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>> I was really interested in this business
and finance community because
as an academic researcher I don't really
get that much exposure to the business world
and business side of science.
It's really more basic science and bench work.
But I knew for my future career,
when I left Hopkins, I would hope to move
more away from the bench, but still within science.
So when I thought about going to take this course,
I thought this would be great exposure
to all the options and different roles available
to scientific researchers beyond the bench.
>> So I was actually cajoled by a friend
who was really enthusiastic about taking the class.
I think he invited me because we talk a lot about
business stuff, even though we are both in the sciences.
>> The workshops all sounded really interactive
and interesting without being too much
of a heavy time commitment.
>> I really enjoyed the format of the course,
which was basically once a week
we'd meet for a couple hours.
And there'd be a bit of lecture
regarding what that actual,
that role in that kind of industry entailed.
For example, entrepreneurship.
There was an entrepreneur who came
and she sort of gave an idea
of what she does day to day,
but also what an entrepreneur could do.
But then there was also the practice part of it,
which was the exercises that were associated with the course
and really seeing what life in that role would be.
>> So I also liked the fact that we could network.
And so because there were so many different people,
you didn't have to talk to everybody,
but once you pinpointed somebody that you really enjoyed,
whose work experience you really enjoyed,
you could step out of the classroom
and then have a conversation,
an informational interview, as it were.
And that is an opportunity
that you don't typically get
if you're constantly shut in a lab working.
And so now I see the opportunity
to be able to merge my passion
for infectious disease research
and companies, for instance, that make vaccines, et cetera,
in these fields, like HIV or AIDS,
with my PhD in infectious disease research,
and merge the business and the scientific aspects of it
and pitch that to investors,
to the average man, to other scientists.
>> I think before going into the program,
I wasn't sure what my career goals really were.
So the program really helped me figure out
not only the types of things that I might want to do,
but actually narrow that focus a little bit.
There was definitely one session in particular
where it wasn't something I had a lot of experience in,
but as soon as I kind of heard a little bit more
about the health care consulting avenue,
I just took to it immediately,
and it was something that really spoke to me.
>> I think anyone who's interested
in moving away from the bench
and doesn't really know where to start
in terms of what the options are
for someone who is a scientific researcher
and wants to sort of delve into something
that's still related to science,
but not, again, at the bench,
I think anyone who's sort of questioning that
or just wants to gain exposure
to that kind of, that part of the scientific world,
I think would gain a lot from this community.
>> I think I would recommend this course or this community
to other graduate students, like myself.
It's a long process.
You come in thinking you want to do one thing,
and then you realize that there are,
or you don't realize that there are many other things
that you could do, that you could be
equally passionate about, if not more.
Basically, I think generally graduate students
and post-docs who are trying to figure out
what the next step is after school,
I think that the opportunity
to have an eye-opening experience
like this is definitely worthwhile.
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