| What is a Physician Scientist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine? |
| Why Choose Academic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine? |
| Is the Physician Scientist Career for Me? |
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Choosing a Training Path: |
| Choosing a Training Program |
| Choosing a Supervisor |
| Searching for Your First Job |
| Launching your Physician Scientist Career |
| Tenure, Promotions and the First Ten Years |
| The Institutional Challenge to Train and Maintain Physician Scientists |
| Links and Resources |
| About the Author |
| Order This Brochure |
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| Choosing a Training Program | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When choosing a program be well informed. Decide which
route(s) you wish to fully explore. Do your homework thoroughly and look at
several programs to be able to select the best one for you. The fit must be
right. Know what you want out of the program. Do you suit the program and
does the program suit you? Speak to as many trainees as possible to get a
consensus opinion. You will find some trainees who are satisfied with
everything and some who can see no good in anything in the program. What you
need is a balanced view and to get this you need to ask probing questions
and try to get specific answers, not general impressions. Quality of the Program: What is the quality of the institution as a whole? What is the quality of the medical school, the teaching hospitals, the research, and the clinical care and teaching? Speak to as many trainees as possible so that you can obtain several opinions about the program. Try to get a sense of the level of contentment within the Faculty since a happy faculty tends to be much more inclined to create a healthy exciting environment for training and research. Infrastructure: What is the financial situation and the research infrastructure at the institution as a whole and in the department you plan to train in? Is major equipment readily available? Does your potential supervisor have the infrastructure he/she needs to carry out first class research? Academic Program:
Personal Issues: Do not be concerned about discussing salary, benefits, book and travel allowances with potential supervisors and program directors. Discuss holiday time, meeting time, sick time, benefits and health insurance. These are all important issues.
Living in an attractive environment makes life pleasant for the trainee and
the family. Explore housing issues. Involve your family in the decision
making. If you have a spouse (partner) and a family, make sure their needs
are well met. If the family is not happy, the trainee will have an added
burden. A community for the family is important, even if you stay in a
location for only a few years. Do you need day care or schools? What
university programs are available for partners? Institutions should have
dedicated individuals to help with information on available services and
relocation issues. If you need to train for two careers, make sure the
institution
is able and willing to provide for the academic needs of the couple.
Institutions are becoming much more aware of this need and should be willing
and able to discuss this with you. It is very important to make the training
journey fun, so keep this in mind when making your choices. |
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Is there a clear description of
the program available to trainees?