I’m 40, and it’s all stacked against me

I’ve recently had A LOT of conversations with people where the other person says, with some considerable exasperation, ”I’m 40+ and….” describing a situation where they are about to complete a substantial period of growth and achievement only to find themselves on a cliff edge that seems to miss the bridge.

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What IS this journey…?

One thing that, on hindsight, I believe has been really challenging about the clinical academic career is the not knowing what the journey should look like. The lack of markers that would allow me make sense of where I am, how far have I come, how long will it be, or even where will I eventually end up.

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Are changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born.

From as soon as one goes anywhere near the clinical academic step ladder one is told that funders look for leaders, and that one needs to start to become one. From there on it becomes a case of developing one’s leadership skills, competencies and roles. Yet, ironically, I never expected to arrive to the point of actually being one.

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Forging through a PhD fellowship application

Guest post by Michael Sykes. I ask myself, ‘OK, so you have had your NIHR Fellowship interview; regardless of the outcome, what have you learnt over the last couple of years that might help others?’. It is likely that I will look back at this in a few years and think how little I knew. Just as I now look at who I was when I first started my clinical academic journey all those years ago!  Continue reading