[picture courtesy of gerard]

In your undergraduate years, the end of April / early May most likely represented the beginning of summer holidays and a break from your studies.  However, life as a graduate student rarely comes to an end just because the calendar indicates “April” or “May”.  This is especially true if you [...]]]>

[picture courtesy of gerard]

In your undergraduate years, the end of April / early May most likely represented the beginning of summer holidays and a break from your studies.  However, life as a graduate student rarely comes to an end just because the calendar indicates “April” or “May”.  This is especially true if you are working on your thesis or research project.

Now is a great time to take a look at your plans for the summer months.  A well-organized plan outlining your tasks, expectations, and goals will help to keep you moving forward with your research/writing.  Set aside some time each day to work on your thesis or dissertation (if possible), or develop a consistent weekly schedule that accommodates your needs.  Developing a routine is key to success!

Another great tip for the guys at GradUpdate from UWO. Although the articles refers to Reading Week, it is obvious that can be applied for any circumstance.

Hopefully, the relative calm of Reading Week is providing you with some time for relaxation. A break of some sort can help you get energized for the [...]]]>

Another great tip for the guys at GradUpdate from UWO. Although the articles refers to Reading Week, it is obvious that can be applied for any circumstance.

Hopefully, the relative calm of Reading Week is providing you with some time for relaxation. A break of some sort can help you get energized for the remaining weeks in the term. This is especially true if you’re feeling intellectually exhausted, a feeling that isn’t uncommon in a place full of intelligent, dedicated students with high expectations of themselves. Academic fatigue – or burnout – can occur when you’ve been pushing yourself too hard for too long without a break. According to a website for graduate students at the University of British Columbia ( www.grad.ubc.ca/gradpd/gameplan.html ) the warning signs of burnout are:

• Loss of interest in or questioning the meaning of your studies and research
• Chronic fatigue – exhaustion, a sense of being physically run down and emotionally flat
• Anger at those making demands
• Cynicism, negativity, and irritability
• A sense of being besieged
• Feelings of helplessness

The best solution? According to the website, “take time away from work to allow your emotional interest to regenerate, get perspective, and re-establish the balance in your life.”  Significantly, “time away” need not mean days or weeks; Reading Week offers an opportunity to have a change of routine and do something that constitutes a break, such as reading outside your field, visiting a friend, cooking a special meal, or watching a movie.

For advice on developing effective coping skills in graduate school, see the “Solutions” section of “Emotional Fatigue: Coping with Academic Pressure” at www.gradresources.org/articles/emotional_fatigue.shtml ).

If you haven’t yet heard, SCRIPT Medical has announced this year’s recipient of the SCRIPT Award – congratulations go out to our very own MBP blogger Anna Gavryushova (on mbpgsu.ca known as AnnaG), the 2009 winner of the SCRIPT award!

What’s the SCRIPT award? This award recognizes outstanding writing by science graduates. Applicants are [...]]]>

If you haven’t yet heard, SCRIPT Medical has announced this year’s recipient of the SCRIPT Award – congratulations go out to our very own MBP blogger Anna Gavryushova (on mbpgsu.ca known as AnnaG), the 2009 winner of the SCRIPT award!

What’s the SCRIPT award? This award recognizes outstanding writing by science graduates. Applicants are judged on their submission of a mini-epic story with a strict 100-word limit on any subject, and compete for the $1000 prize and bragging rights for the year. Here is AnnaG’s winning composition “The Oath”:

I do solemnly swear by Almighty Bone Marrow, and in free and voluntary desire,
to serve you loyally until the end of my time.

I do take pride in my ancestors who sacrificed their organelles to serve you
faithfully. In their memory, I do swear by the Eternal Power of the Erythropoiesis
to nurture your organs and treasure your life more than my own.

It is my duty and my privilege to travel in the rapid flow of your rivers; to squeeze
through your narrowest streams; and when the time comes, to fearlessly face
the just macrophage.

Thus, swear I.

http://www.scriptmedical.com/script-2009-winner.html

You may be wondering who and what SCRIPT is. SCRIPT is a medical communications company based right here in Toronto, founded and directed by Helen Leask. I had the opportunity of meeting Helen at last year’s networking reception organized by LSCDS @ UoT [http://www.lscds.org/index.html].
Science writers translate jargon-filled scientific research and information into understandable knowledge for the public and non-scientific community. By combining an expertise in science and creative writing, medical writers can be valuable in many industries, including the marketing and branding of pharmaceutical and scientific products, educational programs, scientific journalism and public policy. There is a growing need for science communicators, and is a field to consider for those still wondering what to do after graduating with an MSc/PhD. So go ahead and start brainstorming epic stories for the 2010 competition – deadline is Dec 1, 2010!

http://www.scriptmedical.com/main.html

I admit that not too long ago, I wasn’t even aware of the difference between a Resume and a Curriculum Vitae (CV). So I’ll just clarify the difference for those of you who are wondering. Essentially a resume is a short, concise overview of your skills and is very job specific. [...]]]>

I admit that not too long ago, I wasn’t even aware of the difference between a Resume and a Curriculum Vitae (CV). So I’ll just clarify the difference for those of you who are wondering. Essentially a resume is a short, concise overview of your skills and is very job specific. Most recruiters and hiring managers would tell you that sending a generic “resume” that you haven’t modified to fit the job description will ensure that you’ll never get a call back. A Curriculum Vitae, on the other hand, is typically used when applying for academic positions and lists ALL of your academic, volunteer and personal achievements (even if they aren’t particularly relevant to the specific position to which you are applying).

So if you’re looking for a non-academic job -the Resume is your lifeline.

I’m going to dedicate this post to the Resume and hopefully I can help you learn a thing or two. I won’t pretend to be a Resume expert, but I’m going to try and compile a number of things I’ve learned over the past few years and you can decide for yourself which pointers to follow. The format I’ll use will be simple – I’ll first outline the general components- I doubt that most of us will consider this helpful- but I’ll do it in the interest of completeness. Then I’ll move on to the DOs and DONTs of writing your resume.

So let’s get started shall we?

The resume generally takes 1 of 3 forms – the chronological resume which lists your experiences from most to least recent, the skills based resume which is based on your abilities/accomplishments and not where or when you learned them. The final type is a combination of the two.

Most employers seem to prefer the chronological resume, however, if you don’t have much previous job experience it may be worth constructing the skills based resume instead.

Now on to the DOs and DON’Ts, keep in mind that some of this is opinion.

DO

1. Like I said before, it is IMPERATIVE that you modify your resume for the specific job for which you are applying. Don’t just sent out the same copy to 500 companies and expect to get a reply. For instance, if you are applying to a job that doesn’t require lab skills – there really should be any mention on your resume that you’ve obtained them (just stick with MSc., PhD. etc.)

2. Use adverbs – People like to know that you are great at something, not just that you’ve done it. Using words like Proficiently, Efficiently, Expertly, Adroitly, Courteously or Adeptly can add extra impact to your statements and make your Resume stand out.

3. Read the job description carefully and in your resume address how you’ve acquired the necessary skills to perform those duties. I’d suggest making a checklist of the skills that the employer is looking for and making sure that you’ve illustrated how you have as many of them as possible in your resume.

4. Align your resume properly – This illustrates attention to detail.

5. Proof read and re-proof read! Then ask a friend to do the same. ANY typo or grammatical mistake can send your resume to the garbage can.

6. Provide ACCOMPLISHMENTS (quantifiable if at all possible)- A prospective employer wants to know that you are hard working and that you can excel at the job. They want RESULTS so in every possible case provide them with examples! For instance don’t just give them a description of your previous work experience, tell them how you received praise from your supervisor or how you organized a successful fundraiser and made over $2000.

7. Include an extracurricular section. Just think from a resume screeners perspective – isn’t that the most interesting part of a resume? If you have a hobby that makes you stand out, it could account for the bonus points that get you the interview.

8. This isn’t a necessity but before submitting your resume, I’d recommend converting it to .pdf format. There are handy online tools that can do this for you including PDF Converter
PDF just looks more professional and shows that you’re willing to go that extra mile. It also avoids compatibility issues with the various word processing software.

9. Again not a necessity but in the interest of brevity and impact – I’d try to limit the Resume to 1 page. If you must make it two pages, make sure to try and fill them both up. NEVER make your resume more than 2 pages – it’s more of a CV at that point.

10. It’s probably a good idea at some point to do some brainstorming and come up with all the skills that you have developed in each of your previous school/work experiences. This way even if you don’t use a particular skill on one of your resumes you’ll still have it in mind when writing the next one

11. Think like a resume screener, make sure the most important points are at the top of your resume!

12. Use action verbs like conducted, performed, collaborated, analyzed, managed

13. Stress your interpersonal/communication and other transferable skills – this is most applicable when you’re a researcher applying for a non-research position. I’m willing to bet Human Resources will think you have poor people skills (unfortunately people can be biased!) solely based on your degree so inform them otherwise.

DON’T

1. Use fancy fonts or tons of text sizes, you want your resume to be easy on the eyes but keep the appearance professional.

2. Include irrelevant information – If the job doesn’t require you (or list it as an asset) to have a particular skill – save space and don’t put it on!

3. Make the body text less than 11 point font (They’ll be squinting to read it)

4. Make the resume cluttered, try to make your points concise if you find yourself running out of space

5. Use personal pronouns like I, Me, My

6. Discount the power of personally delivering your resume

Two more notes – the statement “References available upon request” is generally considered OPTIONAL because employers assume it.
the objective statement is also optional, personally I don’t include one – but I can recognize that it has advantages (specifically for targeting a particular job)

p.s. In case you don’t know what an objective statement is, you generally put it at the top of your resume under your name and it is a brief summary of your current career/personal goals.

I hope that you’ve found some of this information useful. If not you can always check out the links for further reading. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or if you have some constructive input to make!

Useful Links

Resume formats

About.com resume format guide
Quintcareers.com

Resume Do’s and Don’ts

Accepted.com
Kelly Services

Objective statements

Toronto Job Classifieds Objective Statement
Eduers.com
EasyJob.net

General resume resources

New Grad Life Blogspot
U of T Career Website

I just read an interesting article on Globe campus about the lackluster performance of Canada in educating and graduating PhDs:

“Canada’s graduation rate of doctoral students is strikingly low compared with its performance on other measures of education completion (high school, college, and university) and compared with its peers,” the report states.

And if that [...]]]>

I just read an interesting article on Globe campus about the lackluster performance of Canada in educating and graduating PhDs:

“Canada’s graduation rate of doctoral students is strikingly low compared with its performance on other measures of education completion (high school, college, and university) and compared with its peers,” the report states.

And if that wasn’t enough to drive you to deep depression, here’s more from the article:

“There’s also less pay and employment incentive for Canadian students to pursue doctoral education … Compared to firms in the U.S., Canadian firms across most industries hire fewer Ph.D. graduates and pay them less.”

Do not despair PhD candidates across the country, we shall overcome!

You can read the rest of the article here.

Jorge Cham, the author of Piled higher and Deeper (PhD) comics, is coming to speak!

His comics are hilarious and continually reflect grad school life – if you haven’t read them, then you’ve been missing out: phdcomics.com.

And I’ve heard he gives a great talk as well, so get your ticket to check it out!

He’ll [...]]]>

Jorge Cham, the author of Piled higher and Deeper (PhD) comics, is coming to speak!

His comics are hilarious and continually reflect grad school life – if you haven’t read them, then you’ve been missing out: phdcomics.com.

And I’ve heard he gives a great talk as well, so get your ticket to check it out!

He’ll be here on Monday March 8 at 3pm  (at MacLeod auditorium, Med Science Building)

Tickets are limited so get them in advance – bring your $10 to either Megan in mars (4-601H) or Vanessa in PMH (10-126), or bring it to seminar and get your ticket there.

He’s also going to be available during the day, so if you’re interested in showing him around the lab/hospital, and maybe getting to be IN one of his comics, then email the organizers: phdcomics.toronto@gmail.com.

Thanks all!

Megan

Although, the article mainly addressed the growing fraud trends in standardized entry tests to professional schools (GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, GRE and so on…), I would love to see a spouse (boyfriend or girlfriend) attempt to give a public lecture or undertake a [...]]]> … that was a title of recent article on the Toronto Star.

Although, the article mainly addressed the growing fraud trends in standardized entry tests to professional schools (GMAT, MCAT, LSAT, GRE and so on…), I would love to see a spouse (boyfriend or girlfriend) attempt to give a public lecture or undertake a Master or PhD defense wearing a wig, mustache or lipstick (read the third paragraph of the article and you’ll know understand what I’m talking about).

By the way, I do not agree with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada ruling people complaining that  requiring digital thumbprints is an invasion of privacy; yes, obtaining fingerprints it’s synonymous of criminal activity, but the goal here is to maintain the integrity of these standardized and deter cheaters.

Palm Scanning for Grad Students Raises Fear [The Toronto Star]

I’ll be honest: I hate the term BLOG.

The word BLOG arose from a mashup of the words WEB and LOG ?

It’s ancient, unelegant, sounds cacophonous, and looks just downright ugly.

With that being said…

——————————————————-

My name is Firas Moosvi and I’m an MBP Blogger for [...]]]>

I’ll be honest: I hate the term BLOG.

The word BLOG arose from a mashup of the words WEB and LOG ?

It’s ancient, unelegant, sounds cacophonous, and looks just downright ugly.

With that being said…

——————————————————-

My name is Firas Moosvi and I’m an MBP Blogger for 2010 ! (P.S. Happy New Year)…

What will I be writing about? Well, I’m a big technology geek and love to talk about ways of enhancing your productivity using technology. One could argue that people like me – those that look too hard at ways of becoming productive – will likely never achieve that goal. And to those I say: “You’re probably right.”

My first feature post will be entitled: ‘Paper Lab Notebooks: The end of an era.’

Sound boring? Don’t worry, I’ll be doing something cool after my posts that should keep you coming back for more, month after month. This feature will be called: “Fails of the Month”….  Here’s a sneak peek:

Fail of the month:

This is the apparatus that a collaborator and I designed and built a few weeks ago. It is the central component to my project and my timely graduation (what does that even mean around here?) hinges upon its’ success:

Well this is what my supervisor had to say about it:

Wow.

See you in a couple of weeks!!

F.

Although I am not sure what the attendance expectations were, Saturday’s Medical Biophysics Open House must be considered an all around success.  Hundreds of undergraduate students descended onto Princess Margaret Hospital, on a cold winter morning (-15C, FYI!), to attend the annual Medical Biophysics Open House and learn more about our program.

Students from [...]]]>

Although I am not sure what the attendance expectations were, Saturday’s Medical Biophysics Open House must be considered an all around success.  Hundreds of undergraduate students descended onto Princess Margaret Hospital, on a cold winter morning (-15C, FYI!), to attend the annual Medical Biophysics Open House and learn more about our program.

Students from all the major universities in Ontario attended the event, all eager to meet faculty, talk to students and tour the laboratory facilities. In attendance, there were students with a variety of backgrounds:  from molecular and cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, chemistry to physics, engineering, mathematics and beyond. The morning started with the majority of the undergrads sifting through the different posters and talking to the many graduate students and supervisors available at hand.

While 80% of the posters were located in the main hall, there were a few posters relegated in a moderately conspicuous room representing the physics stream, specifically Sunnybrook hospital projects . And that’s where I was. Honestly, I would have preferred to be in the middle of the action and high student traffic area, but I made the most of it. But despite the less than perfect strategic position, I was able to talk with many students that courageously ventured in the dungeon room.

There you would have seen me gesturing and waving my hands, while explaining the wonders of cardiac MRI, the amazing things we are doing in the Wright group and in the MBP program in general. I was able to interact with undergrad students looking for summer positions, recent grads looking for Masters or PhD positions, and everyone seemed extremely receptive and impressed (by the way it’s extremely easy to wow a second year student!)

But the most endearing aspect of this whole experience, was looking into those inquiring eyes and seeing myself from a few years ago. I remember being at a crossroad of my life trying to decide whether to stick with my ‘right-out-of-school’ engineering job or apply to grad school. Not really knowing which school to select or what lab to apply to.  Just like that younger Samuel, many students today were driven by an inner passion for more learning and consciously steered towards grad school.  But like an explorer faced with the decision of taking the right or the left trail, personal passion sometimes leads you to the unknown, which is filled with anxiety.  Hopefully, today I was able to decrease some of that anxiety and paint a brighter picture of graduate school, a little less daunting and present to those students the great aspects of our interdisciplinary program.

Overall, it was an extremely great experience. I could go on and talk about the socially-awkward-feet-staring-probably-disconnected-from-the-real-life students, or about the food, or the keynote address by Peter Burns, but I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the yapping….(and no, the above-mentioned students are not included in these pictures….)

(By the way I took the pictures with iPhone using the pretty cool panoramic app “Pano”, some of the stitching is not perfect but whatever… enjoy)

main hall

"the Sunnybrook room"

Dr. Burns

more pictures below…..

MBP OPEN HOUSE!

Title: MBP New Year Pub Night Location: Molly Bloom’s @ 191 College Street Description: Title: MBP New Year Pub Night Where: Molly Bloom’s @ 191 College Street When: Wednesday January 13, 2010, 5:30 to 9:30pm Tickets: $5 – includes drink and appetizers. Purchase from Vanessa DiPalma (PMH) – vdipalma@gmail.com

Start Time: 17:30 Date: 2010-01-13 End Time: 21:30