Career Opportunities in Physiology
Career Development Symposium 

As originally published in The Physiologist
Volume 45, Number 5, October 2002, page 449

Francis L. Belloni
Chair, APS Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee 

    In a ?simpler? time, the career aspiration of most students in physiology graduate programs was to become a university professor, like their mentor. Today, as the physiological sciences have become cornerstones of many endeavors in our society, the career paths open to physiologists have multiplied into a broad array. While recent observers of science have expressed concern about possible ?over-production? of PhD?s, the employment of PhD?s in the life science remains high. But where those PhD?s are employed is an evolving picture. So, a newly hatched PhD looks out from his or her graduate school ?nest? and sees a far more complex environment than their predecessors of a generation ago.
    The APS Committee on Career Opportunities in Physiology has tried to help these fledgling physiologists by providing information about this complex environment. One such effort is the Career Development Symposium we sponsor each year at the Experimental Biology meeting. This year, in New Orleans, we invited four individuals who started their careers in quite a uniform fashion. Three earned their PhD?s in physiology, while one of the four panelists earned her PhD in biology, followed by postdoctoral training in physiology. But from this similar base, these four physiologists followed quite different career paths?paths that led to research-intensive universities, a small liberal arts college, the pharmaceutical industry, government agencies, a philanthropic foundation, and a daily newspaper. If you are paying attention, you?ll immediately realize that this adds up to more than four careers because some of these participants have made major mid-stream changes in direction and have enjoyed two or more ?careers,? just by themselves.
Our motivating philosophy is that physiology is an exciting field and that it turns up in many different places and contexts. Moreover, each physiologist has a unique set of skills, motivations, character and personality traits, and life goals. The path to true career success, therefore, is to take stock of one?s own abilities, goals, and values and then to find a job and career that match up with your own personal list. Too often, we tend to follow the traditional path instead of finding the one that suits us. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, ?Along the journey we commonly forget its goal. Almost every vocation is chosen and entered upon as a means to a purpose but is ultimately continued as a final purpose in itself. Forgetting our objectives is the most frequent stupidity in which we indulge ourselves.? 
    As you read through the articles by three of our four speakers, you will see each one come to an understanding of what their own true purpose is. It is different for each of them. In fact, each person must find his or her own ?purpose (1).? Our purpose is the relatively straightforward one of helping you to see the possibilities open to you.

References
1. Nietzsche, F. The Wanderer and His Shadow, Aphorism 206: Forgetting our objectives. 1880.

Careers in Physiology: Opportunities in Academia
David G.L. Van Wylen
Professor of Biology
Associate Dean for Natural Sciences and Mathematics
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN 55057
    
    At the Experimental Biology 2002 Meeting in New Orleans, I was asked to say a few words at an APS symposium about career opportunities for physiologists in academia. This essay summarizes my comments at this symposium.
    Although I will share some thoughts about academic careers in a broad range of colleges and universities, my background qualifies me to comment from personal experience only on two areas of academia. From 1987-1994, I was an Assistant and eventually Associate Professor of Physiology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. Based on this experience, I will share some thoughts on career opportunities at a research university. In 1994, I left the research university environment for the Biology Department at St. Olaf College, a liberal arts college located in Northfield, MN. Having been there eight years, I now have a perspective on being a physiologist at a liberal arts college.
    This essay looks at academic careers at two levels: 1) university, and 2) college. The opportunity to teach physiology and have a meaningful research program is available at both these levels. The primary distinctions in my experience between a faculty position at a university versus college are the balance between teaching and research and whether one?s teaching and research is primarily restricted to undergraduates (college) or whether there are opportunities for teaching and research with graduate students (university).

Attractive Features of an Academic Career    
    Before commenting specifically about differences between faculty positions at universities versus colleges, I would first like to share what I have found to be most rewarding about an academic career. Many of these features are available in other careers as well, so this is not meant to indicate that these features are only available in academia.
    First, academia is a noble profession. Throughout my own schooling, I had great respect for my professors and now, lo and behold, I am one. For those who feel a ?calling? to influence young minds, academia is a wonderful opportunity to work with a true sense of vocation. It is a caring profession, with ample opportunity to have a significant impact in the lives of emerging adults, both through the classroom and through conversations with students on broader issues.
    Second, I greatly treasure the flexibility and autonomy present in academia. I have quite a bit of flexibility in what and how I teach and in the areas of research I choose to pursue. And I am quite autonomous in terms of how I put together my daily schedule and how I go about my business. This, in my opinion, is one of the under appreciated aspects of academia.
    Third, academia keeps me ?on my toes.? With so many young minds asking me probing questions and challenging what I say, there is no shortage of lively conversation. Academia is unpredictable. I never know when a student will drop by to ask a question, nor do I know where our conversation will lead. It may begin with a question about the cardiac cycle and end with a discussion of Middle East politics. Often times I look back on a day and find that the most memorable part of the day was something that was completely unanticipated. Personally, I like this.
    Fourth, I enjoy the collegiality of academia. This is not to say that academia is free of interpersonal problems, but I can honestly say that I have established some very meaningful collegial relationships through the years. And collegiality extends in some cases to students as well. I find it very rewarding when a student moves from a student-professor relationship to a relationship where together we are colleagues in learning.
    Fifth, academia provides, in my opinion, very decent financial rewards. Much is made of higher salaries in industry, for example, but I have to admit I make a very decent living in academia, certainly one that is sufficient for the manner in which I wish to raise my three kids. Most everyone knows that academia is not the choice if great wealth is a primary career goal, but I am very satisfied with what I earn, especially when I stop gazing upwards at higher paying jobs and contemplate how fortunate I am to do what I do.
    Sixth, one of the clear perks of academia is the ability to take sabbatical leaves or other special kind of leaves. I just finished a year of sabbatical leave at the University of Virginia that was wonderfully rejuvenating both personally and professionally. I also had the opportunity, as part of the International and Off-campus Studies Program at St. Olaf, to lead a group of 17 St. Olaf students for five months of study in Asia. I am deeply grateful for these opportunities.
Finally, I will mention that academia continues in most cases to offer unusual job security in the form of tenure. I understand all the underlying reasons for why the tenure system was established, but sometimes I am amazed that two institutions, first SUNY-Buffalo and now St. Olaf College, essentially guaranteed me a job for life.

Careers at the University Level
    I would like to separate my comments about careers at the university level into two categories, first talking about careers at major research universities and then at regional universities.

Major Research Universities    
    At major research universities, regardless of whether they are public (e.g. state universities such as the University of Michigan or the University of Virginia, schools where I was trained) or private (e.g. Stanford University or Yale University), a faculty member?s primary responsibility will be to establish and maintain a productive research lab. Despite talk about the importance of teaching and service at such institutions, it would be rare for a major research university to tenure a professor who did not have a viable research program, regardless of teaching evaluations or the level of service to the institution. Therefore, if you are considering trying to find a job at a major research university, I suggest that you ask yourself very seriously whether you have a deep passion for research. If the answer to that question is ?no,? a research university is probably not a good match for you, as the pressure to stay up to date with the literature, to maintain funding, and to be productive, not to mention the day-to-day challenges of running a research lab, can be overwhelming at times. On the other hand, if research is your passion, then the rewards are plentiful-scientific discovery, training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, meaningful collaborations, travel, and autonomy, just to mention a few.

Regional Universities
    One of the distinguishing factors between major research universities and regional universities is likely to be the amount of contact with undergraduates. Research and curricular programs at regional universities often have a significant undergraduate component, whereas at research universities the focus is more exclusively on graduate programs. Therefore, one of the questions one should ask when considering a regional university (e.g. Central Michigan University or Winona State University) is about preference for working with undergraduate versus graduate students. On the continuum from exclusively graduate student involvement to exclusively undergraduate involvement, regional universities probably offer the most balance. Research is usually highly valued and there are often very competitive start up packages. One perhaps forfeits the honor of being at ?prestigious? research university, but the quality of life and ability to make a significant impact in the lives of students has the potential to be very high at a regional university.

Careers at the College Level
    Although there are many differences between a career at a university and a college the biggest differences in my experience involve the clientele and the role of teaching. At the college level, professors work almost exclusively with undergraduates (or in some cases continuing education students) and teaching plays a much more prominent role in professional evaluation. Therefore, regardless of the type of college that one is at, a meaningful career can be had if one enjoys contact with students and one has a passion for teaching.
    I would like to share thoughts about faculty positions at two different types of colleges: 1) research-active liberal arts colleges, and 2) four- and two-year primarily teaching colleges.

Research-Active Liberal Arts Colleges    
    Increasingly, liberal arts colleges are encouraging and supporting undergraduate research. When I made my career move from SUNY-Buffalo to St. Olaf College, I moved to one such institution. While I am expected to be entirely responsible (i.e., no team teaching or graduate assistants) for teaching semester-long courses (my primary course is Human Anatomy and Physiology), it is also clear that undergraduate research is an important mission of the college. I was given a generous startup package and sufficient lab space, and joined a department that had several funded investigators and a vigorous summer research program supported primarily by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. For me, this has been the best of both worlds, as I work closely with talented undergraduates in several teaching-related venues, thus satisfying my passion for teaching, but still maintain an active research laboratory. However, my research laboratory at St. Olaf College is very different than my research laboratory at SUNY-Buffalo. At St. Olaf: 1) one of the core missions of the lab is clearly to provide a rigorous training experience for undergraduates; 2) the research questions are geared to those that can be answered by undergraduates with limited time in the lab; 3) I personally spend much less time in the lab; and 4) my professional success is not nearly as tightly linked to my research success.
    When I moved from SUNY-Buffalo to St. Olaf College, I expected to find it more challenging to secure external funding for my research program. In fact, to my surprise I found several funding opportunities that were restricted for undergraduate research. Both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have programs that support investigators who are not at major research universities. For example, NIH AREA (Academic Research Enhancement Award) grants are an excellent source of funding for investigators at research-active liberal arts colleges.

Four-Year Primarily Teaching Colleges    
    Many four- and two-year colleges provide excellent classroom instruction in biological sciences, but do not have the infrastructure or resources to support undergraduate research. Because research is not a primary expectation of the job, teaching loads tend to be heavier than at research-active liberal arts colleges. Since this increases the opportunity to interact closely with students, this can provide a very meaningful career for the person who loves to teach physiology. However, although one can stay active in research through off-campus collaborations, positions such as these provide little opportunity for meaningful on-campus research. Therefore, one must be clear when accepting a position at a primarily teaching college that research will likely be small component in one?s career relative to teaching.

Conclusions
    Despite the increase in non-academic opportunities for physiologists, academia continues to provide a variety of options for a meaningful career. As in any career choice, it is wise to carefully assess one?s career passions when deciding which path to take, but people with a passion for teaching and/or research can be richly rewarded by a career in academia.

Medical and Science Reporting: Another Opportunity for Graduate Students
Kawanza L. Griffin
Medical Reporter
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    So what?s a medical reporter and why would a physiologist work at a newspaper in the first place?
    I thought I?d answer this by first giving you a little background about myself and why I made the transition from the laboratory into the newsroom before discussing the duties of the reporter and the job opportunities that exist for those of you who might be interested in pursuing a similar path.
    In 1994, I graduated from Xavier University in Louisiana with a BS in Biology and entered the PhD program for Physiology at the University of Missouri in Columbia. While there, I worked under the excellent leadership of Janet Parker, who is now with the Department of Medical Physiology at Texas A&M, and M. Harold Laughlin, currently the chairman of the Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences in Columbia. 
    Although I thoroughly enjoyed being in the laboratory, by 1997 I was realizing that I loved writing and talking about my research much more. At about the same time, I was getting many questions from my family?particularly my grandparents?about what I was going to do when I grew up, and found myself constantly having to explain the impact my research would have on understanding the benefits of exercise training in patients with known coronary heart disease.
I also realized that for me, the life of the researcher?long, tedious days and nights in the laboratory, grant writing and the pressure of publishing works in ?reputable? journals?did not fit my persona.
    In late 1998, I saw a brochure for the Mass Media Fellowship sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on the Internet and thought that this was something that I could do, particularly since I?d been frequently contributing a health article to a local newsmagazine. But when I received my monthly newsletter from the American Physiological Society saying that for the first time they would sponsor a fellow, I realized that this was something I had to do.    
    After applying for the fellowship, I was accepted and placed at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the summer of 1999. 
    My internship was to last three months, however, my mentor was leaving for a one-year fellowship and I was asked to stay until he came back. But to everyone?s surprise, he decided to retire early, opening the position at the paper. I applied and became a full-time medical reporter in May 2000.
    So what is it that I do?
    The job of the journalist is to be the eyes and ears of the public and to do the necessary background research and interviews to report and write a story that accurately presents all sides of a given situation. 
    Reporting on science or medicine is considered one of many categories of beat reporting and many people who do it have either a science or medical background or have been reporting many years and worked their way up the chain to do it.
It is the responsibility of the medical reporter to keep abreast of the latest advancements related to health, medicine or disease and inform readers of these developments and the impact they could have on their lives. This is done by going through the key science or medical journals such as Science and Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine and any of the American Heart Association journals each week, as well as by keeping in close contact with researchers and health officials in the area. The AAAS also maintains an Internet site that reporters can register with to help them keep track of what?s going on with many health- and science-related fields. 
    But regardless of whether you cover medicine, science, transportation, courts or cops, there are certain core characteristics that a reporter must possess to do the job effectively.
    Good journalists not only write well, but have a natural curiosity about what?s going on around them. But good writing begins with good reporting, and good reporters are always prepared because they?ve done adequate background research before talking to their sources; reporters are persistent and able to ask questions until they get an answer and they?re skeptical of any information they are given because you should never believe what you?re told. And good reporters are able to gather all this information and write a complete, accurate and enlightening story in layman, not scientific terms, under deadline pressure. So reporters must be motivated and able to handle multiple tasks.
    The two biggest challenges? Language and trust. 
    As someone with a science or medical background, you already have an understanding of the language that is used and possess the ability to ask intelligent questions. But you will still have to learn to break the technical terms down into words that the reader can understand and to get the scientist or physician to speak to you using common, everyday language. A recent study by the American Society of Newspaper Editors found that readers want stories that are relevant to their community and that can help them live their lives, and that the average reader wants to be told a story that doesn?t require a thesaurus or dictionary at their side. 
Medical reporters also work under an embargo system, meaning that they have access to information from journals or health officials before the time that many of you see it in the paper, but are trusted to not cite or print anything related to that information prior to a given release date. This ensures enough time for comprehensive reporting and gives everyone an equal opportunity to pursue the story. So, regardless of how tempting it might be to ?scoop? other media outlets, it is not in your best interest to do so. You?ll not only lose the trust of sources you need to develop stories you?ll write ?meaning they?ll be hesitant to speak with you, if they talk to you at all, but you?ll also no longer have early access to information or the respect of other reporters in the field.
    Medical reporting also requires you to become an instant ?expert? on various subjects and be ready to prioritize and report them all on a given day. Although the people who read the newspaper are sometimes the best judges of what?s newsworthy, they are the last people to actually view the story. Therefore, reporters and editors must determine what they believe will make their readers happy and able to make informed decisions about their lives.
    If you believe that writing is something you?d like to do, you?re probably also interested in finding out what the future holds for journalists. Of course, no one can answer that with any certainty because while it?s true that the number of daily and weekly papers in the US is shrinking and fewer adults are reading, newspapers continue to be profitable and capture a larger audience than broadcast television. But more importantly, people are interested in medical and science issues, particularly if they believe it?s relevant to them and their well-being. Writing opportunities exist not only at newspapers, but also at magazines, television, radio and in the pharmaceutical industry.
    But you?ve got to make yourself marketable by taking advantage of any opportunities to write for the public and applying for fellowships, internships or programs such as the science writing program at the University of California, Santa Cruz or at a campus near you. Also, be sure to check out the National Association of Science Writer?s web site at http://www.nasw.org for an excellent list-serve discussion they have archived, which gives beginning advice to science writers as well as book recommendations such as A Field Guide for Science Writer, edited by Deborah Blum and Mary Knudson. The site, as well as that of the AAAS (http://www.aaas.org) and the American Medical Writer?s Association (http://www.amwa.org), also has sections devoted to job opportunities.

A Physiologist in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Christine G. Schnackenberg
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals

    Like most graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, I had no idea what it would be like to work in industry. After working for two years as a physiologist in industry, I have gleaned a few pearls that I would like to share with young scientists who are thinking about their future. I recommend that you read McHugh?s thoughtful commentary entitled ?Making the transition between academia and industry? in the October 2001 issue of The Physiologist (44:300-302). I would like to follow-up with some additional information from my perspective that may be helpful in making a career decision.
    What jobs in industry are out there for me? The first question that budding scientists in a job search should ask themselves is ?What exactly could I do in industry?? With a predominately academic background, my knowledge of the possible jobs for a PhD working in industry was equivalent to a ?black box.? Therefore, I will first provide a brief overview of the opportunities in industry for scientists with graduate degrees in the physiological sciences. The most commonly known position in industry is one in drug discovery. Scientists who work in drug discovery are primarily responsible for assessing and validating targets for new drugs. For example, the angiotensin II receptor was the target for the development of antagonists such as losartan. Drug discovery PhDs are also responsible for evaluating disease areas of relevance for developing new drugs, such as diabetic nephropathy. Scientists who work closely with those in drug discovery are in DMPK (Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics). These PhDs are responsible for evaluating the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of drug candidates.
    Physiologists in product support are responsible for establishing therapeutic proof of concept, differentiation, and in vitro and in vivo models relevant to the disease focus. For example, scientists first had to show that inhibition of the angiotensin II receptor reduced blood pressure in hypertensive animals before it could be progressed for development as an antihypertensive drug. Scientists working in safety assessment are responsible for evaluating the toxicology and clinical pathology of drugs in animal models. Physiologists also work in a relatively new area called high throughput biology where they characterize functional endpoints in cell lines, as well as transgenic and knockout animal models. These scientists also utilize imaging techniques for the analysis of normal and diseased tissues. For all of these positions, it is advantageous for the physiologist to have experience working with animal models of human health and disease. In addition to these positions, there are also several non-laboratory opportunities that are available to scientists with a graduate degree in the physiological sciences. For example, sales associates are a necessary part of the pharmaceutical industry. Clinical research associates help coordinate clinical trials and project managers follow a candidate drug from preclinical development through clinical trials and into market. All of these positions are available for a physiologist with at least two years of postdoctoral experience in academia or industry.

The ?Pros? and ?Cons? of Working in Industry 
    There are several advantages to working in industry. Foremost is the application of the physiology that you are studying. All of the physiological research conducted in industry has a human focus. The research that you perform is directly applied to improving human health and preventing or curing human disease. For your research, there are abundant resources available. Scientists with varied backgrounds and state-of-the-art equipment are readily available for your consultation or use. Finally, you are well-compensated for the research that you conduct. Industry provides competitive salaries and bonuses in addition to several long-term benefits such as stock options, retirement plans (pension/401K), health care benefits, etc. In addition to the monetary compensation, many companies encourage and support scientific growth within your company and in the scientific community at-large. Every job has its disadvantages. In industry, the same research has influences that are not necessarily similar in academia. Because the objective of the pharmaceutical industry is to make drugs to improve human health and cure or prevent human disease, the research can often be influenced by the market need. While researchers in industry are encouraged to investigate new ideas and/or drug targets, we are also expected to respond to the needs of project teams and therapeutic goals of the company. This can involve juggling a number of different efforts simultaneously. In addition, your research focus can often be more diffuse than research in academia. You will be working on multiple projects, which may be unrelated, at any one time. Scientists in industry occasionally have limited choice about the research that they are conducting. Indeed, a project that you have been working on for several years may be terminated by your team or management. Finally, timing is an important part of research in industry. Deadlines are definitive and are incorporated into your work. Because of the priority of the projects that you are working on, there is minimal time for unfocused exploratory research. Overall, conducting good science is very important in industry, but conducting good science that meets the objectives on time is a factor.

The Mindset of a Successful Scientist Working in Industry 
    With this background, you can probably discern the attributes of a scientist who is successful working in industry. Here are a few characteristics that I believe are important. Entrepreneurial. Scientists in industry need to be creative but take intelligent risks. Have courage in decision making and willingness to prioritize and be held accountable. Be competent in analysis and solving problems. Initiative. It is up to you to make things happen. Whether it is investigating a new target for a disease area, developing a new technique in the lab, getting a study completed, coordinating work between labs, or contacting someone, it is your responsibility to get the job done efficiently. Teamwork. No one scientist in industry works alone on a project. Whether it is with other scientists (biologists and chemists), management, or clinicians, you will be working as a team towards one common goal. The overall development of a drug, your project teams, and management depend on your performance. Flexibility. Working in a team environment requires flexibility. For example, if you planned on conducting studies for project A, but the results from studies for project B are needed sooner, then you will need to adjust your schedule accordingly. Another example is if a project is not meeting its goals after an agreed-upon period of time, then the project (not you!) can be terminated. You would then be working on something else. Well-Organized. Scientists in industry are required to manage several projects and personnel and maintain laboratory work simultaneously. In addition to these direct responsibilities, you should also contribute to the greater scientific community at-large by presenting at scientific meetings and participating in scientific organizations.

Prerequisites for Employment in Industry: What Your Future Employer in Industry is Looking for in You     
    Good science. Physiologists working in industry should have an excellent scientific knowledge base and at least two years of postdoctoral experience (in academia or industry). The type of research experience required vary depending on the position, but experience with animal models is a definite advantage. Publications. Several publications in peer-reviewed journals are needed for employment in industry. Continued publication after employment is encouraged and may be a requirement for advancement in some companies. Communication skills. Scientists in industry give several presentations to scientists, clinicians, and management in addition to writing reports. Therefore, effective written and oral communication skills are required. Leadership. Scientists in industry have the ability to lead a project to completion including overall vision, troubleshooting technical aspects, and managing personnel. In your search for a position in industry, it is important to include evidence of these prerequisites in your cover letter, curriculum vitae, seminar, and interviews. When you leave an interview or site visit, your prospective employer should know how you could contribute to the company. He or she will also be thinking of what it would be like working with you since you will be working in a team. Don?t leave the answers to guesswork. Keep in mind the attributes listed above and project them to your prospective employer. 

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