Advices from my Lounger peeps...

[WhtsThFrequency]

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Alright. So as many of you know but some may not, after I finish residency here I'll be going on (hopefully) to an NIH-supported PhD/fellowship position.

I already have a huge spreadsheet of programs with all the info and have favorites picked out. I'll be applying in late fall/early winter in order to start fall of 2013, after taking (and passing, let's hope) national path boards.

Now comes the problemo. Since I'll be an external candidate applying for these things (most of these programs tend to consist of the school's own residents/DVMs that stayed on), I want to make myself known - more than just a name on an application. NIH grants are pretty damn competitive.

I have been thinking of sending some "Hello, I am Dr. WTF, interested in your program, I will be applying, blah blah, ask some questions" emails to the program directors. Do you think August/Sept (now, that is) is a good time to do this? Apps are usually due in December or January for the next fall semester, with some being year-round? I'll be honest in that I'm not quite sure what to say to them - I just want them to remember my name when it comes for review. T

houghts? Suggestions? Attach a CV yes/no? Someone suggested having a small personal website, I thought that was a neat idea. Belly dance? Dog and pony show? I'll do anything at this point This is a little different than basic residency application, or job application, because I'll be trying to wade in among people they already know. Trying to make myself look smashing 😎

 

[Samoa]

This is probably better directed at the vet forums, simply because things like this can be so different between professions. What would be appropriate for someone in human medicine might be a terrible faux pas in veterinary medicine, or vice versa (the website comes to mind here).

 

[StartingoverVet]

Some general advice...

If you do it too close to the application, it comes across exactly as it is.. someone desperate to make an impression.

The best thing to do is to appear to have random reasons to contact people... "Oh, I read your research on...", or "I saw you had a case of Wolf lounge disease..." etc. Then, they can remember you, and not just because of applying. It is probably early enough now that it won't appear desperate.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

This is probably better directed at the vet forums, simply because things like this can be so different between professions. What would be appropriate for someone in human medicine might be a terrible faux pas in veterinary medicine, or vice versa (the website comes to mind here).

I dunno - a Phd program is a PhD program. I would imagine an MD looking to do a NIH-funded PhD would have the same questions?

I guess I should clarify - this would be considered a "fellowship" only because of the NIH salary - all the rest is pure "normal" PhD research. I won't be doing any vet-related or pathology-related stuff 🙁 Unless I do it at an institution that also has a vet school and a path residency program, where I could sneak in on rounds, etc.

 

[PJ meowerton]

I dunno if you have time/money but if you went and visited your top choices that might be good too, you could either ask out right if you can visit or claim to be in town randomly already. Do you go to many conferences, are there any before your applications are submitted or during the interview process? You could try and meet with people while you are there so they know you.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I dunno if you have time/money but if you went and visited your top choices that might be good too, you could either ask out right if you can visit or claim to be in town randomly already. Do you go to many conferences, are there any before your applications are submitted or during the interview process? You could try and meet with people while you are there so they know you.

I would LOVE to go visit, but taking time off work and trying to spare anywhere from $300 to $500 for a flight ain't gonna happen on my payscale 🙁 Our department can only afford to send us to maybe one conference a year, and I can't afford to go to any out of pocket. My only means of making myself known right now is via phone and email, mostly.

Luckily, the ACVP national conference (the one they are covering me for this year) is in December, and I'm going to use that as my "interview", since I'll also be doing two presentations there as well.

However, I don't know how many of my potential employers/PIs would be there - this is the national veterinary pathologists meeting. Not all the potential PIs have pathology training, some of them have MDs, some of them just have PhDs, some of them have DVMs...hard to tell how many I could reach through only that avenue.

 

[PJ meowerton]

I would LOVE to go visit, but taking time off work and trying to spare anywhere from $300 to $500 for a flight ain't gonna happen on my payscale 🙁 Our department can only afford to send us to maybe one conference a year, and I can't afford to go to any out of pocket. My only means of making myself known right now is via phone and email, mostly.

Luckily, the ACVP national conference (the one they are covering me for this year) is in December, and I'm going to use that as my "interview", since I'll also be doing two presentations there as well.

However, I don't know how many of my potential employers/PIs would be there - this is the national veterinary pathologists meeting. Some may be there, but a good portion may also not be there. Kinda like, if roles were reversed, expecting a human pathologist to attend an American Chemical Society meeting or something 😳

yah I sort of thought it might be too pricey to do. Are there any people with this graduate degree/fellowship in your area (is it that common?) that you could meet up with, if its not that common and there was someone in the area then maybe they would know people from the places you are applying and they could be your in, since its always good to know someone.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

yah I sort of thought it might be too pricey to do. Are there any people with this graduate degree/fellowship in your area (is it that common?) that you could meet up with, if its not that common and there was someone in the area then maybe they would know people from the places you are applying and they could be your in, since its always good to know someone.

The majority of veterinary pathologists nowadays are DVM/PhDs (in fact, most residencies are combined with PhD training - since I am jumping ship from my current place, these are the people I am "competing" against), so finding someone specifically with the training isn't too hard.

Agreed, networking is always the best way. Only one or two of the people I know actually did either their DVM, their residency, or their PhD at the places I'm really interested in; however, I do know some others. I just wonder if that would seem...I dunno, like trying to get into nepotism

 

[smq123]

I dunno - a Phd program is a PhD program. I would imagine an MD looking to do a NIH-funded PhD would have the same questions?

I guess I should clarify - this would be considered a "fellowship" only because of the NIH salary - all the rest is pure "normal" PhD research. I won't be doing any vet-related or pathology-related stuff 🙁 Unless I do it at an institution that also has a vet school and a path residency program, where I could sneak in on rounds, etc.

Not a lot of MDs try to do NIH-funded PhDs. 😳 The money you'd lose by taking time out to get a PhD is so much, you're better off competing for grants with just your MD.

Why don't you try posting this question in the MD/PhD forum [http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32]? That's kind of become the default "research questions/I want to get a masters/I want to get a PhD" forum anyway. I have very little experience looking for PhDs or navigating the world of grad school, but the people in that forum do.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Not a lot of MDs try to do NIH-funded PhDs. 😳 The money you'd lose by taking time out to get a PhD is so much, you're better off competing for grants with just your MD.

Why don't you try posting this question in the MD/PhD forum [http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32]? That's kind of become the default "research questions/I want to get a masters/I want to get a PhD" forum anyway. I have very little experience looking for PhDs or navigating the world of grad school, but the people in that forum do.

Yeah, I can definitely see that. Me, I'm just having to do one because most jobs in the current economy (strictly diagnostic jobs in state labs, national labs, and pharma are hard to come by) are in academia/teaching hospitals, which almost always require a PhD even if your job is mostly diagnostics and teaching. Thankfully, I do love research but yeah....the money lost pisses me off. Unfortunately, grants are hard to come by as "just" a DVM, or "just" DVM pathologist....NIH and such seems to think we are puppy and kitty doctors who couldn't possibly do research without one 🙄 You MDs are lucky in that respect.

Can a mod move this for me? Don't want to post the same thing twice as per rules 🙂

 

[smq123]

Can a mode move this for me? Don't want to post the same thing twice as per rules 🙂

Done. 🙂

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Is it sad that I only just noticed you're a mod, and I've been here as long as you have?