Today the New York Times featured an article on a truly unusual "alternative career." A Neuroscience Professor Makes her Move to the Racetrack. Dr. Michelle Nihei left a career in biomedical research to become a horse trainer and is aiming for the highest levels of the sport.
Yup. If you want, you really can walk away from it all. From all of it.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Stimulus Money - Laboratory Professional Training
Received the following in my email. If you're considering becoming a Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory Scientist, you might ask around.
Department of Labor (DOL) Announces Health Care Sector Grants: Laboratory Professional Training Programs Urged to Apply
On July 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of approximately $125 million in new grant funds authorized for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within the health care sector. Eligible applicants include public entities and private nonprofit organizations. The grants are intended to fund projects that provide workers with training that will prepare them to enter and advance in the health care sector.
Earlier this year, ASCP alerted the laboratory professional training community that President Barack Obama's stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, would contain grants that prioritize training and placement for healthcare professionals in high-growth industries. To ensure that laboratory training programs were eligible for upcoming stimulus related grants, ASCP President Barbara J. McKenna, MD, FASCP, urged DOL to consider the critical role that laboratory professionals play in patient care. In 2008, a pre-stimulus $2 million grant from DOL was awarded to a consortium of universities and colleges in Minnesota to restore and build 2- and 4-year laboratory training programs throughout the state.
Laboratory professional training programs and schools at risk of closure or programs seeking to expand should proactively examine this grant money from the stimulus package. These dollars are specifically available for health care professions training and for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within the high growth health care sector. The DOL intends to fund 45-65 grants ranging from approximately $2-$5 million. Approximately $25 million of the total funds available through this solicitation will be reserved for projects serving communities impacted by automotive-related restructuring, so these dollars could potentially be considered to help retrain the workforce. See the full announcement for a list of communities impacted by automotive-related restructuring.
With regard to grants to support allied health, DOL indicated it is interested in proposals that "support recruitment, retention, and career pathways in related allied health occupations," particularly "in hospitals and in medical laboratories." Successful training programs funded through the grant program will prepare participants for employment within the health care sector, and will: (1) target necessary skills and competencies; (2) support career pathways, such as an articulated career ladder or lattice; (3) result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree (which can include a license, as well as a registered apprenticeship certificate or degree); (4) combine supportive services with training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment, as necessary; and (5) provide training services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.
The announcement noted that "recognizing the long-term needs of workers, it is strongly recommended that training lead to portable industry-recognized certificates or degrees." The grant announcement outlined DOL's mandate that proposals "must demonstrate that the proposed project will be implemented by a robust strategic partnership" utilizing entities from the public workforce investment system, public and private employers, and the education and training community as well as other partners such as nonprofit organizations and foundations.
Grant applications must be submitted to the DOL no later than October 5, 2009. To obtain a copy of the grant announcement, please click here.
Department of Labor (DOL) Announces Health Care Sector Grants: Laboratory Professional Training Programs Urged to Apply
On July 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced the availability of approximately $125 million in new grant funds authorized for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within the health care sector. Eligible applicants include public entities and private nonprofit organizations. The grants are intended to fund projects that provide workers with training that will prepare them to enter and advance in the health care sector.
Earlier this year, ASCP alerted the laboratory professional training community that President Barack Obama's stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, would contain grants that prioritize training and placement for healthcare professionals in high-growth industries. To ensure that laboratory training programs were eligible for upcoming stimulus related grants, ASCP President Barbara J. McKenna, MD, FASCP, urged DOL to consider the critical role that laboratory professionals play in patient care. In 2008, a pre-stimulus $2 million grant from DOL was awarded to a consortium of universities and colleges in Minnesota to restore and build 2- and 4-year laboratory training programs throughout the state.
Laboratory professional training programs and schools at risk of closure or programs seeking to expand should proactively examine this grant money from the stimulus package. These dollars are specifically available for health care professions training and for projects that provide training and placement services to help workers pursue careers within the high growth health care sector. The DOL intends to fund 45-65 grants ranging from approximately $2-$5 million. Approximately $25 million of the total funds available through this solicitation will be reserved for projects serving communities impacted by automotive-related restructuring, so these dollars could potentially be considered to help retrain the workforce. See the full announcement for a list of communities impacted by automotive-related restructuring.
With regard to grants to support allied health, DOL indicated it is interested in proposals that "support recruitment, retention, and career pathways in related allied health occupations," particularly "in hospitals and in medical laboratories." Successful training programs funded through the grant program will prepare participants for employment within the health care sector, and will: (1) target necessary skills and competencies; (2) support career pathways, such as an articulated career ladder or lattice; (3) result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree (which can include a license, as well as a registered apprenticeship certificate or degree); (4) combine supportive services with training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment, as necessary; and (5) provide training services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.
The announcement noted that "recognizing the long-term needs of workers, it is strongly recommended that training lead to portable industry-recognized certificates or degrees." The grant announcement outlined DOL's mandate that proposals "must demonstrate that the proposed project will be implemented by a robust strategic partnership" utilizing entities from the public workforce investment system, public and private employers, and the education and training community as well as other partners such as nonprofit organizations and foundations.
Grant applications must be submitted to the DOL no later than October 5, 2009. To obtain a copy of the grant announcement, please click here.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Chad Orzel delves ...
... into non-academic science positions with a new series of interviews he is conducting. The interviews can be found on his website. Some of them interviews can be found at these links: here, here, here, here, here, and here. Dang, there are a lot of them, so check out his site. Here is his blog entry soliciting potential interviewee candidates.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Alternative career profile: Rachel Carson, scientist and writer
I thought it would be fun to start posting profiles of people in alternative careers. Recently, I ran across a very interesting such profile in the publication, "Science Editor", the monthly journal of the Council of Science Editors (I'm a member). April’s issue had an eye-opening story about Rachel Carson, the environmental activist best known for her book, “Silent Spring.”
I admit that I’ve never read “Silent Spring” or any of her other books. Actually, I know almost nothing of Carson other than that she was a famous environmental activist best known for “Silent Spring.” But the article I read makes it clear that Rachel Carson was a remarkable person with a remarkable career path and life. And it brought home to me (yet again) that career paths are often unpredictable, that they turn and twist in unexpected ways, and that long-held dreams can blossom late in unlooked-for spaces.
Adapted from “Rachel Carson, Science Editor” by Olga Kuchment. Science Editor (April 2009) Vol 32: 39-42. (Too bad there’s no online access to the journal!)
Rachel Carter was born in a rural setting in 1907. She started writing at an early age, and early on she dreamed of becoming a professional writer. But she was introduced to zoology at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) and fell in love with the subject. She switched her major from English to zoology and decided to become a scientist. At the time she “thought she would have to give up writing.” (Kuchment, 2009).
She earned a master’s degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University and tried to continue for a Ph.D. But her family was poor, the Great Depression hit, and she was unable to afford the tuition to continue her training. (Hmmm, seems you actually had to pay for a science Ph.D. in those days?) Rachel Carson became the main economic support for her widowed mother, sister, and nieces. She took a job at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, where she wrote scripts for a radio program on marine biology. The radio scripts jump-started her writing career; she reworked the scripts into articles that were published in the Baltimore Sun. On the urging of her boss, she reworked one of her government assignments into an article that was published in The Atlantic. She secured a book deal and wrote her first book “Under the Sea Wind.”
Her first book was not a commercial success, and she stayed on as a scientific writer/editor with the government for many years, eventually rising to the position of editor-in-chief of the publishing program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Kuchment’s article in the Science Editor quotes interviews from admiring colleagues who praised Carson as both an editor/scientist and person. Carson continued to work on personal writing projects in her spare time, and eventually hit commercial success with “The Sea Around Us.” She then retired from her civil service job and worked full-time on her own writing projects. “Silent Spring” was her last book.
I love this story. A dream deferred, put aside—the early dream of being a professional writer. A new dream and its loss—what a bitter pill it must have been to not be able to finish her Ph.D.! But then the marrying of interests—her initial job title with the government was “junior aquatic biologist”; she went out into the field and interacted with scientists; it seems that one could still call her a scientist, as well as a writer/editor. And then, at the age of 45, the realization of her dream to work full-time as a creative writer pursuing her own interests. Interests that sprang directly from her training and love for science.
**Note: this was cross-posted from my personal blog.
I admit that I’ve never read “Silent Spring” or any of her other books. Actually, I know almost nothing of Carson other than that she was a famous environmental activist best known for “Silent Spring.” But the article I read makes it clear that Rachel Carson was a remarkable person with a remarkable career path and life. And it brought home to me (yet again) that career paths are often unpredictable, that they turn and twist in unexpected ways, and that long-held dreams can blossom late in unlooked-for spaces.
Adapted from “Rachel Carson, Science Editor” by Olga Kuchment. Science Editor (April 2009) Vol 32: 39-42. (Too bad there’s no online access to the journal!)
Rachel Carter was born in a rural setting in 1907. She started writing at an early age, and early on she dreamed of becoming a professional writer. But she was introduced to zoology at the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham College) and fell in love with the subject. She switched her major from English to zoology and decided to become a scientist. At the time she “thought she would have to give up writing.” (Kuchment, 2009).
She earned a master’s degree in zoology from Johns Hopkins University and tried to continue for a Ph.D. But her family was poor, the Great Depression hit, and she was unable to afford the tuition to continue her training. (Hmmm, seems you actually had to pay for a science Ph.D. in those days?) Rachel Carson became the main economic support for her widowed mother, sister, and nieces. She took a job at the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, where she wrote scripts for a radio program on marine biology. The radio scripts jump-started her writing career; she reworked the scripts into articles that were published in the Baltimore Sun. On the urging of her boss, she reworked one of her government assignments into an article that was published in The Atlantic. She secured a book deal and wrote her first book “Under the Sea Wind.”
Her first book was not a commercial success, and she stayed on as a scientific writer/editor with the government for many years, eventually rising to the position of editor-in-chief of the publishing program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Kuchment’s article in the Science Editor quotes interviews from admiring colleagues who praised Carson as both an editor/scientist and person. Carson continued to work on personal writing projects in her spare time, and eventually hit commercial success with “The Sea Around Us.” She then retired from her civil service job and worked full-time on her own writing projects. “Silent Spring” was her last book.
I love this story. A dream deferred, put aside—the early dream of being a professional writer. A new dream and its loss—what a bitter pill it must have been to not be able to finish her Ph.D.! But then the marrying of interests—her initial job title with the government was “junior aquatic biologist”; she went out into the field and interacted with scientists; it seems that one could still call her a scientist, as well as a writer/editor. And then, at the age of 45, the realization of her dream to work full-time as a creative writer pursuing her own interests. Interests that sprang directly from her training and love for science.
**Note: this was cross-posted from my personal blog.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
"Tell me about yourself."
A general question re: interviewing:
How do you typically answer the "Tell me about yourself" interview question? It's pretty common, but I'm never really sure where to start. I've read a few books suggesting one should tailor it to the position, but I'm not really sure what that means.
I'm particularly interested in how to handle issues of changing careers or interviewing for jobs that are non-traditional for someone with a given background. Do you just launch into why you're interested in the position?
Thoughts?
How do you typically answer the "Tell me about yourself" interview question? It's pretty common, but I'm never really sure where to start. I've read a few books suggesting one should tailor it to the position, but I'm not really sure what that means.
I'm particularly interested in how to handle issues of changing careers or interviewing for jobs that are non-traditional for someone with a given background. Do you just launch into why you're interested in the position?
Thoughts?
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