S Army Institute of Surgical Research Fort Sam Houston, Texas The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. C o m b a t C a s u a l t y C a r e P R O T E C T P R O J E C T - S U S T A I N T I N S T I T U T E O F S U R G I C A L R E S E A R C H Being A Physiologist in a Military Lab Kathy L. Ryan, Ph.D. or “How I Found My Ideal Job in the Most Unlikely of Places”
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US Army Institute of Surgical Research Fort Sam Houston, TexasThe opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the
Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.
C om b a t C a s u a l ty C a re
P R O T E C T
PR
O
J E C T
- S U S T AIN
T
INS
TIT
U
TEO F S U R G IC A L RESE
AR
CH
Being A Physiologist in a Military Lab
Kathy L. Ryan, Ph.D.
or“How I Found My Ideal Job in the Most Unlikely
of Places”
USAISR
My Background
• 1989 – Ph.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (cardiovascular physiology)
• MRMC– Virologists– Bacteriologists– Epidemiologists– Psychologists– Biophysicists– Nutritionists– And others….
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Employment Opportunities
• Active Duty Military*• Department of Defense Civilian *
– No tenure, but “permanent” status
• Contractor – University
– Private contracting company
• Postdoctoral Fellow– National Research Council (NRC)
– University
• Student Interns– Graduate, if establish through university
– Undergraduate
* Must be US citizen
USAISR
Skills Needed for a Civilian Scientist in the US Army
• Research expertise– Basic science– Applied: “real world”
• Team player with strong desire to collaborate• Function in structured environment• Ability to communicate: written and oral• Willingness to learn new “skills” (e.g.,
Contracting/budgeting)• Perform under pressure – “suspense”
– “taskers”, briefings, reviews
• DWA (“deal with acronyms!”)
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Academia
30%
10%30%
30%
TeachingAdministrative
Grants/ FundingResearch
Comparison of Responsibilities
1% 10%
9%
80%
US Gov’t/Army
Zambraski, E., with permission
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Research Funding
• Core funding– 1 grant proposal/3 yrs
• Extramural funding– NIH, Defense Health Program, etc.– Encouraged, not required
• Industry partnerships
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Personal Funding
• Permanent position salaries– Competitive– Excellent benefits
$K
Data redrawn from 2009 Salary Survey by The Scientist (www.the-scientist.com/salarysurvey)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship salaries– NRC at ISR: $45,000 + $2000
travel + benefits– NIH minimum: $37,368
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State-of-the-Art Facilities and Equipment
• AAALAC-certified animal research programs
• End of year funding– Lab equipment– Software
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Teamwork
Univ of Massachusetts
Michigan State Univ
Dartmouth College
Univ of Miami
Mass General Hospital
Univ of California - Irvine
Mayo Clinic
Virginia Commonwealth Univ
Univ of ColoradoUniv of Minnesota
Univ of Cincinnati
Univ of Texas at San Antonio Southwest Foundation for Biomed Res
Photo of Laboratory
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A Sense of Mission
• Research focus– “Real-world” problems
• Service– To institute– To country
• Job Satisfaction
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Army Science – “…The Bad, The Ugly”
• Bureaucracy– “There’s the right way, and
then there’s the Army way”– Extensive laws, rules and
regulations– Approval processes– System to madness
• Extreme computer security• Less flexible work hours
– Time cards (40 hrs/wk)– Workday starts early
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Comparison
Academia US Army
Salaries + +
Appointments Tenure Contract/Term/Perm
Choice of Res. Topics +/- +/-
Flexibility in Work Hrs + -
Resources - ++
Bureaucracy + -
Publishing + +
Meetings/Travel - +
Sense of Mission + ++
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March 25, 2008:
“ > 40% of the Army’s science workforce are eligible for retirement within the next 10 years.”
MG George Weightman
Army science workforce ~ 8,000+
Other DoD branches (Navy, Air Force) real numbers but much smaller
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