Field Research?

[Algophiliac]

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Hey, long time no see, because I'm rethinking all of this, and trying to understand what I really want from life.

I want to be OUT THERE--I'm talking in Africa, as part of Doctors Without Borders, in the jungles...but I also want to do research. And I mean real research. I know such things are possible, because internships in South Africa to do mosquito and malaria research are offered as part of study abroad programs at my university. Is this possible as a full-time job? Is it possible to alternate between going abroad and staying home as a US citizen in a more "comfortable," stable job?

I am looking for something that isn't boring--medicine is boring to me, for some reason, suddenly. Research, especially clinical but also bench research, however, is not--it is slow, but EXCITING and SO worth it all! 🙂 Yet, I still want more excitement--such as being abroad, or more directly helping people, such as serving in Doctors Without Borders...but...I just don't know what opportunities are out there, whether I should get an MD, MD/PhD, PhD, or some other degree entirely--but I'd rather pick from those three, actually. 🙂

Ideas?

 

[LizzyM]

A friend of mine is working with Drs. without Borders right now. He is trained in emergency medicine and working/teaching in an emergency department of a hospital is a place that is experiencing ethnic unrest. No research.

PhD work in infectious diseases (and some genetic diseases, too) can mean going abroad for samples and then "coming home" to work in the lab & back & forth.


Another option is Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)http://www.cdc.gov/eis/index.html Many who do this 2 year fellowship go on to work long-term for the CDC, a school of public health, or a state department of health. MD, or PhD (or DVM & some other paths) will qualify you for EIS

 

[Algophiliac]

A friend of mine is working with Drs. without Borders right now. He is trained in emergency medicine and working/teaching in an emergency department of a hospital is a place that is experiencing ethnic unrest. No research.

PhD work in infectious diseases (and some genetic diseases, too) can mean going abroad for samples and then "coming home" to work in the lab & back & forth.


Another option is Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)http://www.cdc.gov/eis/index.html Many who do this 2 year fellowship go on to work long-term for the CDC, a school of public health, or a state department of health. MD, or PhD (or DVM & some other paths) will qualify you for EIS

Wow! Do you have any more information on this particular line of work? Is there any specific university or industry that makes such work its focus?

The EIS also sounds interesting--I will do further research into this line of work.

I guess I should say that THE most fun I have had at university so far is being part of the Red Cross--I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching CPR classes, enjoy being a part of disaster relief services, and distinctly remember Haiti support as being an intense and exquisite experience. However, I also love neurological research! I find the heirarchy involved, the intricacies of experimental planning, and the data analysis to be extremely exciting in their own ways. Is there no way to combine research with immediate life-saving work as well?

I thought I would enjoy an MD in neurology...but the work seems rather repetitive, the hospital rather too closed-in and set in its legal ways, and although I love the science and the people, I just want to do something more. 🙂 Thanks so much, LizzyM--you're a great help, as usual!

 

[LizzyM]

Wow! Do you have any more information on this particular line of work? Is there any specific university or industry that makes such work its focus?

The EIS also sounds interesting--I will do further research into this line of work.

I guess I should say that THE most fun I have had at university so far is being part of the Red Cross--I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching CPR classes, enjoy being a part of disaster relief services, and distinctly remember Haiti support as being an intense and exquisite experience. However, I also love neurological research! I find the heirarchy involved, the intricacies of experimental planning, and the data analysis to be extremely exciting in their own ways. Is there no way to combine research with immediate life-saving work as well?

I thought I would enjoy an MD in neurology...but the work seems rather repetitive, the hospital rather too closed-in and set in its legal ways, and although I love the science and the people, I just want to do something more. 🙂 Thanks so much, LizzyM--you're a great help, as usual!

Would you consider medical anthropology or genetics with a focus on neurological conditions? Not sure where such work is being done but, thank God for Google, it should be easy for you to dig around & find out which PhD programs have people working in those areas.

 

[Algophiliac]

Would you consider medical anthropology or genetics with a focus on neurological conditions? Not sure where such work is being done but, thank God for Google, it should be easy for you to dig around & find out which PhD programs have people working in those areas.

I feel as though a study of infectious diseases or a study of chronic (especially neurological) conditions would be more applicable for me. I have actually spent quite a bit of time trying to locate such opportunities, but unfortunately they seem very few and far between.

The reason I wish to focus on research is due to my belief that most of medicine focuses on treating symptoms, not diseases. I wish to compare the spread of disease on the basis of time and geographical setting, especially for such conditions as osteoporosis, depression, epilepsy, cancers, multiple sclerosis, and others. But all of this with the aims of developing treatments that will cure (or even lifestyle choices that will prevent) the continuation or onset of such diseases. Yet, far from taking the genetics stance on this, I feel as though environmental factors play the key--if not the only--role in causing many of these illnesses.

Yet I realize all of this is more easily possible *without* traveling anywhere at all. Ah well.

 

[LizzyM]

I feel as though a study of infectious diseases or a study of chronic (especially neurological) conditions would be more applicable for me. I have actually spent quite a bit of time trying to locate such opportunities, but unfortunately they seem very few and far between.

The reason I wish to focus on research is due to my belief that most of medicine focuses on treating symptoms, not diseases. I wish to compare the spread of disease on the basis of time and geographical setting, especially for such conditions as osteoporosis, depression, epilepsy, cancers, multiple sclerosis, and others. But all of this with the aims of developing treatments that will cure (or even lifestyle choices that will prevent) the continuation or onset of such diseases. Yet, far from taking the genetics stance on this, I feel as though environmental factors play the key--if not the only--role in causing many of these illnesses.

Yet I realize all of this is more easily possible *without* traveling anywhere at all. Ah well.

PhD in Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology or Environmental Health (including Occupational Health) might be a good fit, too. Here's someone who did that: http://www.spoke.com/info/p6QXNYI/DavidMiller

A academic librarian whould be able to help you find schools that are getting NIH funding for epidemiologic research in areas of interest to you. It would take some digging but librarians groove on that.

 

[DrArete]

I feel as though a study of infectious diseases or a study of chronic (especially neurological) conditions would be more applicable for me. I have actually spent quite a bit of time trying to locate such opportunities, but unfortunately they seem very few and far between.

The reason I wish to focus on research is due to my belief that most of medicine focuses on treating symptoms, not diseases. I wish to compare the spread of disease on the basis of time and geographical setting, especially for such conditions as osteoporosis, depression, epilepsy, cancers, multiple sclerosis, and others. But all of this with the aims of developing treatments that will cure (or even lifestyle choices that will prevent) the continuation or onset of such diseases. Yet, far from taking the genetics stance on this, I feel as though environmental factors play the key--if not the only--role in causing many of these illnesses.

Yet I realize all of this is more easily possible *without* traveling anywhere at all. Ah well.

 

[Algophiliac]

PhD in Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology or Environmental Health (including Occupational Health) might be a good fit, too. Here's someone who did that: http://www.spoke.com/info/p6QXNYI/DavidMiller

A academic librarian whould be able to help you find schools that are getting NIH funding for epidemiologic research in areas of interest to you. It would take some digging but librarians groove on that.

That sounds very interesting, thank you! 🙂

Where exactly could I find an academic librarian? I have never heard the term before. Although I have asked numerous counselors (and even those counselors specifically employed to seek out health careers and/or natural sciences research or other careers opportunities), they have all come up empty-handed for me. 🙁

DrArete, LOL, don't we all, don't we all? I don't care if I never come close, though--it's the journey that counts. 🙂 I have a weird drive to search for answers, and am irritated when no one seems to come to any reasonable concensus on any of them.

 

[LizzyM]

You want a reference librarian and a college or university. The question: which Schools of Public Health or other universities have National Institute of _____ funding for ____. You'll need to figure out which Institutes to look into.

For a list of schools of public health go to www.asph.org