About DimensionsView Video

The Center for the Science and Culture of Healthcare

Dimensions is a premier academic enrichment program designed to creatively prepare students for successful careers in a variety of health professions, such as medicine, dentistry, health care administration, and veterinary medicine. Dimensions was conceived by Dr. Larry Dorr '63 after noting that too many residents and fellows were educated in a scientific tunnel.

Dimensions Featured Learn more about the Dimensions program in a 2009 Cornell Report feature story entitled Learning the 'care' of health care.

"Having superior medical/scientific skills is not enough," observed Dr. Dorr. "If you are not capable of demonstrating concern, giving the patient confidence in your treatment and communicating what you are trying to do to give them a positive attitude, your effectiveness as a health care professional ultimately will be limited."

This undergraduate program is believed to be the first of its kind to place meaningful emphasis on the art of healing as well as on the science and treatment of disease.

Five points of distinction

Dimensions is defined and guided by a set of operating principles, listed briefly here and described more fully on our Five Points of Distinction page.

1. Excellent preparation in the natural sciences
2. An uncommon infusion of the humanities and social sciences
3. Meaningful integration of intentional learning
4. Professional sculpting
5. Success of Cornell graduates

Student & Programmatic Support

A full-time Program Coordinator assists students throughout their studies at Cornell. Students receive help with career exploration, such as opportunities to job shadow; information about graduate and professional school pre-requisites; and assistance in obtaining research experience and high profile internship placements. The Dimensions faculty director and a Health Professions Committee provide additional guidance.

The program frequently hosts distinguished visitors for seminars and interactive hands-on workshops, from medical ethics, to specialized topics in health care, to possible careers in various health-related fields. Recent visitors include Dr. Patch Adams, "Humor and Health," and Dr. Dean Hamer, "The God Gene." Dimensions also sponsors symposia on such issues as "Understanding Health Care Reform" and "The Breast Cancer Gene Patent," as well as the development of courses of topical interest such as Medical Anthropology and Health Economics.

More about Dimensions

• Dimensions video
• Mission statement
• Dr. Larry Dorr biography