This page is historical material reflecting the Feedback Loop Blog as it existed on August 7, 2015. This page is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
August 7, 2015

Archived: Training Career Outcomes

By Shiva Singh
Last week, I wrote to NIGMS-funded T32 program directors to encourage them to inform students about trainee career outcomes. Because this topic is also relevant to the broader community, I'd like to share the message here.

Dear NIGMS T32 Training Grant Program Director:

At the June 2015 meeting of NIGMS training, workforce development, and diversity program directors, Peter Preusch, Dick Okita and I discussed the importance of making post-training career outcomes available to current and prospective students. The goal of collecting and sharing data on Ph.D. career outcomes is consistent with recommendations of the Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH. This topic has also been addressed by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Council of Graduate Schools and a recent Molecular Biology of the Cell article.

We believe it's critical that graduate programs openly communicate to potential applicants the range of career outcomes of their alumni. Therefore, we encourage graduate programs at institutions that receive predoctoral T32 support from us to make their alumni career outcomes publicly available to prospective and current students, preferably by posting the outcomes on their institutions' websites and consolidating them by department or broad program, rather than just listing individual examples. New and renewal T32 program applicants may want to include information on how their institutions inform students about career outcomes.

I welcome your comments at singhs@nigms.nih.gov.

Regards, Shiva

I've already received a number of replies, including requests for examples of institutional websites that publish Ph.D. career outcomes. While we aren't yet suggesting any specific approach, here are a few:
  • Stony Brook University School of Medicine Pharmacological Sciences Graduate Program Alumni
  • Tufts University Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences Program Career Outcomes
  • UCSF Graduate Division Biomedical Sciences Career Outcomes
  • UT Southwestern Medical Center Select Training Opportunities for Graduate Students (see Pharmacological Sciences Training Program section)
  • Weill Cornell/Rockfeller/Sloan-Kettering Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program Alumni
In addition to contacting me with your questions or feedback, you can post a comment.
topic Training/Fellowships/Career Development
tag Biomedical Graduate Education , Predoctoral , Trainees

About the Author

Shiva Singh

Shiva Singh

Before leaving NIGMS in January of 2022, Shiva, a microbiologist with extensive experience in scientific administration, managed predoctoral T32 training programs, predoctoral F30 and F31 fellowships, as well as a broad array of other undergraduate and graduate student training and development programs.