PhD (Please Doctors look here)

saw_dust · Jan 11, 2003

Masters degrees anything ,related to higher education ...lets hear it.....

Since this forum has a such wide array of talent here.I personally am impressed with people who have worked at and suceeded with educating themselves and at the same token kept there feet on the ground.Would you mind telling us what your doctorate is in and why you chose to pursue the doctorate you have....any regrets etc....
I find Cowboys doc's path impressive...he chose to be a doctor and still has ranchwork in his blood,which is great,tells me he has not forgotten where he came from.I thought it would be interesting to hear everyone stories.

rancar · Jan 11, 2003

I don't have a PhD....but I do have a Masters in Urban Planning. If this is good enough, I'll briefly tell a bit about my story.

I pursued this degree because I grew up in New York City and the suburbs of New Jersey. I'd seen much too much urban gentrification and suburban sprawl and a lot of land development that I thought just wasn't being done right. It interested me enough go to graduate school to learn more on these issues. It was a satisfying two years of graduate study and I fortunately was able to find employment in the field after college.

I've now worked in this field for over 20 years, primarily in the area of transportation planning and engineering. I've concluded that the idea of planning WAS a good thing but it happened in the days of Robert Moses, Frederick Law Olmstead, and Frank Lloyd Wright...that is, 50-75 years ago. Urban planning these days has already occurred in the cities and suburbs....any future planning that takes place is done primarily by the real estate industry in conjunction with politicians that view localized needs for greater land development to enhance economic development and the tax base. Planners and especially transportation planning is done ONLY IN RESPONSE to land development that has or is already taking place. That is, building more roads, road reconstruction, adding additional capacity, increasing road safety, and the like. But, all this takes place not as planning but as a response to land development actions instigated and started by others. It's been a bit disillusioning since I realize I can't effect something that others could benefit from in the future.

So, I now live in the rural country, own 158 acres of what was a former dairy farm, and I'm doing my own rural planning where I know I can produce results and observe its benefits. Since 1984, I've renovated a 175 year old Greek Revival farmhouse that was not too far from the wrecking ball. I've reclaimed land that was growing over in sapling due to neglect. I'm now removing hedgerows that are 50 years old or more, and removing and relocating old stone walls in order to make the land as productive as I can just like it was 100 years ago. I've chased loggers away from my place who come by every year and want to log about 60 acres of woods that I have. (I should really say these loggers would 'rape' the land since they would take every marketable tree over 9 inches in diameter and leave me with only shrub and saplings.) I've instead decided to leave my woodlot uncut except for windblown trees that I cut personally for firewood. The woodlot will now stay as long as I own the place, and I'll leave it to future generations for them to enjoy. My intention and dream now is to retain in full the farm as I see numerous other farms around me being parceled for helter skelter rural development as disillusioned urbanites migrate to the country to find their own dreams. This, I don't begrudge them; only the WAY it is being done.

So, in short, my idealistic dreams of trying to carve a professional niche for myself in molding a better urban lifestyle for the current generation has been somewhat sidetracked by my personal endeavors to preserve and improve farmland that's rapidly being purchased and parceled for helter skelter rural development. And this, my friends, is where I'm finding some joy in this life and I hope a measure of satisfaction for the future generation that will one day own my place.

Thank you for the opportunity to contribute.

Regards,
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

Boondox · Jan 11, 2003

I got my doc in behavioral epidemiology and did research in the behavioral risk factors associated with the spread of HIV in the divorced population. Fascinating stuff, human behavior, but that particular target group turned out to be at relatively low risk, especially in the male population. I guess that led to a general dissatisfaction with the direction my talents were going. Teaching at the university level was frustrating as so many of the students were more interested in partying (now THAT would have been a population worth studying!) and San Diego had grown into this huge, impersonal mob of humanity. I never cared much for crowds.

So when I married a wonderful Vermonter, and she had trouble adapting to life in the Big City, my love for her was far stronger than my bond to the city or the university and I moved back to the Green Mountains of northern Vermont. Not much interest in my specialty back here -- low divorce rate and less than 100 HIV+ people in the state -- so my life took an unexpected and delightfully fulfilling turn. Never imagined I'd find this much happiness in life!

Pete

TWINKLE_TOES · Jan 11, 2003

This post by one of my favorite and most enertaining people on this board doesn't fit in the PHD column, but does fit the wide array of talent here

Haven't heard from Glenn lately, hope he didn't go down with the HMS Glennmac.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=105926&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=legal%20operating%20system&Match=And&Searchpage=0&Limit=50&Old=allposts&Main=104457>Glenn</A>

BigDave · Jan 11, 2003

Wow, trying to get Ph.D./M.D. types to talk about themselves, Muhammad will need to double his hard-drive size. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I already post my job history: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=222879&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=all> Dependencies </A>

I earned a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Engineering Science & Mechanics. My major field was Computational Fluid Dynamics, so I'm no stranger to a computer. As a graduate research assistant I was sponsored via an Army contract for all six years of my graduate education to study methods to improve the simulation of blade-tip vortices for helicopter rotor flow. The work was so successful, at one point they were considering making it classified. Although I was ready to graduate after 4 years, the indentured servant part of grad school forced me to stay for 6 years. So to make the most of my time I continued to take courses. I took over 100 credit hours of graduate courses in addition to the usual dissertation & seminar hours. I've taken graduate courses in Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Engineering Science & Mechanics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, and Physics. I also took Accounting and Business Management graduate courses after I graduated. Now here's the odd part, I don't consider myself an academic. I'd rather mow the lawn versus go to a museum. I'd rather watch the Simspons vs. read a book. I'd rather build a patio vs pay someone to do it for me. I'd rather go to a ball game vs. attend a concert.

You asked why did I become a doctor? Long story or short? Hmmm. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Well, instead of gong to college, I joined the Navy to be a part of their Nuclear Power Program. You get two years of free education, and you have a usable skill when return to the civilian world. I did well in Nuclear school, and was told many times that I should have went to college. The Navy has a strong caste system, more so than the other services. An enlisted man wasn't thought smart enough to have an original thought. I found this very frustrating. If you were an officer, you had a title for which people automatically gave you respect and listened to what you had to say. So. I looked at the civilian world, and realized that if I became doctor, I wouldn't be subjogated. Thus, my 9 year academic journey began at the age of 23 years old. Funny thing, now that I'm a doc, I don't care if people know of not. This is not true for most docs. We held a family picnic at our home this summer and invited friends and neighbors. My next door neighbor came to me during the party and mentioned that I should be very proud of my sister-in-law (whom she just met) with the Ph.D. I grinned and said we are very proud of her accomplishments. My neighbor still doesn't know I have a Ph.D. As a matter of fact, most people I know socially, don't know I have a Ph.D. According to my wife, most people think I'm a tad slow when they first meet me. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Anonymous Poster · Jan 11, 2003

"The Navy has a strong caste system, more so than the other services. "
Obviously you must mean Chiefs Rule & Officers drool.
Master Chiefs are 1 step from GOD
Sr Chiefs are 2 steps from GOD
and so on.
Any officer who don't understand that can have a nice swim back.

Boondox · Jan 11, 2003

the indentured servant part of grad school

Dave -- You mean it wasn't just MY grad program...that other grad students have experienced slavery!?! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I think the profs in graduate programs sense students' passion about a subject and take shameless advantage of it! Of course, that passion can open a lot of doors!

Pete -- I be a colidge grajuit

bher · Jan 11, 2003

I was in a chemical physics PhD program at Johns Hopkins University five years ago. I left after about 2 years with a masters degree. I got in with a terrible and dishonest research advisor. Your research advisor is your god. They control your life and your future. Graduate students are probably the most oppressed group in the entire country. The general population does not, and never will understand. The politics at Hopkins were truly oppressive. The sad part is that I really loved science. That love of science is only now starting to return.

saw_dust · Jan 11, 2003

I grinned and said we are very proud of her accomplishments. My neighbor still doesn't know I have a Ph.D. As a matter of fact, most people I know socially, don't know I have a Ph.D. According to my wife, most people think I'm a tad slow when they first meet me.

Big Dave (The Modest Doctor)..........kinda has a ring to it..../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

BigDave · Jan 11, 2003

Big Dave (The Modest Doctor) 

/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

How about as my wife would put it:

Big Dave (No, he's not really retarded) /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I have a tendancy to speak slow and to deliberate my options before I speak. I'm never in a rush outside work. This just frustrates the heck out my wife. Here's an example: A grocery clerk asks me paper or plastic. I look over at the bags to determine the relative quality of each type of bag. I look at the clerk and try to infer from his or her dress and appearance if they would be offended by a non-enviromentally sound decision. I then start to visualize the pile of bags we have at the house to determine our stock of each type. I also think about amount of groceries that I would need to carry to the car. Plastic if I could carry it all, paper if I need to use the cart. So after weighing all of my options, I realize my wife has already pushed the clerk aside and has two bags full already. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I've always been fascinated by the field of decision science in my work environment, unfortunately I've incorporated it into my everyday life.

So let's compromise and go with just Big Dave...and maybe someday, if this diet thing ever works, just Dave. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif