It’s dreaming, because I’m likely too old to be hired, with too little working experience, and not stable enough. But I have a background on the borderline of social sciences & health care. I have a Master’s degree. And worked in a research institute for a while, and in health care after.
I’m looking for a job. I found an open call for a phd project in social science. They have a health care department. And I’d be interested in researching mental health.
You can come up with any and all proposal…but they want groundbreaking research. Not sure I can do that. But. Yeah. Dreaming.
I have a billion things I want researched…but I want to ask you guys: what would you like to see researched? It’s not medical science…so it can’t be: this brand new med that solves all my problems please. It’s rather the social/psychological/political/cultural side of it.
Personally, I’m very curious about long term outcomes of medication use. I think some of the studies that we read about don’t have a long term plan for continually taking APs or any med, really.
Oh- I wish you well!!! I’m going to work on a second MA instead of starting on a PhD. But man, some of those PhD programs look so interesting!
@flybottle Haha not sure I want to be hip… But thanks. Is there something concrete you’d like see researched?
@Happy_H That’s something I indeed would like to know. It’s social science, so I can’t go into the medical side too much. But I see major flaws in pharmaceutical research. No information on longterm use, is one. I found maybe three or four studies. That were negative. But I see docs always go for the short term (“ey, it stops symptoms now, so that’s good”). When I experience the effects medium and longterm too.
I’m also always interested in the effects of lifestyle/diet on psychosis. And the utter lack of attention to that. The family dynamics. And methods like open dialogue in finland, “shared decision making”.
I’m also very curious how different cultures experience and treat psychosis, and what we could learn from that. We tend to think the west always knows best…when I highly doubt that.
Thanks. What MA will you do? I’ve thought about a research master too, but it’d cost me 15.000… which I don’t have.
My first degree is in an education field. This one? Counseling. It offers a lot more flexibility and seems like something I could really do, even with physical ailments. I also have a strong need to help people.
Yep! I considered nursing, but after speaking with someone on the forum and reading about the phsycial demands of the job, I’ve decided it isn’t for me. This is just close enough to healthcare for me to be happy and far enough away that I don’t have to bend, stoop, lift, etc.
Hmm I’m not sure. Maybe you should think of something you already know a lot of literature about, it takes a lot of research already to write a good PhD proposal, and open positions will attract a lot of people, it’s very competitive.
I’ve done a lot of personal research into a few specific themes. And have a few contacts among more innovative psychiatrists here.
But I have no clue how this practically works anymore.
And though they specificly talk of diversity and trying if you are not the average respondent…I think they mean “we want that Arabic lesbian 22 y/o who already wrote brilliant papers during her three studies that she graduated from cum laude” rather than “we like that middle-aged woman who spent the last 15 years fighting delusions and being a stay-at-home mother”.
I still want to try though. Even if to warm up my thinking muscles again.
Yeah you should try! But be prepared to compete with 500 others easily. However it turns out for this position, you could continue to work on a proposal for future opportunities, get writing, start with a literature review of the stuff you’ve been studying already. As for diversity, mental illness can be a real asset these days too, especially if you are going to study mental health.
Yeah, maybe it’s an asset. Do you think that also goes for psychosis rather than, say, ADHD or autism or a creative manic episode?
Hm…maybe I could use the women’s health + psychosis theme I tend to google about as well. I think in my country they are currently just starting to wake up to this.
If it doesn’t work out as a paid position but you enjoyed writing for your proposal you can also try to interest professors to continue as an external PhD student - it will be unpaid but it can be a lot of fun.
Hm…I’m reading the themes of their research groups…and I didn’t quite find a professor who is into this theme. Maybe I should just contact a professor I know…and try use my network…or offer myself as a free research assistent or whatever.
I always struggled with both the vagueness of social research. And the lack of broader reflection in medical research. I’m really inbetween in my interest. Hm.
At least I spent a morning fantasizing about the future…rather than my private worries.
Well you can still write on a proposal on the topic of your preference. Then you got something to work from once another paid opportunity presents itself, or you can use it to send to professors for unpaid research.
But thanks. Is there something concrete you’d like see researched?
What was it again…making your hobby/favorite way to pass time into your job?