It’s so important that young scientists have the opportunity to make contributions to, and get involved with, programs that support the growth of their specialty field. I say this not only because they have valuable skills, knowledge and ideas, but also so they can be best prepared for the ongoing challenges that they will face during their careers.
Indeed, obstacles start to present themselves from day one of entering the lab – lack of global support networks, lack of funding, lack of availability of lab exchange programs, to name a few. But more generally, young scientists often struggle to get involved in advocacy and decision-making too, when they really do have valuable contributions to make. We recognized the need for a support group to help young scientists address these challenges and so, in 2010, the task force for young scientists came into being.
It’s not easy to create a support group that caters for the needs of individuals working in different countries (and are therefore subject to national requirements that vary from one country to the next), but it’s something that we manage to achieve through the strong network that we have been building over the years. We’ve partnered with many national societies to deliver educational workshops, training, mentorship programs and, importantly, we take advantage of the easy availability of social media to make sure that our networks stay connected, 24/7. Not long ago, most people would have turned their noses up at the thought of using Facebook or Twitter for professional networking and support. Now we use both, and LinkedIn, actively. Each channel supports a key aim of this taskforce: connectivity. Our network now includes young lab medicine specialists from 15 different countries, each of whom are supported and encouraged by the senior society members to learn, participate, share and take control and responsibility of their careers. We want to empower them so that they are not afraid to initiate their own educational and training programs.
Currently, we’re planning to conduct a global study to establish the existing key challenges that this group faces (on a general and a national level), so that we can make sure that our programs and support networks are moving in the right direction. We’ve made some fantastic progress so far, but we still strive to build the most optimum support and learning network for our new generation of scientists. It’s a challenge, but it’s so important to us that the field of lab medicine is as attractive and supportive for the next generation as possible.
Pradeep Kumar Dabla is assistant professor and head of the department of biochemistry, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalya, Pediatric Superspeciality Hospital, associated to Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi, India and chair of the IFCC task force of young scientists.
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