{"id":66,"date":"2023-11-29T03:05:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T03:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.odu.edu\/fall2016-pff-template\/?page_id=66"},"modified":"2024-10-13T19:49:26","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T19:49:26","slug":"professional-development-activity-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/professional-development-activity-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Post-Doctoral Option: What is it? Is it for me?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

What exactly is a post-doctoral fellow?\u00a0 This professional development session explores what a “postdoc” is and does.\u00a0 Depending on career aspirations and where one is in their life, this is potential option after achieving one’s Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).<\/p>\n

Three Lessons\/Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n

One key lesson and takeaway is that bottom line up front (BLUF), a post-doctoral fellowship is specialized training beyond the PhD.\u00a0 Since each researcher’s focus will vary person-to-person, depending on the fellowship area, these may not be for everyone.\u00a0 In the realm of nursing, many universities and colleges do not offer nursing post-doctoral fellowship opportunities; although PhD and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs are readily available, typically graduates will enter research or continue their practice from there.<\/p>\n

Another lesson learned and key takeaway centers around advancing someone’s else’s research, not necessarily one’s own.\u00a0 It’s understandable for post-doctoral fellowships to attract undecided or generalist graduates.\u00a0 For those still searching for their interests or wanting to solidify their research skills, this is a great option.\u00a0 This is made possible by principal investigators and\/or main researchers partitioning part of their funding to offer said fellowship opportunity.\u00a0 One must be emotionally intelligent and assertive prior to accepting the fellowship to mitigate disappointment and dissatisfaction.<\/p>\n

The third lesson and key takeaway is that post-doctoral fellowships are not made the same; the postdoc’s position depends on the funding type.\u00a0 An individual researcher may dedicate part of their funding for a fellowship opportunity, or the the funding can be aligned to an organization or center.\u00a0 This dictates training, mentoring, and networking opportunities.\u00a0 For example, the F32 grant provides training the postdoc lacks.\u00a0 However, the preceptor is not paid to mentor, but rather facilitate the research.\u00a0 Postdocs in these types of fellowships need to identify their own mentor or training opportunities.<\/p>\n

Unanswered Question or One Piece of Advice<\/strong><\/p>\n

The one piece of advice I’d share with others inquiring about post-doctoral fellowships is to do your research… no pun intended.\u00a0 With each fellowship being different, researching the principal investigator’s research focus areas is imperative.\u00a0 These are paid positions and may require relocating, so committing to a program for the sake of resume-building is foolish.<\/p>\n

Faculty Preparation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although I am not in a PhD program, nursing does offer nuanced post-doctoral fellowship opportunities.\u00a0 Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing<\/a> offers several fellowships focuses on health economics, hypertension, and community-based research.\u00a0 This is where reviewing the fellowship’s purpose and goals is important.\u00a0 Johns Hopkins University is a top-ranked nursing school and as a result, I’d likely receive excellent mentoring, a decent salary, and a plethora of resources to support the research, it’s someone else’s research.\u00a0 However, my research areas do not necessarily align with the principal investigators’ foci, therefore, this will drastically effect my dedication and interest if selected.<\/p>\n

Date Observed:\u00a0 Jun 29, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n

Date Recorded:\u00a0 Oct 27, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction What exactly is a post-doctoral fellow?\u00a0 This professional development session explores what a “postdoc” is and does.\u00a0 Depending on career aspirations and where one is in their life, this is potential option after achieving one’s Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Three Lessons\/Key Points One key lesson and takeaway is that bottom line up front (BLUF),… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":27812,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wp.odu.edu\/urbanopff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}