NPA RCR Bring Seed Home 2007 Seed Grants Communication and Difficult Conversations Aygün Ş ahin, Ph.D. Mass General Postdoc Association (MGPA)
The Mass General Postdoc Association (MGPA) • Founded by eleven Postdoctoral Fellows in 2006 • Closely working with Office for Research and Career Development (ORCD) • Serving 1100+ Postdoctoral Fellows in on of the US largest hospital-based research institution • Activities included so far: Halloween „kickoff“and Spring Receptions, Research Fellow newsletters and publicity, Career Development lecture series, Mentored Lunches, networking events.
Why communication? • Effective communication is crucial for scientific advancement. • Dialog between colleagues, collaborators and mentors can lead to: – Improved motivation, – Productivity, – Enhanced scientific integrity. Part of MGPA’s platform is to develop and promote interaction between Postdoctoral Research Fellows (PRF) and advanced researchers.
MGPA’s Mentored Lunch (ML) Series • Offering a platform for PRFs to address various aspects of difficult communication and uneasy conversations • Providing PRFs the opportunity to meet outstanding, peer- nominated mentors at the MGH in person- herewith the ability to talk to, be mentored by, be introduced to, ask questions of and get answers from our best faculty mentors, all while having an informal lunch.
The ML event • Hosting ~40 PRFs and 6 mentors in ML event (6-7 PRFs/table) – Mentors were nominated by PRFs – Participating mentors were from the basic and medical sciences area • 1 hour free discussion in a relaxed atmosphere during lunch • Suggestion of discussion topics (based on PRFs input during RSVP process): – Career opportunities and options – Hirable features of assistant professor: number of references vs. independent funding vs. personality – Building self-image and self-confidence – Writing and speaking skills – Where to publish – number vs. quality of papers – Mentoring needed – where to look for it? – Professional contacts and networking: where, when and how – Balancing work and family
ML: What have we learned? • Great success from PRF’s and mentor’s perspectives • Giving the opportunity to communicate and discuss postdoc- related issues in a relaxed atmosphere • The need of sponsoring ML events in the future • Maximum 50 participants per event • Need of a moderator on each table • Post-event survey
“It was a vibrant, full of energy event. I really enjoyed it as a mentor and I hope that the mentees were equally benefited.” Tayyaba Hasan, ORCD Director
Future perspectives: • Sponsoring ML series in regular and permanent basis • Increasing number of participants (PRF and mentor) – More advertisement with posters and flyers • Recruiting mentors from other scientific areas (clinical research, biotechnology industry, pharmaceutical industry, scientific writing and editing industries) in addition to basic science mentors • Distributing a survey for post-event feedback from both PRFs and mentors
To learn more about MGPA please visit our website: https://www.massgeneral.org/mgpa
Acknowledgements Sarika Verma Tayyaba Hasan Elena Zalyapin Ann Skoczenski Albena Kantardzhieva Margaret Ryan Julie Tetzlaff (ORCD) Rosanna Rahman Pawel Mroz and all MGPA board members The National Postdoc Association (NPA)
Thank you for your attention!
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