What work-life balance?!

​It was my first book signing event at a national conference. 'Excited' did not begin to describe how I felt. Being able to present my book to a crowd of like-minded people was such a great thrill!

But when I realized that the dates of the conference conflicted with my husband's planned business trip, I went into panic mode. Will I have to cancel my book signing event? I had no one who could take care of my daughter for the weekend while I attended the conference. So, breathing deep and hoping for the best, I paid the train ticket to take my daughter to the conference with me. Had no choice.

Arriving at the hotel room, I was in a rush. There were a lot of last-minute things that I needed to get done. I asked my daughter to help me fold brochures, and organize business cards and fliers. Soon, we had a nice assembly line going. She carefully folded stacks of brochures and inserted cards into books with efficiency and enthusiasm. I had underestimated my little assistant!

The next day at the book-signing table, Elίs took it upon herself to hand out fliers to conference attendees and to talk with people approaching our table. I was surprised to see how much she knew about the book, and how much she believed in me and my mission.

In the middle of it, my daughter turned to me and said: "Mamami, I feel like I am helping you to help other people."

And this is how a day of inconvenience turned into a teachable moment, for ME!

Many of my students ask me questions about how to deal with "work-life balance" issues. How will they be able to have families and also succeed in science and medicine? they ask.

One thing that I can say to them now is this: I am still learning. This book signing trip was a great lesson for me.

Sure, it was expensive, inconvenient and stressful to bring my daughter to an out-of-town conference that day. And although it may not always work out as well, this is what I learned: sometimes work-life is not a balancing act at all, but a beautiful merging of the two.
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Dr. Luz Claudio is a tenured professor of environmental medicine and public health. She has mentored hundreds of students and junior scientists. Luz is the author of the book: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide. She blogs about life in academia.
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Being whom we want to be requires first finding out what we want to be, a painfully long process for many. My own process took a while and did not follow a straight line, but eventually, I became a doctor/scientist. How can I best guide my female students and my daughter in this process?

The other day, I was walking with my daughter when we saw this poster. It said with big bold letters on a pink background (to appeal to females, I suppose): "Be the Doctor Your Parents Always Wanted You to Marry." The poster had a tiny little apple with a bite mark on it, the well-known logo of Apple with capital "A". But I could not figure out what they were trying to sell with this poster. 

Anyway, I thought Aha!, a teachable moment! A good opportunity to talk with my daughter about building her own independence. Her career choices. A chance to talk about her aspirations and my expectations as a parent? A conversation opener to discuss career options and plans for the future? Or something along those lines...

I turned to my 10-year-old daughter and asked: What do you think about this poster? 

“That women don’t have to marry a doctor to be one”, she replied. Not much of a surprise there, given that I have a doctorate degree and did not marry a doctor. 

But is that all? 

The reality is that that choice comes at a real cost in my own family.  If my husband were the doctor in the family, we would be making about 20% more money. According to a recent study published in JAMA, female physicians in academic positions had a mean salary that was over $51,000 less than their male counterparts. The pay gap remained even when adjusting for a whole lot of factors, including years of experience and total publications. This is the case in my own experience. This money would be buying us enough independence to own a home or put our daughter in private school. That's a lot of independence to give up. 

The "independence" of being able to be the doctor our parents wanted us to marry comes at a price. Yes, we can now "choose" to pursue these careers, and we can "choose" to marry whom we want, but we pay a price. We make less money at the office and work more at home. As women, we have to be aware of the costs, when we make these choices. And consciously be willing to pay the price.

With the summer break just around the corner, I imagine that many of you are also starting to think about how to best utilize this opportunity to do something productive and beneficial to your academic and professional career. Internship, as you know, is one of the most popular summer activities that students take on to hone on their skills, learn from professionals, and even receive mentorship. Whether you have already secured a great internship or you’re still looking for one, let’s take a moment and think about how to become a successful intern, so that you can get the most of out of your experience. After all, landing an internship is just a beginning, and it is up to you to make it a productive experience. So what are some of the key components to a successful internship?
1.     Be humble.
As ambitious as you may be, one thing to remember is that you’re not there to change the world. Rather, be mindful that your internship experience is most likely to change you, and teach you how to become a great researcher and scientist who will make important contributions. So be open to constructive feedbacks and advice from your supervisor and colleagues, because, as the saying goes, “true humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know”.

2.     There is no such thing as “just an intern”.
While I say humility is important, this notion shouldn’t be mistaken as an approval for you to become passive or uninvolved. Rather, it’s crucial that you remember that you’re part of the organization, and not just an intern. Always act professional as if you’re already an employee, not to mention be mindful of punctuality, your attire, and other common office courtesy and rules, and engage in professional life as a member of the organization. Even if your role is a small part in a large organization, always remember that everything that you do will have an impact, both positive and negative.

3.     Show your commitment.
Your supervisor will be more willing to offer you challenging and fulfilling tasks if they believe that you genuinely care about the work that you’re doing. Take notes, ask questions, and share your ideas so that they know that you’re interested. Establish a good relationship with your supervisor, and meet with them regularly so that you can keep track of how you are performing, and make sure that both of your expectations are being met.

4.     Communicate, and communicate well.
Communication skill is a highly valued asset that many employers look for in job candidates, 1 and this applies to interns as well. Think about how you’re communicating with your supervisor and colleagues, both verbal and written, and explore ways to improve it. It is also important, if you’re uncertain about any aspects of your work, be it your duties or attire, that you ask questions to clear such doubts and before assuming anything. A small misunderstanding can sometimes have much larger repercussions. 

5.     Keep in touch.
Lastly, don’t just disappear after your internship is complete! Make an effort to stay in touch with your supervisor and colleagues, by sending them periodical updates, or checking in to say hello. Your supervisor is a very valuable contact to maintain, since you might ask them to write a recommendation later on, or go back to them for additional advice and counseling when you’re ready to start your professional career. Send them an email or give them a call because you care about them. Contacting them only when you need something from them will not make you look good.

Internships can be a very rewarding experience that can get you closer to your dream job. But ultimately, it’s up to you when it comes to getting the most out of it. I hope this post helps you to get an idea on how you can make your next internship most productive time in your college life.

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Additional Source:
1.     Job outlook 2016: The attributes employers want to see on new college graduates’ resume. http://www.naceweb.org/career-development/trends-and-predictions/job-outlook-2016-attributes-employers-want-to-see-on-new-college-graduates-resumes/

I had the honor of presenting last week at the 14th Annual Global Health & Innovation Conference organized by Unite for Sight. The Global Health & Innovation Conference (#GHIC) is the world's leading and largest global health conference as well as the largest social entrepreneurship conference, with 2,200 professionals and students from all 50 states and more than 55 countries. This conference convenes leaders, changemakers, and participants from all sectors of global health, international development, and social entrepreneurship.

Unite for Sight has been at the forefront of providing eye care for the underserved in developing countries. With close two-and-a-half million patients served, over 97,000 sight-restoring surgeries and 10,000 fellows trained in global health, Unite for Sight has had a major impact in several countries.
Since I have trained hundreds of students and international mentors in global health research, I was invited to present insights based on that experience. Here, briefly, are the 6 key attitudes that practitioners must have in order to succeed in their global health experiences:

1. Include ALL of your Strengths: It is not only your academic training that will see you through your global health research. It is also your life experiences that can be just as important in your ability to understand and solve a global health problem.
2. No Superhero Attitude, Be Humble: Do not go to another country with the attitude "Here I come to save the day!" Helping people with an attitude of humility will have more impact than if you go to your international site as a superior savior. People will be more receptive to your help and, maybe, you will find that there is a lot that you can learn.
3. Train with Local Experts: Along the lines of being humble is the awareness that the local people know better than you what is really going on on site. Even the most well-trained doctor or research scientist will find that there is a lot to learn from the local people at an international site. Training with them will not only help you learn about the local situation and allow you to be more effective in it, but also will provide you with skills that you may be able to apply when you return to your home country.
4. Emphasize your Reason: Ask yourself: Why am I here? Define your goal. Many people embark on a global health internship with a particular project in mind, yet, it is possible that that particular project may not be the one appropriate to reach the ultimate reason or goal of your international internship. Be willing to change or discard your planned project if you find that another activity may actually be more appropriate for reaching your intended goal.
5. Network and Partner: Global health students tend to have the unique opportunity to have several international experiences throughout their careers. One student may do a summer internship as an undergraduate, a semester abroad as a graduate and serve as an international fellow as a postgraduate. I encourage my trainees to find ways to serve as the connection between international researchers who may not otherwise be able to collaborate together. A student interested in a particular research topic may be able to intersect with several researchers on that topic internationally. These are great opportunities to create networks and partnerships for international research collaboration.
6. Document lasting Accountability: After students have completed an international experience, they often come back to their "real" life and do not keep in touch with their international mentors or follow up on the international research project that they collaborated in while abroad. In my programs, I insist that international interns must be accountable for the work they did in the other country by documenting their research either in a professional conference and/or a scientific research paper. I have written a workbook: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide to help students and mentors efficiently produce research papers.

These six key can be applied to other research programs too, particularly those involving community-based participatory research.

Are there other key attitudes that you find useful for those traveling abroad for research and training programs? Write in the comments or send me a message.
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Dr. Luz Claudio is the author of the book: How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide, a workbook that teaches you precisely what to do and when to do it when writing scientific papers. She is a tenured professor of preventive medicine and has mentored hundreds of students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. She blogs about life in academic research.

I was recently asked by a reporter about the mentors who helped me along my scientific career. I've been blessed with many mentors over the years, but one always stands out in my memory: Dr. Celia Brosnan. She was my main thesis mentor during the doctoral program at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Brosnan's method of mentoring me was simply this: focus on your strengths. 
Once she identified that I was a strong writer, she gave me more writing assignments. Getting some wins early in scientific writing gave me the confidence to stay in the program and to gain the other skills that I needed to succeed in STEM. I have found the hard way that not every mentor will do this.
I now see that as professors we tend to zero in on students' mistakes and give them more of whatever it is that they lack thinking that that is the best way to "train" young minds. Dr. Brosnan's approach was the opposite. She identified the strengths in each student she mentored and focused on those, then built each student's career around those strengths.
During my darkest hours when doubt and failure would threaten to derail me from my goal of becoming a scientist, she would give me writing assignments. These would build my confidence enough for me to then dare to tackle the things that were more challenging for me.
In the interview with the reporter I said:
“I moved from Puerto Rico to New York in 1985 when I was accepted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to study neuroscience. I knew my scientific training at the University of Puerto Rico was excellent, but my English skills weren’t great. Because of a lack of resources in Puerto Rico, I hadn’t been exposed to the most advanced technology.
During my training, Dr. Celia Brosnan saw great potential in me despite my limited English. She encouraged me to study with technicians in the lab, even some who didn’t work directly with her.
Amazingly, she asked me to write scientific papers. At the time, I had trouble expressing myself verbally, so it was pretty amazing that she trusted me with writing these papers. She recognized my writing ability, encouraged it and allowed me to have credit for it. Not every mentor would have done that. She had a lot of patience. Working with her, I was able to author papers early on in my career. Thanks to her, I’m currently a tenured professor and chief of the international health division. I’m also the author of “How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper: The Step-by-Step Guide.”
I now mentor many students. One of the most important things I teach them is scientific writing. It’s the main thing Dr. Brosnan taught to me and was the biggest key to my success.”
To read the full article about titled: She inspired me: The role models who helped these women envision a career in STEM By Neil Gladstone click this HERE