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The Inevitable Career Search, The Final Installment

By CaleD, on March 5th, 2010

Man

I hope that I have been able to help some people discover a few more potential careers out there that don’t involve lab work. I’m going to discuss a few more that I have come across today and probably leave it up to you to find out the rest. I’m just here to wet your appetite, ultimately you’ll need to discover your own path – I can only help push you in the right direction.

Technical Writer

These individuals design, write and edit product manuals, handbooks or application notes. There isn’t as much creativity involved here as some people may like, but this career will challenge you to communicate effectively in writing. If the protocol for doing something isn’t clear, it is the problem of the technical writer. For more information about this type of job check out this link. http://bit.ly/aBlb3D

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March 5th, 2010 | Tags: | Category: Academic, Research, Science | Leave a comment

Networking: And I'm Not Talking About Cell Signaling Pathways

By CaleD, on February 13th, 2010

I thought I’d take a break from divulging information about the various career paths available to life science/medical physics graduate students and talk a little bit about some of things you might consider doing to land that dream job of yours.

In the past, I always believed I was special in some way – that the jobs I coveted would somehow fall into my lap. This “dream” has come crashing down as rejection letters or silence are the two responses I get most often. I’m sure we’ve all heard the old adage, “It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know.” Unfortunately, even for graduate students – it is a saying that I think needs to be taken seriously.

Typically graduate students are terrible at networking and really who can blame us? We rarely see anyone outside of our immediate circle of friends or labmates because we are slaving away writing computer programs or pipetting furiously. We don’t have much time to think about our future and how to get there and generally assume that it will “all work out”.

Looking back, I think this is a mistake. Sure, some people will get that job they’ve always wanted and not ever actively try to build a network of contacts. But for most of us, the earlier we prepare for our eventual job hunt the more likely we are to land that interview.

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February 13th, 2010 | Tags: , , , | Category: Academic, Hobbies, Science | 5 comments

The Inevitable Career Search, Part 2

By CaleD, on January 30th, 2010

Welcome back!

My last blog just scratched the surface of the many career options available to graduate students in the department of Medical Biophysics (or most graduate departments for that matter). So I’m going to discuss with you three more options today. Someone mentioned they’d be interested in hearing what a radiation physicist does, so I’ll try my best to answer that question.

Medical Radiation Physicist (Radiation Oncology Physics)

These advanced degree holders (typically a Ph.D. in medical physics) work in the hospital setting. Medical Radiation Physicists are involved in all aspects of radiation therapy. Their day to day responsibilities include ensuring that radiation emitting devices within the hospital are functioning properly, monitoring emissions and recommending safe dosages and treatment parameters. Radiation Physicists verify that the hospital is following established guidelines for the use of radiation. This career will expose individuals to radiation equipment design and enable them to research particular medical devices in order to make policy recommendations based on the findings.

Becoming a Radiation Physicist unfortunately requires more training. The program lasts 2 years and includes both a classroom portion (typically in the first year) and a clinical rotation portion (typically in the second year). Does this sound interesting? Here are some links to get you started.

The Toronto Residency Program in Radiation Oncology Physics http://bit.ly/aXOtTD
Radiation Oncology Physics: An in depth look (text book) http://bit.ly/9kVwcj


CT Scanner

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January 30th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Academic, Research, Science, Technology | Leave a comment

The Inevitable Career Search

By CaleD, on January 13th, 2010

career480

A lot of my early blogs will probably be related to this topic – that’s because it has been on my mind a lot lately (shocking I know). I hope to be able to share with you some of what I have learned during my current career search. My main focus will be on jobs outside of the academic realm because that’s where my own interests lie. Although, I am not opposed to the idea of doing a little research regarding the academic job search if it is what some of you want (leave me a message or a comment). Graduate students are extremely busy doing experiments, attending conferences or helping their supervisor by getting those last few experiments completed for a grant proposal due tomorrow. Typically thinking about our eventual career is not really a priority and we put reflecting about it off.  I would be the first person to admit to doing this but I think it is a mistake. Looking back, the sooner you address this question the better (unless you are 100% that academia is for that is).

So I guess the first pertinent question to ask would be, “What kind of careers are there for life scientist/physicist outside academia?” Let me give you a few examples:

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January 13th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Academic, Science | 4 comments