical and dental colleges finishes the first year without passing through the classroom of Lori Dribin, Ph.D., professor and assistant dean for student affairs. Dribin teaches two first-year, required courses—histology (the study of the microscopic anatomy of the cell, tissues, and organs of the body) and neuroanat- omy (the introduction of structural, functional, and developmental features of the human nervous system). She calls her first-year students “the virgins.” In 35 years of teaching at NSU, she has never lost her sense of humor or her habit of learning her students’ names. “Once you make the effort to learn who they are, the students will come to see you,” she said. While the focus is academics, the conversations often veer into “all of the things that happen in life—someone at home has cancer, or someone is getting a divorce—it opens up a connection,” she said. “By the second week of classes,” said Andres Rodriguez, a third-year student at NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, “Dr. Dribin knows every incoming student’s name. When you see her around campus, she will pull you aside and initiate a conversation to make sure you are coping with the transition into medical school. She consistently reached out to me. For that, I am eternally grateful,” Rodriguez added. Other students echoed those sentiments. “The single most defining factor that helped push me through my medical career thus far has been the unparalleled encouragement of Dr. Dribin,” said Luis Alva, president of the class of 2020 at the college. “Dr. Dribin would go the extra mile to display a unique, comforting environment in the classroom by mixing her genuine, charismatic personality with her precise and sometimes dry course material. Her teaching style and personality allowed some of the most difficult courses to be exceptionally satisfying, whether sitting in class or diving into her lively bounded notes outside the classroom,” he said. Her positive attitude and encouraging words echo not only through the classrooms and halls, but on private group chats and Facebook pages. She is repeat- edly spoken about as one of the most empowering pro- fessors at NSU. Just before his graduation from the College of Dental Medicine in 2013, Anhtuan Nguyen, M.S., D.D.M., penned a note to Dribin. “If I had to choose, you would be the single most [important] reason I am where I am,” he wrote. “Without your support and guidance, I would have never made it this far.” FROM RESEARCH TO TEACHING Dribin arrived at the university in 1982. She was hired to teach for two weeks at the former Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine in North Miami Beach. She was married with two sons, ages two and five. “I wanted to leave my research position and get into teaching. I had no teaching experience outside of work- ing as a graduate teaching assistant. I was lucky enough that [NSU] needed someone to teach neurophysiology I Lori Dribin has been teaching at Nova Southeastern University for 35 years. Professor Melds Science, Teaching with a Bit of Music BY KATHLEEN KERNICKY Perfect Pitch FACULTY PROFILE