Most of the time, people working in Industry or those busy hiring for Radiation Oncology Industry have misconceptions that independent Research work is not equivalent to work carried out by a professional who is working for an institute whether working for a hospital or research centre.
Independent Research work or Independent Research Physicists are immediately considered unemployed.
Their CVs and job applications are discarded.
I even heard some bizzare comments from a so called Radiation oncologist who worked for St Guys and Thomas Hospital UK while he interviewed me for a research post. He found it very funny that I have worked independently on projects and I do not have staff and I have made no money.
I dare to disagree with this poor mind set which seems to be prevalent in the Radiation Oncology, Medical Physics, project management, Clinical research and many other industries.
I have worked independently as research Medical Physicists and have managed to design and run some excellent research projects which are unique and deal with real life issues. I am proud to say that I worked on following research projects without being an employee of a big or small hospital or research centre.
My Research Projects:
1. E-Survey: Current Status of Proton Beam Therapy in USA
2. Expert Opinions on Robotic CyberKnife Technology.
3. Multi-institutional case studies of Surface Guided Radiotherapy in USA and Germany
4. Education and Training in Radiation Protection and Mutual Recognition of Qualification in Australia, Canada, News Zealand, Germany and UK.
5. A Survey of IMRT and VMAT in UK
6. Assessing Chemo-Radiotherapy Induced Toxicity and Quality of Life of Cancer Patients.
7. Innovative Leadership Comparison of Ion Beam Applications, SA Belgium against its competitors.
8. Business Perspectives in Medical physics,Condensed Matter Physics and Radiation oncology.
The last 2 projects were PhD projects so were carried out while part of SSBR, Switzerland.
I strongly believe, its time to discard this poor mentality that Independent work is of less or no value. I managed to present my research work in International conferences as well so it is definitely of good quality.
I have applied some project management concepts to these projects and still hiring managers are unable to see what skills and talent I have got. This prejudice needs to be thrown away.
I am living proof that independent work can be done to high standard even with minimal resources and even when you dont get paid for independent work. It takes lot of courage and stamina to work independently on projects and is not as easy as working on projects when you are employed and have all resources at your disposal. Surely such people should be given due credit and priority as they have shown initiative, talent and strength to run projects independently and successfully.
Share your comments with me and let me know what are your experiences.
Have a good day
Dr A E Taqaddas
PhD Medical Management, Switzerland, Qualified Medical Physicist, Research project Manager, CIPM, Writer/Author, Dosimetrist
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