In February 2003, Scientist magazine published survey results that placed
the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in the nation’s top 10
institutions for Best Places to Work for Postdocs. This February,
that reputation is about to get even better. The university will open the
Office of Post-Doctoral Education a new administrative department dedicated
to the development and welfare of post-doctorate researchers.
Rubens Pamies, M.D., UNMC vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean
for graduate studies, said the opening of the new office is the culmination
of the collaborative vision of David Crouse, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor
for academic affairs and associate dean for graduate studies, and Jamboor
K. Vishwanatha, Ph.D., assistant dean for graduate studies and professor
and vice-chairman of UNMC’s department of biochemistry and molecular biology.
Dr. Vishwanatha wrote the original plan for the Office of Post-Doctoral
Education and has been appointed assistant dean and director of the new
office.
They recognized a number of years ago that, while we do an excellent
job of recruiting, supporting and tracking our graduate students, no efforts
are made at an institutional level to recruit, support and track post-doctoral
research associates the backbone of all of our research projects, Dr.
Pamies said. Just as UNMC strives to move into the upper tiers of the
nations research institutions through our expanding grant volume, we also
need to recognize that those grants cannot be fulfilled without an ever
expanding body of qualified post-doctoral fellows. We now join a
list of only 19 medical institutions that have created a formal program
for the post-doctoral experience.
Dr. Crouse explained why, even in a post-doctorate-friendly environment
such as UNMC, the very nature of the post-doctoral work can too easily
lead to feelings of inequality.
Most post-docs are traditionally hired by a principal investigator
to work on a specific funded research project, Dr. Crouse said. Their
support is thus linked to the project that pays their salary and each lab
or department has somewhat different practices regarding their post-docs.
Many post-docs feel significant pressure (real or self-imposed) to work
hard on the project and be as productive as possible in the publication
of papers and other scholarly activities that will establish their credentials
as marketable for faculty or private/government positions.
Post-docs have reputations for working hard and saying little, as far
as requesting more benefits and attention to their particular needs, because
they are dependent upon strong letters of recommendation from their mentors
for their future careers.
Dr. Vishwanatha has personally trained a number of post-doctoral fellows.
He has first-hand experiences with both their achievements and the problems
they face, especially those post-docs who are minorities or come to UNMC
from overseas nations.
For the past 10 years, Dr. Vishwanatha has taken initiatives to develop
interactions with minority institutions and increase the number of minority
students attending UNMC’s medical and graduate schools. He has brought
underrepresented minority undergraduate students from Texas, Georgia and
South Carolina to the university’s undergraduate research program some
of whom have returned to UNMC for their Ph.D. and M.D. programs.
Recently, Dr. Vishwanatha was appointed as a member of the American
Association of Medical Colleges GREAT Group (Graduate Research Education
and Training Group) Task Force on Underrepresented Minorities in Biomedical
Sciences. He has given research presentations at different minority institutions
throughout the nation and represented UNMC at numerous national conferences
focusing on developing more minorities in medical research.
In simple terms, the purpose of UNMC’s Office of Post-Doctoral Education
is to provide post-doctoral research associates here with the skills, knowledge
and experience necessary to pursue and excel in their future career positions,
Dr. Vishwanatha said. But a great number of post-doctoral fellows at UNMC
are from international institutions, and this is their first exposure to
American life. The problems they face are different from American post-docs.
Many of them come with families and face numerous problems in getting their
lives started here.
I have dealt with post-docs who cannot buy a car or get electricity
to their apartment because they do not have established credit. It is very
important for us to provide a forum for the post-docs to come together
and share their cultures and experiences.
When the Office of Post-Doctoral Education opens, Dr. Vishwanatha will
be working closely with his newly appointed program coordinator, Jeanne
Ferbrache, former director of academic records. They will create a Council
of Post-Doctoral Education that will consist of senior and junior faculty
members and senior and junior post-doctoral research associates. This Council
will meet regularly and deal with recruitment and training of post-docs,
organize career development and training workshops, and begin the process
of tracking the progress of the university’s post-docs.
Ferbrache will help post-docs understand and comply with the network
of policies and procedures that govern their position on campus; centralize
some of the activities of the many independent summer undergraduate
research programs on campus; and create a database that will assist the
tracking and follow- up with both post-docs and undergraduate researchers.
I also hope to provide more personalized services and community contacts
for our post-docs to assist them in getting settled in Omaha, Ferbrache
said. We are even considering a monthly newsletter to keep post-docs informed
about their group and what their peers are doing around the nation.
Dr. Pamies noted that economic surveys indicate that for every million
dollars in grant funds, approximately 212 new jobs are created — a third
of which are probably in support of the grant, which translates into many
more post-docs being needed to fulfill research projects on UNMCs campus
in the coming years.
When a student graduates from med school, he or she now has to learn
the fine art of communicating with patients and the details of their specialty,
Dr. Pamies said. AWe envision the Office of Post-Doctoral Education
as essentially a residency for researchers.
Post-docs in the program will learn the fine art of scientific presentations
and public speaking; portfolio development; biomedical communications such
as electronic blackboard and PowerPoint; mentoring and conflict resolution;
resume writing and interview skills; and how to develop career opportunities
and teaching opportunities, including promotion within UNMC.
By making the post-doctorate fellow feel valued and enfranchised, by
extending better compensation and benefits, and helping them become more
productive and competitive on the job market, UNMC will benefit many times
over, Dr. Pamies said.
We will receive increased productivity, improved graduate student training
from high quality post-docs, enhanced recruiting and retention of high-quality
post-doctoral research associates and an exponential rise in our current
outstanding reputation for post-doctoral training.