VA research career?

[fallen625]

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts about the pros and cons of having a research career at a VA. Considering a VA research postdoc vs. AMC postdoc and curious to hear everyones thoughts. The research funding available through the VA makes it tempting. I am an intern at the VA so I am somewhat familiar with what being at a VA is like, but not on the research side of things

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[cara susanna]

I had a VA researcher that I know tell me you're better off in academia and then maintaining ties to a VA research lab or dataset. The VA will eat away at your time unless you keep getting funding, which isn't exactly easy.

For what it's worth, I started out wanting a VA research career. I changed my mind once I completed a VA research fellowship and saw the reality of it.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

For what it's worth, I started out wanting a VA research career. I changed my mind once I completed a VA research fellowship and saw the reality of it.

Yep. Anecdotally, I would say this happens to 50% or so of VA research fellows.

I worked in VA research full time for awhile as an ECP and left due to frustration with the research process and lack of salary/benefits for the time and effort I was putting in, compared other available opportunities. My colleagues on the academic side had it much easier in terms of hoops to jump through. I tried to do as much as I could in that world. VA will tie you up in red tape. If you are working on soft money as a researcher, until you make it onto the hard money side of things life can be rough. Long hours, lots of stress. Although I am sure some of that was the culture of the specific VA/center I was at - I have heard it is less so elsewhere. That being said, there were great opportunities for funding for ECPs within VA. Its not a bad place to start a career. I have seen plenty of folks transition from VA research fellows to academia if they did not get funding to secure themselves a position moving forward.

If you are interested in having your foot in clinical work a bit too I think a VA research fellowship could allow this more so than other positions. Some of the formal MIRECC positions have this built in. Others you can request it. I think that is a big plus.

 

[deleted343839]

A research career at a VA does open up more streams of funding, especially as you move into early career. In general, I would steer you toward a Center of Excellence or Center of Innovation with a strong track record of transitioning fellows to full-time faculty positions. Hopefully the postdoc in question is connected to one of these resources.

Some of the decision may also come down to your research interests and who is available to mentor you. Some research interests will be a more natural fit with one type of environment than another. I also second AbnormalPsych's precaution about the red tape and general bureaucratic nonsense in the VA, but that doesn't always mean it's a lot better elsewhere.

I think the decision between two sites ultimately comes at least as much to local/site-specific factors as the more general question of VA-versus-AMC.

 

[fallen625]

A research career at a VA does open up more streams of funding, especially as you move into early career. In general, I would steer you toward a Center of Excellence or Center of Innovation with a strong track record of transitioning fellows to full-time faculty positions. Hopefully the postdoc in question is connected to one of these resources.

Some of the decision may also come down to your research interests and who is available to mentor you. Some research interests will be a more natural fit with one type of environment than another. I also second AbnormalPsych's precaution about the red tape and general bureaucratic nonsense in the VA, but that doesn't always mean it's a lot better elsewhere.

I think the decision between two sites ultimately comes at least as much to local/site-specific factors as the more general question of VA-versus-AMC.

This is helpful. I am looking at pretty research-focused VAs connected to AMCs. Question - what line of research is more of a fit for a VA vs. NIH grant funding? I am interested in intervention research and get the sense that this type of work is a better fit for a VA, but I am too early in my career to tell.

 

[deleted343839]

This is helpful. I am looking at pretty research-focused VAs connected to AMCs. Question - what line of research is more of a fit for a VA vs. NIH grant funding? I am interested in intervention research and get the sense that this type of work is a better fit for a VA, but I am too early in my career to tell.

Intervention research (do you mean clinical trials?) fits well in either environment.

To clarify, the VA funds a wide spectrum of research, but you might have an interest in an area that also happens to be a high priority to the VA, such as rural care and telehealth services, in which case that might influence your decision.

 

[Justanothergrad]

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts about the pros and cons of having a research career at a VA. Considering a VA research postdoc vs. AMC postdoc and curious to hear everyones thoughts. The research funding available through the VA makes it tempting. I am an intern at the VA so I am somewhat familiar with what being at a VA is like, but not on the research side of things

I do a lot of VA research and publish regularly as part of VA collaborations; however, I'm not in a full time VA position. I am a WOC (without contract) with the VA. This enables me to do DOD research as well as VA work, and gives me the flexibility of an academic position. Depending on the VISN, the IRBs can be very different in terms of what they are willing to allow and how much work they are so that's something to think about long-term as well. I can't speak to research funding internally since as a WOC I'm not eligible for funds as a PI. I'm not sure that there will be big differences in terms of training at post-doc level for grants and increased productivity; however, if either aligns with prioritized research by the VA (keeping in mind that what is presently funded may shift some for VA; e.g., telehealth is hot now but may not be in 15 years but related distance-based work may be), or links with long term goals you have for a certain MIRECC's area of focus then I might lean that way in making a decision.

Agreed with others that intervention work (esp. RCT) are suited to both settings. VA loves specific types of RCTs and RCTs for specific disorders; however, you may have a hard time breaking into those groups if you aren't part of the lineup because of how competitive you will be versus the established research groups (i.e., if you say you can do a better suicide study than Craig Brian, or better PTSD research than Resick/Foa you will have an uphill battle)

 

[cara susanna]

There are also different branches of funding within the VA and some are more competitive than others. For instance, back when I was a fellow, we were told that there was one branch where getting CDA funding was almost impossible.

I agree that there are MIRECCs or Centers of Excellence that have good funding for transitioning post docs into permanent research positions. That being said, I did get the impression that most of these positions are externally funded and therefore not 100% stable. This is less of a risk for labs with a lot of clout and funding, but I would still keep it under consideration. Even if the VA is connected to an AMC, they may still be pretty separate in terms of research and day-to-day activities. I've been at four VAs with AMC affiliations, and only one was (what I would consider) really integrated into research.

What scared me the most was when we were sitting through seminars about CDAs and they would be like "okay, and then during your CDA you're getting ready for your merit or R01 application..." It seemed like this never ending cycle of grant apps and I just wanted stability at that point.