November 2003
Volume 16, Number 11
Medical School Academics
Traditional for Some, New for Others
I tend to be the odd man out when discussing career paths with other psychological scientists. In fact, I certainly hadn't entertained the thought of seeking a career in research psychology at the beginning of graduate school. Rather, I imagined a career as a school psychologist in order to avoid as many research methodology and statistics courses as possible.
But here I am in my first year as a tenure track assistant professor in a school of medicine. During graduate school I became involved in research projects focused on adolescent development through the mentoring of my advisor. At the same time, I was becoming interested in the field of pediatric psychology. As a result, I sought out clinical and research experiences at a local Children's Hospital. Over time, my research focus shifted toward adolescent health related behaviors. I became interested in pursuing this research as an academic career, and it soon became obvious that my research interests would not fit within many school psychology departments. Moreover, traditional health psychology graduate programs did not appear too interested in hiring junior faculty members with a PhD in school psychology, regardless of research focus.
Medical schools, however, are more open to non-traditional academic psychologists, and that is why I am there today. One of the primary distinctions of an academic career in a medical school setting is the majority of research positions at medical schools are funded on "soft money." Soft money refers to the need to fund your salary and research studies through grant money, often from the National Institutes of Health. A benefit of funding your own research is it is possible to answer sophisticated research questions because you have the resources to do so. A negative aspect of soft money is the need to continually apply for grants in order to further your research agenda. The specter of the grant being completed means you have to be ready for the next grant application, causing the need to be forward thinking at all times. Additionally, there are research topics that do not naturally lend themselves to public health concerns, which may cause problems acquiring federal funding. I currently have a career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health, and it is a great grant mechanism to further my research training and gain increased independence as a researcher.
Interdisciplinary, or cross-disciplinary research, is also a focus of many academic careers in a medical school. My research focus, for instance, is on assessing and exploring the role of adolescent romantic dyads on individual behavior, with a specific focus on behaviors that lead to an increased chance of STD/HIV infection. As a result, my research agenda includes an unholy alliance of social psychology, developmental psychology, sociology, medical research, and basic biological science. For instance, romantic dyads are embedded within broader social relationships (sociology), and I have been exploring the process by which risk messages are communicated to adolescents (social psychology) over time and within relationships (developmental psychology), with the ultimate goal of decreasing both STD and HIV infections (medical and biological sciences). I enjoy the interdisciplinary aspect of the medical setting; I have found that my own research has been decidedly enriched by the contributions and cultures of different disciplines. With that said, communication across disciplines can be an interesting, and occasionally frustrating experience.
By having a career in academic medicine as a behavioral science PhD, I have had to accept the role of being a stranger in a strange land. Although my skills as a researcher are regarded as beneficial by other faculty members, the fact remains that this is a medical school where MDs receive their clinical training, and they hold first priority. Hence, a psychologist's skills augment the goals of the university and do play an important role, but it seems as if that role will always be secondary to the greater goal of the medical school. This is evident within the power structure of the medical school. It is a rare section or department that has a PhD as the director who impacts the role of non-physician health professionals, but perhaps academic roles throughout the medical school will change over time.
It has been a relatively short but strange road to an academic career in psychology within a medical school. The resources available to do cutting-edge and important research with a public health focus are tremendous in a medical school, and I do feel as if my research makes an immediate difference in the health of adolescent populations. I truly enjoy the psychological science that I can complete in a medical school, and I look forward to becoming increasingly familiar with this nontraditional situation within a traditional setting.
Matthew Aalsma is an assistant professor of psychology and pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His research focuses on adolescent health behavior, which includes assessing adolescent STD/HIV risk behavior, as well as the role of the broader social environment on adolescent health behavior.
