Dear Colleagues,
I recently had the pleasure of attending a “Post Doc Mixer” at the Roy Blunt Next Gen Precision Health building. I bet you may be asking, “what is a post doc?” This is the term we use for a postdoctoral trainee, who is a PhD under the mentorship of a faculty member.
Postdoctoral training typically lasts from 1 to 5 years, and the University of Missouri currently has 800 postdoctoral trainees and fellows, including more than 220 here at the School of Medicine.
It’s very important that we acknowledge the importance of these individuals as they provide a valuable service to the university, assisting our faculty investigators with research that has the potential to save and improve lives while making our world a better place.
A mixer like the one I attended in February can offer these postdocs an opportunity to meet each other and form networks that can benefit their research and career paths.
I truly enjoy getting the opportunity to visit with these postdocs and learn about their research and career goals. It’s particularly invigorating to watch their enthusiasm and excitement when discussing their work. Whether visiting with students from the School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences or the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, I am proud that the University of Missouri provides such a conducive environment for our postdocs to flourish before launching into the next stage of their careers.
After a PhD completes postdoctoral training at MU, they have a number of career pathways they can pursue. One option is to move into a faculty position at a university to continue their research.
Another option is to leave the university environment to work in industry as a research scientist, data analyst, consultant or project manager.
No matter the career path, the postdocs who gain their valuable training here at the University of Missouri are poised to make a positive impact in their chosen field that will likely benefit not just their industry, but the world as a whole.
Thanks to all of you who have contributed to their training, and best of luck to our current postdocs as they prepare to embark on their exciting careers.
Sincerely,
Rick Barohn, MD
Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Hugh E. and Sarah D. Stephenson Dean, School of Medicine
[email protected]
