A new career awaits

[swannies1983]

After working in research for the last ten years, including undertaking an Honours degree and a PhD, the decision was made to move out of research and into another career. Research is a difficult field with constant battles to get funding, moderate pay and lack of job stability.

I had been looking at alternatives for the last 12 months and decided that the clinical/diagnostic field was the way to go. My 10 month old daughter has a heart condition so I explored cardiology as a potential career path. A position recently became available at a public hospital. I applied, made it through to the interview and was informed that I was the successful applicant. The position is a Cardiovascular Investigation Officer and the roles include being trained in echocardiography, assisting cardiologists in catheterisation procedures, electrophysiology and assisting with pacemaker programming and follow-ups.

I'm very excited to be starting this new career :D. It's a permanent full-time position and it's really considered a long-term job, which is great news given I have a family to support. Job prospects are much better than what they are in research and the pay is pretty good, particularly if you take on some private work.

[AG Hybrid]

Congratulations :D. Also, I genuinely wish the best for your daughter. Looks like you have found a truly worthwhile career.

During the 2004-2006 I also worked in research - Agri' Science and found that without funding there's no work. During the worst drought in Australia's history there was nearly NO funding for research. Moved to IT which has better prospects. Although, my career choice was not as fore-filling as yours. :)

[swannies1983]

Thanks. Daughter (Charlotte) is doing well. She was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome at two weeks of age and is currently on medication. She will likely need surgery when she's a teenager.

Yep, research is tough. Our lab has been rather successful in getting grants but the last few years have produced very little for us. Several employees have not had their contracts renewed due to lack of money. I see what my supervisor goes through at grant time and it's not something that makes me think "yeah, that's exactly what I want to do every year."

[04Stefan07]

Congratulations mate! I wish the best for your daughter.

Good luck with your career.

[Kunama]

Good luck with the career change Dan, sounds like it will a good one for you.
Hope all goes well with your daughter too.

Sent you a PM re the W-P-W PSVT

[cybereye]

Dan,

All the best for you in your new job and with your daughter.

Does this mean you'll be upgrading to an RC10?

Cheers,
Mario

[FlashDrive]

Well done Dan ....your hard work has paid off...:thumbsup:

Flash ..!!

[gary]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for sharing this and good luck with the career and I hope it all pans out with
your daughter.

Curiously, I was just reading this article in the March 2013 edition of the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Magazine -
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/the-gene-machine-and-me

It gives an account of Jonathan Rothberg where he mentions his son
was born with a breathing problem. Whilst he was pacing in the hospital
waiting room, Rothberg said if only they could sequence his son's genome,
then maybe it would help the doctors understand what the problem was.

Taking two week paternity leave, he sketched out the idea for a new sequencing
machine and those in turn lead him to found "454 Life Sciences" (http://www.454.com/), which in
2005 introduced the world's first next generation sequencing machine, which
employs the sequencing by synthesis method.

Rothberg's vision is to make sequencing cheap enough that it will
be available to anyone.

So hopefully down the track, you will be in the best position to be able to
guide your daughter's treatment, but in the meantime, helped a lot of other
people too.

I just hope we don't see too many IIS members pass through your lab for cardio
testing!

[swannies1983]

Thanks for that :)



Cheers and PM responded to.



Thanks Mario. :lol: re RC10. I don't think I'm going to have too much time to use the RC8 for a while, let alone consider an upgrade. Plus, I will have to move closer to work, meaning more light pollution :(.



Yep, a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it's been a worthwhile experience.



Thanks and that was a very interesting read. I agree in that I don't want to see any of you guys in the cath lab having a stent inserted ;)

[tlgerdes]

I think it rather ironic, that someone as quailifed as you Dan, has to stand around cap-in-hand to know where your next meal ticket is coming from, and I, a year eleven dropout, has job offers chasing me. Strange world.

Good luck with your new gig.

[swannies1983]

It happens often. I know of a few people I grew up with who were brats, weren't very bright and dropped out in year 10, but now earn $100K+ a year. It just depends on where your path takes you. Research is not the career for you if you want job stability and a pay that reflects all the study you need to undertake.

Thanks though :)

[gavcol]

Hi Dan

Congratulations with the new career/job opportunity.

All the best to you and your family with everything.

Regards

Gav

P.S. did you settle on a new suburb yet?

[swannies1983]

Opps, missed this Gav. Thanks for the well wishes. No, we haven't found another house yet. We have inspected a few but have decided to hold off until tax time.

A bit of an update. I have been working in my new job for the last 11 weeks and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm soooo glad I moved out of research and it's been great learning a completely new field.

For the first 3 weeks, I was predominantly working in the cath lab, where patients come in to have their coronary arteries examined and stents put in when required. Most cases are elective in nature but emergency cases occur regularly for patients having a heart attack. It's very rewarding when a patient comes in, particularly those who are quite sick, a blockage is found and a stent is inserted, with the patient's health improving significantly once blood flow is restored. It's very rewarding being part of a team that really do save lives.

However, I did experience the sad part of the job on my second day with a patient dying. Unfortunately, the patient's heart had already stopped before they came into the lab. Following 20mins of CPR, time of death was called by the cardiologist. I was warned during my interview that while it is rare, I will see people die. In fact, one of the girls who has been in the department for 25 years can count on one hand how many people she has seen die. I saw it on my second day :(. It was a big shock to the system and reaffirmed that I was working in a hospital environment.

Apart from working in the cath lab, I am now training to do echos. As with any form of ultrasound, it will take quite a while to learn how to scan. However, after only about 6 weeks, I'm already starting to scan by myself. I generally undertake my protocol and then get one of my experienced colleague to have a look over my images and then take over to fill in the gaps. I have been informed I'm one of the quickest learners so I feel a bit chuffed :D.

While I am loving my job, astronomy has now taken a back seat as I haven't taken any scopes out for about 3 months. My scopes are now packed and I won't get a chance to take them out until we move. Then again, given my hours and father duties, they might remain packed for a while yet. Oh well, I'll just wait for the kids to grow up.....or retirement in about 35-40 years :lol:

[Kunama]

Hey Dan, Glad to hear the job is going well for you. Dealing with fatalities is never easy especially so soon into a new situation. Sometimes they stay on your mind for a long time. I attended five deaths in my first two weeks in the ACT Police back in 1979 including a cot death and can still remember the little boy's name and address. You learn to accept it as a part of the parcel.

Just remember every now and then to unpack the scope and spend a few hours under the stars ....... it helps clear the mind!

[Larryp]

Congratulations on the new career. One thing about medical-type careers, they are never boring!

[Hans Tucker]

I can only repeat what others have said...well done Dan. People like you (undertaking Honours degree and a PhD with family commitments) are an inspiration particularly due to the discipline and organisation that I believe it would take. You touched on an area (in red) that is rather shameful in this country. We have brilliant minds and very innovative people (even if some don't thinks so) but we fail to provide support. Either way goodluck in your new career and please provide updates.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Great news Hans, not easy starting a new career. Hope all goes well.

Cheers Peter

[swannies1983]

Wow, that must have been quite difficult, particularly the cot death. No matter how much you are prepared, it still can hit pretty hard when it actually happens.

I'll be sure to take the scope out once we move. I won't have to get up so early once I'm closer to work.



Thanks :). Yep, it's great that my job involves a number of tests in different areas of cardiology.



Much appreciated. It just felt natural for me to progress from my undergrad degree, to Honours, to a PhD. I knew nothing else as study was my life. It was a shock once I completed my PhD in that I had to think of my work career. It was even more scary given the low success rate of getting funding for a postdoc fellowship and grants. It's disappointing that so many of our researchers end up going overseas due to the lack of opportunity here in Oz. But that's life when you rely heavily on Govt funding.



Thanks Peter. Yeah it hasn't been easy but it's great to learn something new.

[bert]

As a former Wolff-Parkinson white sufferer, I hope all works out well for your daughter.

For me ablation was successful.