Becoming an Anatomy professor

[steph885]

My husband is wrapping up his Phd in Anatomy and Neurobiology, and is looking at going straight to becoming teaching faculty at another school. How realistic is this? A lot of other graduates say they got offers from about 50% of the schools they applied to, but I know that sometimes people stretch the truth. Here are the relevant details:

He is currently at a top tier school.

The school we are looking at in particular is a bottom tier medical school.

He has TAd Gross Anatomy and Neuroanatomy for the medical school he is graduating from. He is currently TAing Anatomy for doctor of physical therapy and PA students.

He has no publications, due to patents in his area of research, however he will likely publish 2 papers this year.

He is currently funded through a T32 grant and is certified by the medical school to teach anatomy.

I am really looking for feedback from people that are currently wrapping up their phds and looking for jobs or have already graduated. I really do not need opinions from med students that think they know about the Phd job market.

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[SBR249]

Just out of curiosity, by teaching faculty do you mean purely lecturing/running a class? Or faculty as in there might be a research component too?

 

[steph885]

There would probably be a very small research component--probably 20% or less. The job is primarily teaching the gross anatomy and neuroanatomy courses/labs. But yes, this is an assistant professor level position.

 

[Neuronix]

A lot of other graduates say they got offers from about 50% of the schools they applied to, but I know that sometimes people stretch the truth.

The "PhD job market" depends on the PhD. Anatomy is a very specialized area, geared towards teaching. You are unlikely to find qualified responses here because we just don't have anatomy PhDs hanging out on these forums.

Good luck!

 

[steph885]

Thanks. I thought I would give it a shot and see if I could find someone. I am glad to hear that you find it is geared towards teaching. Also, if you know of anywhere I might be able to find where anatomy phds are hanging out, then please let me know.

 

[Neuronix]

There is simply not a lot of research going on in the realm of anatomy. The body has already been extensively dissected. The only job opportunities of which I'm aware are teaching anatomy. The question then becomes, are there currently teaching jobs available? That I do not know.

 

[steph885]

Neuronix, there are quite a lot of anatomy teaching jobs advertised, I'm just not sure how easy or hard it is to get one. We are really interested in one particular position (that I mentioned earlier). There is a substantial amount of faculty hiring going on at this particular school because of the expansion of the school.

We received a letter today stating that he had basically survived the first round of reviews, but they won't be making any decisions for quite some time. Overall, we found the contents of the letter to be good news.

His area of research is actually in Parkinson's disease, which thankfully, fits in quite well with other research currently going on at this institution.

Thanks for your help.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I believe there are still some opportunities for research in specifically neuroanatomy, but for pretty much all gross anatomy outside of that, it's teaching.

His work in neuroanatomy means he'll be well qualified to deal with the 20% research requirement.

 

[Alabama938]

If a general surgeon wanted to transition to teaching anatomy, what additional education would be beneficial?

 

[solitude]

If a general surgeon wanted to transition to teaching anatomy, what additional education would be beneficial?

None. Just be willing to take a 75% pay cut.