Hmmmm. Such a hard question. It wasn't an easy question when I was 18 and its not an easy question as I approach mid-40.
I remember being in high school and I had a dream of being a superintendent of a construction site - which had me pursing a degree in civil engineering, then for some reason I got talked out of that and was told mechanical engineering was a better field, more opportunities. Besides, I am a female and there aren't many female superintendents. So I started out in college in engineering and found out that it was too hard. Calculus and physics were kicking my behind, although I eventually got through them successfully. After reading an article in one of my father's engineering magazines about the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in Missouri, it made me think twice about my competency level in engineering. I felt that if I was struggling this hard with calculus and physics that maybe I needed to rethink my career path. I eventually did the switch to business.
I ended up graduating with my bachelor's in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources Management. Finding a job in this field was next to impossible. My first job out of college was as a secretary (administrative assistant as they are called today) in an Employee Benefits Department. Can you say BORING? This job was a painful job to be in. My supervisor was probably one of the worst "bosses" I ever had and she cured me of ever wanting to work for another "female" again. I eventually was hired by the Vice President of Marketing to be his assistant at the same company. I found that Marketing was a much better fit for me. I loved this job as it involved working with marketing the company, products, and services. I also wore a dual hat - I worked with the IT department as their software trainer - another really fun opportunity.
My next job was with a paint company. It actually became my "work family" as I worked there for 8 years. I started out being in charge of product labels and graphic designers. It was a very intense job and I learned so much about the products we made just by creating product labels. Eventually I became a product services specialist or better stated product commercialization specialist. I helped coordinate the development of products from the marketing side. It was a awesome opportunity because I worked with a cross functional team of people and got to meet and work with so many fabulous people. I learned a ton in this position.
At the same time I decided I wanted to go back to school and finish up my engineering degree. I know I liked to inflict pain on myself. I decided that I was really interested in biomedical engineering and wanted to pursue a product management career with a start-up biomedical company eventually. Fortunately, with all the classes I had taken in the past, I was actually able to get my masters. I went to Case Western Reserve University and eventually received a Masters in Engineering with a concentration in biomedical engineering. The degree is sort of a misnomer. The program of which I got my degree was more of an Engineering Management program. It focused on the product development cycle and how to work successfully through it. It was an excellent program. So about a year after I graduated a friend of mine contacted me and told me that the company he worked for (a home health care product manufacturer) was looking for product managers - I decided to apply and was hired on. I worked with respiratory products and really loved the products and services I was responsible for. It was so neat to walk through the development process with new products - I sort of got a "rush" from it. I moved on to a different company, this time in the dental industry again as a product manager. Unfortunately, such positions require a lot of traveling - meeting with sales people and customers; not something I was happy doing once my daughter arrived. So I ended up leaving my career to be a full-time Mom. It was the right decision for my family - especially since the arrival of my son - I would never have been able to hold down a full-time job because of his many medical issues and doctor's appointments.
So now as my oldest is heading towards kindergarden in the Fall and my little guy is starting pre-school, I need to start thinking about what my next career step will be. I loved product management but know I can't dedicate my life to it. Its a job that comes with a lot of hard work, stress and time commitments - something I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do successfully now that I have two kids depending on me. I've kicked around a lot of things, respiratory therapist, occupational therapist assistant, genetic counselor, physician assistant. All these things require additional education, something I'd love to do - I loved school and would be happy going if only someone payed me to go to school!
I like the medical field, I've learned a lot with having a child with Noonan Syndrome and having to research things on my own to discuss with doctors. I like to research and I like to write (hence the blog). So I'm really kicking around the idea of Medical Research - more like the coordinator. I feel I have excellent skills that would really make me an asset to any group. I have the biomedical engineering background, I've done product research and development which required field testing products with end users. I've written reports and pulled data together. Ideally, I'd like to work in research that is closely related to the genetic disorder of Noonans Syndrome or the medical complications associated with the disorder. I feel there is so many unanswered medical questions - but have no idea how to go about this.
So I decided to write this blog with the hopes that someone who reads it may have insights on how to move my career into medical research coordination. I'm hoping someone will share their thoughts and guidance as to how to make my "idea and aspiration" a reality.
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