New Guest Series: A Master’s student on career hunting and life after school (if there is one)

Alexis Dobranowski — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:27:00 +0000

Welcome to our first guest blogger, Randy Rovinski, who will take time out of writing his Master’s thesis to meet with some of the many people behind the scenes at Sunnybrook. He’s a University of Toronto Neuropsychopharmacology Master’s student (researching the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders here at Sunnybrook) – but, like many, he’s still unsure what he actually wants to do when this whole school thing is finally over.

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When I was first asked to write something for the education blog – something about career advice for students, to be specific – I was thinking, “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Yes, I am a student: I’m finishing up my Master’s, not particularly interested in continuing on to a PhD, and waiting on a response from Irish medical schools (since an application to a Canadian medical school would be an exercise in futility, given what I appear to be on paper.)

I wouldn’t say I have the “career” thing figured out. So, what would I write?

I quickly realized that despite my self-deprecation, I really have amassed a great deal of information about the opportunities out there due to my curiosity (yes, OK, some may call it career indecisiveness). I’ve done bench work, animal research, and now clinical work. I worked as a summer student for Sanofi, as a reporter for the Town Crier (where I met Alexis Dobranowski – communications advisor at Sunnybrook and Admin of this blog), and volunteered on ambulances and in a yoga studio. I’ve chatted with journalists, such as the Globe’s Margaret Wente, with photographers, psychiatrists, researchers, venture capitalists, medical writers, and big pharma employees.

This reflection reminded me I’ve always been fascinated by people, by what they do, and the lives they lead. And, it reminded me how disparate a student’s or young person’s perspective on job opportunities is from the reality. Virtually every conversation about future aspirations I’ve had with friends and colleagues around this stage in their lives has echoed the same notion – that for people studying biological or life sciences, the choices are a) academia, b) industry (whatever that means), and c) medical or other professional training. I’ve heard lots about the fear of entering the workplace and about the unrelenting hopelessness of the conventional job search.

The things the most downtrodden of these people had in common were that they thought jobs were only applied for through online job postings; they thought career options were strictly streamlined along existing defined lines of work; they feared the overwhelming number of jobs out there that they didn’t even know how to find. And guess what, I think most of us can understand those sentiments – I know I can, and I know I’ve spent a lot of time plagued by them in the past.

I work in the Neuropsychopharmacology department and research the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders. I like what I do, and I enjoy research, but I don’t feel I’ve discovered the place I’d like to spend another five years. And despite my desire to study medicine, I don’t think getting into medical school will definitively decide my future and end my career contemplations. We grow and change directions constantly, and we are in a perpetual state of flux. So we must continue to speak with people, seek out opportunities, network, ask questions and learn what’s out there.

And so, in the spirit of that quest, I am going to set out to speak to people around the hospital. Those people you see pass you every day with a badge hanging around their neck while you squint to make out what their job title is, wondering, “What the heck does that person do?” Perhaps you’ll have no desire to do what they do. But they might have some pretty interesting stories to share. It might not be “career advice”: but these stories might shed light on what goes on around our hospital – things you had no idea about. And something they’ve done or continue to do might inspire you, or spark an interest or idea.

Stay tuned.

The post New Guest Series: A Master’s student on career hunting and life after school (if there is one) appeared first on Your Health Matters.

Free! Free! Free entry for health students to Simulation Expo in Toronto Dec. 6 and 7

Alexis Dobranowski — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 02:27:00 +0000

Sunnybrook’s Simulation Centre welcomes
more than 1,300 people each year.

Looking to expand your mind and network, and hear about the latest advances in health-care simulation?

SIM-one is offering health students FREE entry to its two-day expo Dec. 6 and 7 in Toronto.

The 2012 Ontario Simulation Exposition “Simulation and the Quality of Healthcare” promises engaging keynote speakers (including the Globe and Mail’s public health reporter André Picard, and Southlake Regional Health Centre President and CEO Dr. Dave Williams), workshops focused on topics like: EMS and Simulation, Mental Health and First Responders, and networking.

Sunnybrook’s own Simulation Centre education coordinator Agnes Ryzynski will be running two workshops at the expo.

SIM-one is an interprofessional health-care simulation network that links facilities and resources across Ontario.

Cost: Free for university and college students in health profession disciplines. Admission for non-students is $350.

Where: Metro Toronto Convention Centre South Building.

For more details and to register visit.

The post Free! Free! Free entry for health students to Simulation Expo in Toronto Dec. 6 and 7 appeared first on Your Health Matters.

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New Guest Series: A Master’s student on career hunting and life after school (if there is one)

Free! Free! Free entry for health students to Simulation Expo in Toronto Dec. 6 and 7