After their qualifying exams are over and most of their required coursework is completed, graduate students disperse back to their labs for the long haul. Most classes and exams occur in the first year or two of a Ph.D. program; afterward, students focus full-time on their independent studies and dedicate their time to pursuing their(...)
A Day in the Life
Hitting a Wall
Posted by | A Day in the LifeMore often than not, people come to a point in their academic careers where they hit a wall; some of us just do it more literally than others. What started out as a strange niche sport for people living on the fringe of society has quickly become a fast-growing sport in America. The first indoor(...)
Explorers Behind the Bench
Posted by | A Day in the LifeHave you ever had one of those days when everything and anything goes wrong? Your car won’t start; your roommate used the last of the milk; there is no hot water in your building and, of course, it is pouring outside. Well, in the life of a graduate student, those types of days can start(...)
Tips for Writing a Standout Personal Statement
Posted by | A Day in the LifeIf you’re planning to apply to Ph.D. programs this fall, hopefully you’ve — at the very least — thought about starting to write a personal statement. For many students this is one of the most daunting aspects of the application process; however, having a strong personal statement can really set you apart amid a thick(...)
From Classrooms to Clinics: A Former High School Teacher’s Reflections on Medicine
Posted by | A Day in the LifeThe term “doctor” can be traced to its Latin root, docēre, which means “to teach.” And indeed, teaching is ubiquitous in medicine; the residency system that trains physicians is grounded in intensive teaching and learning. Moreover, educating patients about their conditions is a primary objective for every doctor. But five years ago, I was involved(...)
From Prison Cells to PhD: Words Matter
Posted by | A Day in the LifeI have people contacting me from all over the country. A pastor called me after an interview I had with CBS and told me, "you still look, talk, and smell like a convict." Wow. What does a “convict” smell like? He continued, "You need Jesus in your life. Back in my day, people were ashamed(...)
Everyday Antibiotics May Reveal New Therapies to Treat Your Breast Cancer
Posted by | A Day in the Life, Perspectives in ResearchNew therapies to treat metastatic breast cancer may lie within one of the most commonly used agents in health care across the world: antibiotics. Sonal Chaudhari, a second-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, recently spent her summer working under Richard Jones, director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program, co-director of the(...)
The Unsung Heroes of Johns Hopkins Core Facilities
Posted by | A Day in the LifeWhen we think about the great research and scientific breakthroughs that come out of Johns Hopkins, we often focus on the principal investigators and members of their labs. But there is another very strong force of progress at Johns Hopkins that flies under the radar — the core facilities. Johns Hopkins boasts a large array(...)
The Mystery Behind the Jargon
Posted by | A Day in the LifeScience is a complex language. It has its own vocabulary and corresponding slang, both of which take time to learn and understand. In the lab we speak this language as fluidly and comfortably as if we were raised with it as our native tongue. For some students with parents who work in science, this may(...)
From Prison Cells to Ph.D.: Felony Disenfranchisement and My Voting Rights
Posted by | A Day in the Life“From Prison Cell to Ph.D.” is a series following the journey of Dr. Stanley Andrisse, who was convicted of 2 felony drug charges and sentenced to 10 years in Missouri prison. He is now a postdoctoral scientist in pediatric endocrinology and trainee leader at Johns Hopkins Medicine. I once waited at the polls for three long hours(...)