In attempts to decode the complexity that is statistical genetics, I enrolled in a 2 week workshop that just ended. That is two weeks I will never get back. Two weeks out of my absurdly crowded schedule. The thing with these types of courses.. is that they cannot possibly cater to everyone. Half of us have a good biology background, the other half were statisticians. Meaning I had to keep my mind from wondering during the derivation of every blood equation (see doodles) and sift through the masses
of information to dig out what I need and basically work on grasping that stuff every evening. Needless to say my brain is full. It hurts. I have chi squared distributions oozing out of my pores. Gross.How useful are such workshops? How much professional development should one be doing? How do you weigh the trade off? I was out of the lab for 2 weeks during a very busy time. Was it worth it? I'm not sure yet.
Well, now that that's done.. I can get back to the chaos that is the lab. It was all on pause and now about to hit me like a brick. Dr J and I were chatting online earlier this weekend about the masses of work piling up and the void of energy we are both experiencing. We are tired. Sure he just cycled nearly 2,000km.......... but 2 weeks of statistics people! Variance! Association mapping! Linkage! Burnout is in LD with statistical analysis of genetic data. Take that Hardy & Weinberg.
I need a vacation.
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2 comments:
I have taken three multi-week field-specific courses during my career. Two as a grad student, and one as a post-doc. These were the kind where you go away to a laboratory and stay there with all the faculty and students of the course for as few as three weeks and as many as eight weeks, depending on the course.
These have been incredibly influential in my career. For one thing, they exposed me to a wide array of new methodological and conceptual approaches that have greatly influenced my science.
Much more importantly, however, have been the professional networking connections I have made. For example, some of the people who I will be asking to write promotion/tenure letters for me I first met years ago at these courses. Some of my best "science friends" are people I met at these courses.
Student and faculty alumni of these courses form subnetworks within particular fields that have a huge influence on career development. I urge all trainees to take advantage of these courses when available. It is an absolutely outstanding use of your time, from a cost-benefit perspective.
Any PI who tells a trainee that these courses are a "waste of time" and that the trainee's time is better spent "at the bench" in the PI's lab is not putting the trainee's best interests first.
Thanks for the insight PP. Your experience sounds memorable and in those cases, I agree - it is well worth it. I am lucky that my PI supports PD of all sorts. In this case I kind of felt like when you come back from vacation to masses of work piled up - only I don't have the tan or rested feeling. And no tacky souvenirs to put on my desk as a reminder of my relaxation.
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