What do you do?:
Most of the work I do is related to survey data collection, data analysis, and server management for studies taking place at the Department of Family Medicine at OHSU. Data collection and analysis is usually accomplished in a web interface, or through the heavy use of Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL and LimeSurvey.
What is a typical day like?:
I am generally working on 5-8 projects at the same time, and try to spend the majority of each day focused on a single project. When I arrive at work around 7:30 I review the tasks that I have planned for the day and start programming. If I am on a roll while I am programming I may eat my lunch at my desk, but other times if I am stumped on a problem I may need to take a walk and think things over. I try to take a walk at least once a day to stretch my muscles and get my blood flow up. About three times a week I have team meetings where we discuss the progress and goals of the research projects that we are working on.
What was your path to get to where you are today?:
When I graduated from Portland State University, one of my biology professors (Dr. Suzanne Estes) suggested that I apply to the internship program being run by the Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) at OHSU. During the internship I was able to land a position as a Research Assistant at OHSU. Initially my work was related to software development in Ruby on Rails, but I was able to add some hours by assisting with project management, qualitative research and dictation when and where it was needed. This eventually led to a publication in IEEE and a promotion to Research Assistant 2. After a few years at DMICE the funding started to run out but I was very interested in continuing along the same career path. I found out that the Department of Family Medicine was looking for a software developer/research assistant.
What makes you excited to go to work every day?:
I think it might sound a little silly, but I love to program. It's like getting paid to play the crossword puzzle. I get to go into work every morning and sip my coffee while playing around with abstract concepts and try to put them together in a meaningful way for my team members. With my background in biology, computers, and electronics, it feels like I have found the perfect fit for a career. The funny thing is that, until the internship, it hadn't really occurred to me that this kind of a job existed.
What is next on your career path?:
At some point I hope to go back to school for a Master's degree, but I haven't decided exactly what I would go for - possibly statistics or computer science with a focus on its application in biological or clinical research.
Degree:
A.A. Oregon Transfer Degree 2006; B.S. Biology (PSU) 2008