Half-Time 2-Year vs. Full-Time 1-Year Postdoc?

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Feelings Doctor

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I didn't see a similar thread come up when searching, so forgive me if this has been covered before, but I was wondering what people's thoughts were regarding half-time 2-year postdocs vs. full-time 1-year postdocs. The majority of the postdocs to which I've applied are 1-year clinical postdocs, but there is a 2-year half-time postdoc that is described as 50/50 research/clinical with a specialization that is highly aligned with my interests. I will of course be asking the director more questions upon interviewing but it looks like since the fellowship is at 50%, I would be paid 50% of the usual fellowship full-time salary, which isn't very much to cover cost of living. So this sounds like a 10-hr clinical, 10-hr research kind of deal.

My questions are:
  1. How common are these two-year, half-time postdoc fellowships?
  2. Does half-time 25/25 research/clinical work out to be 20 hours or do most people wind up working the equivalent of a 40-hour work week?
  3. For those of you who have taken half-time fellowships, have you supplemented your income with any outside work during that time? What are the options for a pre-licensed postdoc when it comes to moonlighting? Is it even feasible?
  4. Should I be prioritizing a one-year full-time postdoc position with generalist training over a two-year half-time postdoc with specialized (and difficult-to-acquire) training?
My ultimate career goals are primarily clinical in nature, although I am competent in and enjoy research.

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IF it’s only ~10 hr week clinical, then after 2 yrs you might still not have enough for licensure, depending on the state... so you might feel driven to do even more- and end up working more than 20-25 hours anyway. If the training is really that super specialized then I might mull over the idea but overall I would be hesitant.
 
I see them in research people much more commonly. It is somewhat rare for clinical people to do this. I've personally known a few people do this and they do have a harder time getting licensed. They still did, they just had to send in a lot of extra documentation/attestation things to licensing boards. I would look at a couple states that you think you will eventually want to be licensed in and see what their requirements are for postdoc accrued hours and clinical supervision and make sure whatever you choose will meet those requirements.
 
Beware of putting in a year and having something change....then you have 50% or less of your hours and now you need to another position. I’d want the position to be grant funded and/or have guaranteed funding.

Personally, I would be worried that “part-time” is actually “basically full-time”, but you only get paid for 20hr/wk for two years.
 
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