5 to Life: A PhD and Beyond

The NCCS reports that over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the United States today. Most of us are able to name several of these from memory, but did you know that many nonprofit organizations hire scientists? Our “What to do with my graduate degree?” series continues with a feature on scientists working in these roles. We were joined by Dr. Heather Alger, Director of Product Development at the American Heart Association, and Dr. Helen Ann Cuffe, a Manager at Deloitte Consulting Company, for an engaging discussion about being a scientist in the nonprofit field. Tune in to hear about their day to day lives, the necessity of science communication, tailoring your CV to your job of choice, and networking effectively.

Have you ever wondered why instrument representatives are so skilled at discussing science? The truth is that most of them have attended graduate school, and many have PhDs! What's life like for this unique form of traveling doctor? We met with Dr. Charlie Pemble, the East Coast Account Manager of Rigaku, to figure it out. After completing his PhD in Biochemistry at Wake Forest, Dr. Pemble remained unsure about whether to pursue industry or academia as he entered his Postdoctoral position at Duke University. Listen in to hear him discuss his career path, balancing a travel-oriented job with family life, and incorporating bench science into a sales position.

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On episode

Angelica Riojas

Brittni Foster

Charlie Pemble

Are you interested in using your graduate degree to educate others about science? You may think that this path begins with a PhD and post-doctoral position and ends in an academic career. However, what if you could pursue that path from a medical writing position to a continuing education expert working from home? In this episode, we join Wake Forest alumnus, Sara Campbell Miller, to discuss her career path and current position as Director of the Quality Improvement Institute at Med-IQ, LLC. We cover the vital role of science communicators in relaying pharmaceutical information to clinicians, self-motivation techniques for working from home, and tips for how you can enter this exciting yet often overlooked field.

Thank you to www.thehomegrownentrepreneur.com for editing this episode.

How can you use a Bioscience-based PhD to heal not only individuals, but entire communities? Aaron and Angelica sat down with Dr. Kelly Parsons, who answered this question by pursuing a career in university tech transfer. Kelly graduated from Wake Forest with her PhD before pursuing a postdoctoral opportunity at UNC Chapel Hill, where she now works as the Associate Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization. Listen in to learn about the field Parsons refers to as “the intersection between science, business, and law.”

Graduate school is a tumultuous journey, but it has a defined endpoint. Eventually, we’ll get our degrees and graduate school will be over. What comes after that? As a PhD student, Dr. Erik Brady had many of the same confusions and ended up pursuing a postdoctoral position to satisfy the status quo. We sat down with Dr. Brady to discuss his career path from PI-bound to his departure from the bench, all the way to his current position as director of the graduate school at Wake Forest University. Dr. Brady has had a rollercoaster of a career path, and he offers some valuable insight into what he is doing to protect the students at Wake Forest from following in his footsteps and to prepare them for their future careers. Tune in to hear our plans to amplify this message to our entire listener community!

Hi 5 To Life community, it’s 2019 (we know we said 2018 in this recording, but we usually know what year it is) and we are back with an interview-packed season of great content for you! We’ve spent our brief hiatus writing grants, attending conferences, chartering a SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) chapter, and starting a science communication organization at our university. Tune in to this preview episode to learn about some of our recent successes and plans for the upcoming season. Cheers!

Episode 12: Season 1 Finale

As our second year (for Angelica, Brittni, and Aaron) and first year (for Tiffany) comes to an end, we discuss where we are now on our PhD journey. For the upcoming third years, we are officially done with classes and grades for life (IS THIS REAL LIFE?) while the upcoming second years have another year to look forward to. As our third year approaches, we must gather our committee and prepare to pass our qualifying exams to advance to candidacy. We discuss how we chose our committees and how we are preparing for our candidacy exams. Since summers are also for relaxation, reorganization, and recuperation, we also discuss our summer plans and any vacations we are planning (if our PIs will let us leave). Thank you for spending season one with us! Tune in late fall for season two where we will host guest speakers to discuss their career paths after graduate school.

Crew: Aaron Deal, Tiffany Newman, Angelica Riojas, and Brittni Foster

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All’s fair in love and science. Join us as we discuss relationships in grad school from the outside. Three non-student friends who are dating, engaged, or married to a current graduate student let us know how the process has impacted their relationship, for better or worse.

Crew: Aaron Deal

Specia Guests: David (Brittni's Fiance), Patrick (Angelicas Boyfriend), and Helen (Stevens Wife)

It's a new semester and we have come together to discuss the goals we hope to keep. Making and breaking down our goals for the semester has given us some big picture oversight and helped us get out of the lab a bit more. Join us as we discuss our life goals and our lab goals. A new year, a new way of thriving!

Crew: Aaron Deal, Tiffany Newman, Angelica Riojas, and Brittni Foster

Let us know how your interviews went, which school have invited you, and any tips you want to share

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Graduate school interviews are approaching and we are here to reassure you that everything will be okay. After putting countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears into your applications, it is now the time to wait and wonder when your interview letters will arrive. Only after you think you will go crazy waiting, the day will come when you wake up to an email or letter inviting you to the interview weekend. How are you supposed to prepare? What should you expect? Will they know if you're faking it? These are all questions we answer in this week's podcast. The 5 to Life crew gets real about their biggest fears and greatest advice when it came to their graduate school interviews.

Join us as we discuss how our interviews went and what to expect. If we got in, anyone can do it with some hard work and dedication!

Crew: Aaron Deal, Tiffany Newman, Angelica Riojas, and Brittni Foster

Let us know how your interviews went, which school have invited you, and any tips you want to share

@5tolifepod