Name:
David Osrin
Current Position:
Clinical Research Fellow in International Child Health, International Perinatal Care Unit, Institute of Child Health, London.
Since 1997, on a number of contracts.
The post involves coordinating MSc modules in international child health and perinatal epidemiology, contributing to departmental activities such as other teaching and advocacy, and research. The research involves collaboration with groups in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Malawi, and entails extensive periods abroad in each calendar year. Until recently, I have been based in Nepal, with annual trips to teach in London. This has now changed, and I aim to spend about 6 months per year at the Institute of Child Health.
The rewards of my job are day-to-day enjoyment without the deferment of gratification, the production of a corpus of work, the possibility of visiting and really getting to know people in many different places, and the contacts I have made through teaching students from diverse backgrounds.
The challenges are an almost total lack of job security, a heavy workload that requires aggressive time management, and the possibility of projects collapsing at any moment.
Past Positions:
2001-2004: Clinical Research Fellow in International Child Health, International Perinatal Care Unit, Institute of Child Health, London.
1998-2001: Honorary Research Fellow in International Child Health, Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London.
1993-1997: Advanced paediatric training, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia,
St George’s Hospital, London. This period of higher training in paediatrics serves as a sound basis for what I now do.
1991-1992: Basic paediatric training, Newham General Hospital, London, Hospital for Sick Children, London, University College Hospital, London.
1989-1990: Internship, Royal London Hospitals Group, London.
Education:
1989: BCh, Cambridge University
1990: MB, Cambridge University
1990: MA, Cambridge University
1992: MRCP London
1997: DTM&H, Mahidol University, Thailand
1997: FRACP examination, Australia
1999: MRCPCH London
N.B. Both the MRCP or MRCPCH have been extremely useful in my career pathway. It is unlikely that I would have got my current post without one or the other, particularly since one now needs a PhD to get any substantive post at a university.
What strengths, skills and experience are useful in your role ?:
For collaborative research in international child health:
Resilience and flexibility, exposure to difficult management situations, an ability to self-start, experience in settling in to other cultures.
A year of medical anthropology studies was very useful in terms of my personal outlook.
Several management courses have helped me to deal with chaos and the unexpected, as well as to develop a style that gets projects to their goals.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to your current position?:
First, there is no substitute for going somewhere abroad. You will never get the right job, so you need to try to manipulate the position you have so that it will lead to outputs that go at least some way to fulfilling your aspirations. You have to deliver what employers ask you to deliver, rather than allowing your concerns about whether it is 'what you want to do' to stifle your progress. You have to think about collaboration and management issues constantly, because you want to be seen as a safe pair of hands to bring in money and deliverables. If someone suggests you do something (write a book chapter or paper on something about which you know absolutely nothing, teach a group of people who you think know more than you, give a keynote speech at the UN) just say yes and do it. Smiling and making jokes helps a lot.
What are your ambitions for the future?:
To maintain a situation in which I can live in interesting places and do no harm. It may be necessary to ascend an academic ladder to do this, but ascent is not the goal.
Here's a little story to finish with....We needed an ultrasound scanner for a research project. We bought one in the UK for about £20,000, bought an extra tough carrying case, shipped it to Nepal as special cargo with extra padding, then drove it down to the trial site in Janakpur. There was a lot of rain at the time. On the day of installation, a pedal rickshaw driver arrived at the hospital with the scanner on his head and waded through waist-deep water to take it into the clinic.
