Anna Forster
Anna Forster, a second-year PhD student from Columbus, Indiana, has long had a passion for the field of geriatrics.
“I’ve always had a strong interest in and love for the geriatric field,” says Forster, whose PhD thesis is focused on older adult couples and physical activity, and how those are related. “I think that a lot of the time everyone is aware of the geriatric population and how people 65 and over have special needs, but I also think, at times, it gets overlooked because people think ‘they’ve lived their life, they’ve done great things.’ But there’s still so much that we can do to help them and make sure their quality of life is adequate.”
Forster was interested in the smaller clinical groups and one-on-one interactions the Purdue program offers.
“I thought that the smaller clinical groups were great because I knew that I was going to get a lot of one-on-one interactions and a lot of good clinical experiences,” she says. “And I was a little biased. Both of my parents went to Purdue. They didn’t tell me that I had to go here, but I was familiar with the school.”
Forster is part of the first cohort of Purdue’s PhD program for nursing and also received her bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in adult gerontology primary care from the Purdue School of Nursing.
Forster hopes to stay in the academic world, teaching at the college level and doing research, after she receives her PhD.
