August 20, 2025

If you've ever attended an event with Dean Cairns, chances are you've ended up in a selfie with him. After more than five years of snapping selfies at College of Medicine events, we asked him to share some of his favorites from his camera roll. Then we sat down with him to reflect on the photos and the memories behind them.

After being at a few events with you, I couldn’t help but notice that you have an affinity for group selfies.

(Laughs) Yeah, well, yes, I do. I know selfies have become a bigger cultural phenomenon, but I’ve been probably doing this for 15, maybe 20 years. I do them with my family and friends on special occasions. I’ve even had the opportunity to take selfies with famous people.

One, it creates a wonderful memory for me. And two, I think it gives people an opportunity to think differently about the occasion – it’s a form of finding common ground or breaking the ice. I also think it gives a different perspective at big events, even when there’s an official photographer. I remember one occasion where we were meeting with the U.S. Surgeon General in a small group here at Drexel and I said, “Well, why don’t we get a picture together?” And that’s the photo I use for that event as opposed to the formal ones because that’s my view. And that’s the view that I think other people can relate to.

Since becoming Dean in 2019, you’ve collected quite a few memorable selfies. Let’s reflect on a few of them.

This selfie captures you with the Class of 2025 on their graduation day. What do Commencement ceremonies mean to you as Dean?

Commencements are incredible. It’s a milestone for these students, but it’s also a milestone for our faculty and for me as Dean, to see another successful cohort of students going on to great training programs and fabulous careers. This is a day, a moment, where a major milestone is reached – just one in the broad span of a career – but it’s a celebration point for everyone involved in that photo, including me.

I have to say that this one really demonstrates the selfie technique I’ve perfected over the years. I think because I used to be a swimmer, I have the ability to be very flexible with my joints and my right arm can go out pretty far. That’s the entire graduating MD class, plus some faculty members. There’s a lot of people in this one.

Here we have Match Day, one of the most exciting and emotional milestones in medical education. For someone who’s never experienced it, how would you describe the energy and significance of the day?

I’ll say, this is a magical day! All these students have ranked their specialties and programs, and then independently all these programs have chosen students, and here’s where it all connects. It’s the magic of the match. We’ve been so blessed and honored that we’ve been so successful in the match. Of course, I just have to recognize the extraordinary leadership that we have here at Drexel – Dr. Leon McCrea, our vice dean for educational affairs, and Dr. Amy Fuchs, who’s in charge of career advising.

Part of the magic of Match Day is that it’s the same day, at the same time across the entire United States, across the entire profession. I’m not aware of any other profession that has such a day.

This photo is of you with members of DUCOM Classical, a musical ensemble featuring Drexel MD students. Our students form a wide range of groups like this — why do you think it’s important for students to maintain hobbies and interests outside of medicine? What are some of your interests outside of work?

Our students are so talented across so many dimensions, beyond just academics. They have extraordinary abilities and interests from music to photography, and athletic groups. They are passionate about things, and they engage in them together. Honestly, I think it makes our College stronger and ultimately will benefit the communities they serve because hobbies complement experience and expertise in medicine.

Personally, I like sports, and these days that’s mainly running, swimming, skiing, biking and hiking for me. My wife and I also enjoy music, going to performances – everything from classical to what’s popular. I also play the piano and enjoy that.

Here's a photo of you with students at The Life Center of Eastern Delaware County, one of our student-run Health Outreach Project clinic sites. Tell us about this site and the College’s mission of service.

The Life Center is a homeless shelter in Delaware County and our students operate a weekly clinic there. This group also includes a Drexel law student who helps patients navigate legal issues. So, our students see patients and do what they can for them – either provide treatment or make arrangements for care. We like to get students out in the community as they’re learning medicine. They’re learning how to interact with patients, and this is great practice for that while also directly serving a population that needs our services.

There is a service component of the medical profession – the whole idea is being a servant for the community. These opportunities allow our students to engage directly with those in need of care and learn how to be a champion for them, but it’s also for their own professional development. Through this program, our second-year students get to directly interact with patients before their clinical rotations in the third and fourth years.

This is a great selfie of you with students at the West Reading campus during their orientation week mural tour. The West Reading Campus has some special traditions and a unique relationship with Reading Hospital. And with the smaller class size, it’s an especially tight-knit group. What stands out to you as unique about the West Reading experience?

Every year, we attract these amazing students, and we have orientation week to give them the time to get to know each other, get to know Philadelphia, and get to know West Reading. Part of the West Reading orientation tradition is taking students through the community when they walk from our campus to Reading Hospital for the first time. We take a tour of these murals and give them a look at the community they’ll be part of for the next four years.

The West Reading Campus has been a grand experiment of taking the best of American medical education and bringing it to a small town – a small town with great needs – while partnering with a phenomenal community hospital. We’ve been able to prove that not only does the town embrace it, but our students also become involved in the community and want to stay in the area for training.

Looking back at these photos, what stands out most from your time as Dean? What are you most proud of during your tenure?

I really have been privileged and honored to serve as Dean at a time of great transformation. Transformation not only for this College, through the challenges of the Hahnemann University Hospital bankruptcy and the pandemic, but also the development and successful implementation of a new model for medical education – which is to embrace communities and connect with great organizations that haven’t traditionally been a part of university-based medical schools. And the students have come in record numbers. They go on to have a phenomenal track record in terms of not only what they do in medical school, but the impact they have on communities, and the success they have going into the match and residency programs. And frankly, that’s a reflection of our extraordinary faculty, professional staff and colleagues throughout the Drexel medical ecosystem.

These photos capture moments in time. They remind me of the journey we’ve taken and how far we’ve come. I look forward to building upon this for the future.