OP--there is a HUGE need for people who can apply genetics to public health. It's a growing field with very few well trained in methodology and approaches. Seriously. Take those two years with your kiddos, and simultaneously get a master's in Epidemiology at Hopkins (or an MPH with an epi focus--very doable with young kids), and then come to the NIH (amazingly family friendly and research is fun in a way it isn't in academia due to no demands for grants). Signed, fellow PhD/public health researcher and mom of 2 young, crazy kiddos.

OP,

Have you considered teaching? I only did a bachelors in science and enjoyed bench work until an awful stint in a really bad lab. It doesn't pay extremely well so most of DCUM looks down on teaching, but I suspect there would be a ton of schools, private and public (with maybe four additional courses that you can take at a community college), that would love someone who actually knows science. If you taught chemistry, you could bypass the HSA pass requirement too.

It's not terribly young child friendly, esp. if you are nursing, but once your kids are in school the hours are nicer than many of the jobs you mentioned.

Anonymous wrote:

I have thought about getting a tech specialist/patent agent job in a law firm but was hesitant because a lot of firms expect you to go to law school at night. If it is possible to quit after a year or two and go to law school full time, I would definitely consider this.

I know there are some firms that don't really expect you to be more than a patent agent unless you want to go to school at night. I think it really depends. You don't have to tell your employer all your plans, you know? And who knows, maybe you'll like being a patent agent and not want to go back to school.

As far as going at night, I am the PP you quoted, and I do know a girl who is doing this right now. She has a son who is under 2. She got PhD in chemistry, did a brief stint as a postdoc, realized that academia wasn't for her, and worked as a tech specialist for a couple years before going to law school (which is when she had her son). Her husband also works full time. She said it's rough sometimes, but she is really happy with her daycare situation and her husband is able to put her son to bed and so on when she has evening class, which I believe is two or three times a week. She thought a lot about going to law school and realized that she couldn't really interact with clients/grow her career without the degree. I guess it really depends on the person whether or not they can handle this though.

OP here. I appreciate you checking back on my post and providing extra info. It is great news to know there are actually positions without immediate commitment to night time law school.

I have thought about getting a tech specialist/patent agent job in a law firm but was hesitant because a lot of firms expect you to go to law school at night. If it is possible to quit after a year or two and go to law school full time, I would definitely consider this.

I know there are some firms that don't really expect you to be more than a patent agent unless you want to go to school at night. I think it really depends. You don't have to tell your employer all your plans, you know? And who knows, maybe you'll like being a patent agent and not want to go back to school.

As far as going at night, I am the PP you quoted, and I do know a girl who is doing this right now. She has a son who is under 2. She got PhD in chemistry, did a brief stint as a postdoc, realized that academia wasn't for her, and worked as a tech specialist for a couple years before going to law school (which is when she had her son). Her husband also works full time. She said it's rough sometimes, but she is really happy with her daycare situation and her husband is able to put her son to bed and so on when she has evening class, which I believe is two or three times a week. She thought a lot about going to law school and realized that she couldn't really interact with clients/grow her career without the degree. I guess it really depends on the person whether or not they can handle this though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

Agree.

OP, you sound like a twit who is looking for a reason not to actually look for a job. Stop trying to find reasons to delay and bite the bullet. Someone is soaking up your student debt and your milking it for all it's worth. You have a kid now, so it's time to grow up. Stop hiding in graduate degree programs.

Ugh. Will you guys just shut up already? You know nothing about getting degrees in the sciences. Seriously everything you say is wrong.

Have an MPH and I've know many serial degree candidates. They never fully though through their program to begin with then wind there way though two or three more degrees, usually culminating in a useless law degree. OP is able to get a job; she just doesn't want to.

If it so easy to get a real job with a bio phd, why most people from the field end up doing post doc till age 40 and beyond?? Why almost all of my peers are switching lanes? You think people who are able to get into a top 5 medical school phd program are people who just want to be stay at home moms?
All I am asking for is advice on a new career that actually has a future. If you think I should just waste my life in this shit hole for the rest of my life, then yes, I would rather stay at home, have kids, do yoga, read whichever book I like.

BTW, a lot of our professors are MD/PhD/MPH, PhD/JD people. I am sure they don't need your pity.

Have an MPH and I've know many serial degree candidates. They never fully though through their program to begin with then wind there way though two or three more degrees, usually culminating in a useless law degree. OP is able to get a job; she just doesn't want to.

Sorry, if you have an MPH, you don't know anything about getting a PhD in a lab-based science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

Agree.

OP, you sound like a twit who is looking for a reason not to actually look for a job. Stop trying to find reasons to delay and bite the bullet. Someone is soaking up your student debt and your milking it for all it's worth. You have a kid now, so it's time to grow up. Stop hiding in graduate degree programs.

Ugh. Will you guys just shut up already? You know nothing about getting degrees in the sciences. Seriously everything you say is wrong.

Have an MPH and I've know many serial degree candidates. They never fully though through their program to begin with then wind there way though two or three more degrees, usually culminating in a useless law degree. OP is able to get a job; she just doesn't want to.

Anonymous wrote:If you are seriously considering option 1, and you guys are planning to relocate to the DC area (presumably for the economics opportunities for DH?) why don't you try to either get a patent examiner job at the USPTO or study for the patent bar and try to get a job as a patent agent/technical specialist. There are tons of IP firms in the DC area.

Later on you can decide whether or not to go to law school, and it is possible you could go at night, since there are multiple very good part time programs in DC (Georgetown and GW are two of the only top tier schools that offer part time programs). Sometimes the firm will even pay for your law school fees. It's hard to work full time and go to school with kids, but I do know at least one woman who did it. If that doesn't work with your life, you can go back to school full time, and the former legal experience will only make you a more attractive candidate when you are applying for jobs.

You can also consider some of the policy type jobs, like the AAAS fellowship, if that interests you.

I have thought about getting a tech specialist/patent agent job in a law firm but was hesitant because a lot of firms expect you to go to law school at night. If it is possible to quit after a year or two and go to law school full time, I would definitely consider this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Have you ever worked 80 hour weeks for 30K a year? Screamed at by your boss? Hard work stolen by a competitor? Yeah science is a real fun roller coaster.

can't agree more!!!!!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Adjunct positions pay 20K a year, no benefits and are extremely competitive to get.

OP, PhD here that switched fields...you really can't take 2 years off. In DC science PhDs are a dime a dozen. You would be the least qualified of the lot not to mention you would have no experience in healthcare or pharma to get a consulting job. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but you need to know people that know people. My advice to you is get a job first, then have another kid later. Life doesn't always come out perfectly but it is important that you get out of academia first.

May I know which field you transitioned into right out of phd? Thanks

I appreciate everyone's comments. Some of these do force me to think about the more negative aspects.

I started grad school loving science and research was smooth sailing but only for the first two or three years. I don't think any one can relate to the struggle of a phd student unless he or she has been through this. NONE of the female grad student in my year is considering doing research any more. My fault is that I started out without knowing the full picture of what a life science phd entails. Another six more years of postdoc slavery (at least 60 hours a week, 34K, no benefits) rarely leads to a faculty position because your input is weakly correlated with output. You could be working your ass off for years and still have zero progress. Guess why? The stupid mutant mice you made have no phenotype. The lack of sense of accomplishment and lack of professional development are what I loathe the most.

I think it is not unreasonable of you to say that I don't have any real interest. My passion for research has died out and it is probably a wise idea that I start figuring things out by doing part time or intern. I actually didn't know how damaging a two year break could be. I know I can't have it all, this will probably mean that I need to postpone the second kid until one or two years of starting a job.

Last note, I don't have any debt and actually have some savings for additional schooling. So no more judging on how irresponsible i am.

Anonymous wrote:i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Have you ever worked 80 hour weeks for 30K a year? Screamed at by your boss? Hard work stolen by a competitor? Yeah science is a real fun roller coaster.

Anonymous wrote:i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Adjunct positions pay 20K a year, no benefits and are extremely competitive to get.

OP, PhD here that switched fields...you really can't take 2 years off. In DC science PhDs are a dime a dozen. You would be the least qualified of the lot not to mention you would have no experience in healthcare or pharma to get a consulting job. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but you need to know people that know people. My advice to you is get a job first, then have another kid later. Life doesn't always come out perfectly but it is important that you get out of academia first.

i honestly cannot imagine investing all this time in getting a PhD in a field like genetics and then throwing it all away. You say that you don't like research. Would you consider teaching?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay people serious 2 years is NOT going to kill her career in the grand scheme of things. She is young and hasn't really even started her career. Most people her age are living in their parent's basement. Its okay of the OP wants to take time and figure out what she wants to do. She picked the PhD probably very young so its okay for her to have *gasp* changed her mind!

Agree.

OP, you sound like a twit who is looking for a reason not to actually look for a job. Stop trying to find reasons to delay and bite the bullet. Someone is soaking up your student debt and your milking it for all it's worth. You have a kid now, so it's time to grow up. Stop hiding in graduate degree programs.

Ugh. Will you guys just shut up already? You know nothing about getting degrees in the sciences. Seriously everything you say is wrong.