Biosciencebiz’s Weblog

Just starting this post to keep track of all my favorite quotes..

Quotes that have inspired me, made me laugh, made me ponder….

• If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem
• The boundary of knowledge is also the boundary of ignorance
• Egoism the highest poverty of a created being- Freidrich von Schiller
• When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.
• “Often we may be in doubt as to what to do. It is no easy matter to decide what is right and what is not. One little test I shall ask you to apply whenever you are in doubt. It may help you. Never do anything in secret or anything you wish to hide. For the desire to hide anything means that you are afraid, and fear is a bad thing and unworthy of you. Be brave, and all the rest follows. If you are brave, you will not fear and will not do anything of which you are ashamed.” - Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister, India

No.. This is not a personality analysis test that I took when I had NOTHING else to do in this world! I am taking a course called Designing of High Performance Organizations, the more fancy term for a course called Organizational Behavior. It’s a very interactive class where, as the name suggests, we talk about organization- types, structure, interpersonal communication, factors that make a successful organization- so on. Just recently we discussed Disney Land and the strong organizational culture that it has. Have you ever noticed how each and every employee at DisneyLand is always smiling and courteous to people around? How all their employees have a neat physical appearance and positive demeanor to the visitors? If you’ve not noticed, make sure you closely observe their behavior next time you visit DisneyLand. It’s all symbolic of their organization and the fantasy world that they are trying to create.

Anyways, I did not intend to digress from the main topic but I couldn’t stop commenting on the case study. So, coming back to the discussion, one of the deliverables for our course is to perform a critical self analysis and identify your traits by a thorough self analysis that includes online personality tests and deep, reflective thinking. We are supposed to identify the traits that make us a strong leader in order to create successful organizations. Lazy me preferred the first option of taking the online test!

The test is called the IPIP-NEO (International Personality Item Pool-NEO) and is based on the Big Five Dimensions of Human Personality. (For the ones interested in psychology, check out more on the Big Five Dimension on this link). The IPIP-NEO is not just another personality test. It throws 300 (yes.. 300) questions at you to come up with the results. The results are categorized into different facets such as

extraversion

agreeableness

conscientiousness

neuroticism

and many more..

With my experience of online personality tests, the IPIP-NEO has, by far, provided the most accurate and comprehensive analysis. For the inquisitive bunch, check the IPIP-NEO test and post in your comments!

More than 60% of the Americans aged 20 years or older are overweight or obese. About a quarter of the American adults are obese. 1 in 6 Americans suffer from obesity..

Obesity is a syndrome in itself… increases the likelihood of many diseases such as diabetes, cancer and many more. There have been efforts underway to find a medical cure for obesity. As of now, Gastric Bypass Operation is the most successful surgical treatment for obesity. In layman terms, its a unique method where the stomach is removed from the body and the esophagus is connected to the duodenum. In essence, the route through the stomach is ‘bypassed’. The patients feels less hungry, does not crave for food and ends up being about a third lighter! The procedure is known to reduce weight ranging from about 100 pounds to over 200 pounds

The reduction in weight is known to have remarkably positive side effects on type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and even cancer……….Yes! There have been reports of obesity links to cancer likelihood.

I stumbled upon a video that discusses the above. Check it out to find more!

The question remains….. Are we close to finding a cure to diabetes?

Comments?

Humans, by nature, are known to restrict themselves to their comfort zone. There is an inherent resistance to anything new, outside the comfort zone, anything that breaks the tradition. The KGI hybrid curriculum is a concept that integrates science with business. It ventures into an unchartered zone and combines two fields that have always existed independent of each other. It is known that the hybrid curriculum is not as established as the other pure science or pure management courses. It’s still in the experimental stage, evolving continuously and adapting to the needs and demands of the bioscience industry. Some argue that such a hybrid course better serves the need for the industry, than just a science or a business background. Then there is the pressing concern about the recession of the US economy. Dollar value is going down. Investment banks are facing a huge crisis. Is the heath care segment going to be affected? Are we going to have less jobs in the biopharmaceutical industry?

The decision to join KGI wasn’t an easy one. Keck Graduate Institute is small, celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has a new and revolutionary curriculum that is still in the infancy stage. Add to it the high costs of education and of living. Compare that with the well established courses at reputed institutes. The instant reaction would be - go for the ‘brand’. However, if you look closer, there are other details that one might want to consider.

Look at the upside…. I consider KGI as a startup life science company.. striving to climb up the ladder, learning from its mistakes, evolving and improving with every step it takes. And we, as students, are part of this start-up… trying to imbibe as much as we can and take advantage of the curriculum. The selling point is the curriculum that combines the prime functional areas of science and business and presents it in a single package. The location is an added advantage. With an established base in Southern California, the nearby biotech hubs of San Diego and San Francisco provide excellent networking opportunities. KGI, by itself, provides excellent opportunities to interact with people from the industry. Every month, one or two speakers from the corporate world come up to give a talk and interact with students. Where else can a student sit with the MD of Amgen Bioventures and have lunch; or chat with the CEO of a startup about the problems with the Biotechnology industry; recession of the US economy; upcoming Presidential elections, so on and so forth.

If there’s an upside.. there’s a downside as well.. The biggest deterrent for my decision was that KGI did not have a brand name recognition. The obscurity of the program accompanied by the huge tuition and living expenses were enough to shake my decision. Even if you keep the above factors aside, there is the looming problem of the downswing of the US economy and its affect on the jobs scenario.

Having said that…. There is risk involved in every step you take.. Higher the risk, higher the return.. It would be foolish to follow the above statement blindly, but I argued… I am aware of the risks involved, I am taking an informed decision.. I can increase my probability of high returns..

The curriculum attracted me the most.. With due respect to all the researchers who have done wonderful stuff and contributed to the knowledge of the society, academic research is just not my piece of cake… I cannot sit and work for hours together in the lab waiting for an experiment to finish. I prefer the industry, the competition, the continuous drive to perfection, the entrepreneurial world… For a person like me, KGI provides an ideal course and opportunity to find my career path…

Throughout my life, as a kid, as a teenager, during college; I have never had to stay outside the comfort zone of my home. This is the way kids are brought up. Parents take care of their children, pay for their education and housing, till the children are married off. The convenience of a home is not realized until you move out.

I did not realize the importance of home until I moved out, traveled half way around the world for education. Leaving the security of your ‘own’ house, living in a city where you do not know anybody can be intimidating for anyone. It was, most certainly, for me! Having to stay alone, manage my house, cook everyday, be responsible for laundry, buy groceries yourself, manage expenses, worry about finances… Goodness! That can scare anyone! So was I.

At the same time, it has been a continuous learning experience. Learning about different cultures, different people, way of living has been intellectually stimulating. The variety of people you interact with, in your day to day life, help shape your personality. That’s the professional life.

Then there’s the personal life. Workload at KGI does not really leave with a lot of personal or social life. However, sharing space with strangers, dealing with the peculiarities of human behavior, compromising and adjusting in life are my take home messages.

And.. I continue to learn and experience…