He's gonna need a job...

[BerlinNeuro]

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Background: I'm a 4th year med student currently applying for residency. So by this point, I have a handful of good interview offers that I'm quite pleased about and hoping for a few more to come my way. My husband is very supportive of my career and is flexible about our future location provided that he can get a job on par or better than his current research job. He does cancer/neuroscience research (not a PhD though). So far I have interviews set up in Gainesville, Cincinnati, Chicago, Baltimore, and Albuquerque. A little all over the place, but all locations I really like for one reason or another.

So what I really want to know from the recently matched interns is did anyone have a spouse looking for a job in these markets this past year? Also, does anyone know about particular areas that are good for research positions, especially in neuroscience and biotech? I'm still willing to apply to a few more programs before it gets too late if there's a strong job market. NYC and California in general are off the table right now due to the cost of living.

Any and all tips appreciated. 🙂

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

Background: I'm a 4th year med student currently applying for residency. So by this point, I have a handful of good interview offers that I'm quite pleased about and hoping for a few more to come my way. My husband is very supportive of my career and is flexible about our future location provided that he can get a job on par or better than his current research job. He does cancer/neuroscience research (not a PhD though). So far I have interviews set up in Gainesville, Cincinnati, Chicago, Baltimore, and Albuquerque. A little all over the place, but all locations I really like for one reason or another.

So what I really want to know from the recently matched interns is did anyone have a spouse looking for a job in these markets this past year? Also, does anyone know about particular areas that are good for research positions, especially in neuroscience and biotech? I'm still willing to apply to a few more programs before it gets too late if there's a strong job market. NYC and California in general are off the table right now due to the cost of living.

Any and all tips appreciated. 🙂

If you match in Baltimore he could always look into a research position with the NIH, which is located in Bethesda, MD. There's quite a distance between B'more and Bethesda (~1 hour minus traffic) but if you guys live in between somewhere (Columbia, MD for example) both your commute times would be around 30 minutes or so. Maybe a bit longer for him.

G'luck!

 

[dotdash]

Boston and New York are no-brainers 🙂)) of course, CDC in Atlanta might have something, UCSF -- really, any of the big research universities. UNC is sitting in the middle of a lot of research, both public and private. If he does this kind of research, he should know where the big centers are or at least where the authors of the papers he reads are from.

 

[gutonc]

I assume he's at a Univ Med Center now (or a major research university). And if he's not PhD level, and not a grad student, he's working as some level of a tech. As long as you don't insist on matching FM @ North Dakota, he should have no difficulty finding a job, either at your institution or at another institution in or near the same town. It would probably be easier to list the places you could match where it would be hard for him to get a job than list the places where it would be relatively easy. I worked multiple lab tech jobs prior to starting med school and never had a problem finding a gig. If he keeps industry in mind, he'll have even more options (and more money).

 

[BerlinNeuro]

Thanks for the suggestions. He's not a lab technician, he's a research associate who runs his own sub-projects. He has a Master's degree and lots of academic research experience. So, he doesn't really want to be washing dishes and making buffers as a technician. That's what we're trying to avoid because we know it's easy to get a tech job, but he wants something more advanced unless we run out of options. And he's definitely open for getting into biotech. I'm just not sure about the job market these days. That's what I'm the most interested in learning about... if they know anyone who was trying to get a research or biotech job recently.

 

[Dral]

Is he open to going for a PhD? It sounds as if he is a competent researcher from your description. If he was on the ball, he could probably finish up close to the time you were done with residency depending on your specialty. If he plays his cards right, he could make money while doing so if he was working for the 'right' PI.

Most medical centers have decent neuro programs, and I would think he could find the right fit for him. He would take a pay cut, but your new salary would hopefully help make up for it. Just a thought.

 

[peerie]

As long as you don't insist on matching FM @ North Dakota, he should have no difficulty finding a job, either at your institution or at another institution in or near the same town.

Ok, ok so go ahead and make fun of ND; but know that it does have excellent research and academic facilities. And as for FM, it has an outstanding reputation for training docs. It's not UCSF, but then - that's maybe ok. Sometimes, a smaller place can be better at developing talent because you're not knee deep in residents, fellows and med students all vying for attention. 😉

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't know about Gainesville, FL. I'm sure there are universities there, but maybe not so many opportunities as around Baltimore. I agree w/the above poster about considering Baltimore due to proximity of Johns Hopkins, U of Maryland, and Bethesda, MD (NIH and probably there is biotech in the area, though I don't know specifically).

As far as the person who suggested getting the PhD, not sure that's the right move...often people get a PhD and then they have to do a postdoc (or multiple postdocs) and then end up with a very similar or the same job they could have had with a master's degree + experience...

 

[gutonc]

Thanks for the suggestions. He's not a lab technician, he's a research associate who runs his own sub-projects. He has a Master's degree and lots of academic research experience. So, he doesn't really want to be washing dishes and making buffers as a technician. That's what we're trying to avoid because we know it's easy to get a tech job, but he wants something more advanced unless we run out of options. And he's definitely open for getting into biotech. I'm just not sure about the job market these days. That's what I'm the most interested in learning about... if they know anyone who was trying to get a research or biotech job recently.

Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to. If he's writing grants to support his work, that's one thing. Otherwise he's a tech (senior research assistant if it makes him feel better). And this is coming from someone who's done it from all sides (as an undergrad and BA level tech, as a Master's level "Research Asst," as a grad student and now as a post-doc. It's not a dig...it's just what it is. If he's got the skills and you go somewhere with a reasonably sized research community, he should be fine. Also, use his current boss (and other faculty members he knows) to help make contacts in places you get interviews. If you can swing it financially, he should try to line up interviews and go with you on interview trips.