Biohacker

Hi liastra! Being that you are at the medical school, I had some questions about doing research for a PI in a different department - how does it work? Does your current PI have a joint appointment with the CMGB department? Did you have to jump through hoops and such to make it happen? Extra signatures, papers, and petitions? Lastly, will your committee be composed of faculty members mostly from the CMBG department, medical school, or MCB department if you were to stay? I'm extremely curious because I, like you, want to stay in my current department, but I'd like to venture and do research for a different department... PS if your current department makes you happy and you can do research with a PI in a different department (and his/her research makes you happy and is fulfilling) then do it!

Can you commit to your PhD, work this summer until the Fall and see if you like it? You could gain some valuable experience to put on your resume. And if you don't like it you can bail and go to school. This is exactly what I'm doing -- although I've had my job for a year now and I get paid hourly so it's not a big deal. I've also told my boss and coworkers that I'm leaving -- not suggested btw. The fact that they all know makes for an awkward working environment, at least with my coworkers. At the end of the day, this decision is ultimately yours. After I graduated and worked for a few months I knew I didn't want to work in the industry holding my current position (to regulated and little room for creativity). I was able to see different departments and get a good idea of what I really wanted to do.

I am! I was admitted earlier this week :]