The point I am getting at is that I am at a cross roads.  I really don’t like the Doctor of Management program I am in.  It isn’t what I had expected and the worst part is I don’t know what I was expecting.  My cousin, who has her Doctorate and is a Dean of a Junior College in Northern California, told me that the new way to teach adults is the way they are doing it the program I am in.  The way it works is that the Professor doesn’t lecture us but “facilitates” the discussion.  My opinion he really isn’t doing much and I told him so and he got really defensive so I say he who protests to much!  The biggest thing I can’t get my head around is that I am paying $50,000 to have discussions with other students.  You know what I have learned in the time I have been in the program so far – almost all of my fellow students need to get out more.  There is only one other one who has a private sector job like me.  One works for an association, ½ work for the government and the other ½ for University of Maryland.  I don’t want to have discussions with these people.  I want the professor to lecture us on the topics in regards to the reading and then that is that.  I guess I am old…so be it so I think my days are numbered in the program.  I am a bummed out but better to find out know then in a year from now.

The second issue is a large pharmaceutical firm wants to hire me for a home based position.  I am tempted to take the job but in the end probably won’t.  The salary is a bit on the low side and would be a slight pay cut which in this market isn’t good.  They give you a company car so that is nice.  I need to talk to them some more to get the exact salary and package.  I don’t really want to work salary for firm again but the stability and being home nearly every night would be nice.

So is anyone reading my posts?  If so can you just respond saying hey so I know I’m not just writing for no one.

The point I am getting at is that I am at a cross roads.  I really don’t like the Doctor of Management program I am in.  It isn’t what I had expected and the worst part is I don’t know what I was expecting.  My cousin, who has her Doctorate and is a Dean of a Junior College in Northern California, told me that the new way to teach adults is the way they are doing it the program I am in.  The way it works is that the Professor doesn’t lecture us but “facilitates” the discussion.  My opinion he really isn’t doing much and I told him so and he got really defensive so I say he who protests to much!  The biggest thing I can’t get my head around is that I am paying $50,000 to have discussions with other students.  You know what I have learned in the time I have been in the program so far – almost all of my fellow students need to get out more.  There is only one other one who has a private sector job like me.  One works for an association, ½ work for the government and the other ½ for University of Maryland.  I don’t want to have discussions with these people.  I want the professor to lecture us on the topics in regards to the reading and then that is that.  I guess I am old…so be it so I think my days are numbered in the program.  I am a bummed out but better to find out know then in a year from now.

The second issue is a large pharmaceutical firm wants to hire me for a home based position.  I am tempted to take the job but in the end probably won’t.  The salary is a bit on the low side and would be a slight pay cut which in this market isn’t good.  They give you a company car so that is nice.  I need to talk to them some more to get the exact salary and package.  I don’t really want to work salary for firm again but the stability and being home nearly every night would be nice.

So is anyone reading my posts?  If so can you just respond saying hey so I know I’m not just writing for no one.

So I am half way through my first class in the Doctor of Management program and so far so good.  A lot harder then I had thought.  I have an annotated bibliography due in two weeks and then a 15 page paper two weeks after that and then the final in December.  I am looking forward to finishing this class.  It will feel good to finish.  I will say this I do find the whole thought of a Doctor of Management odd.  I mean we have professors and student, most who have never held a private sector job in their life, pontificating about management.  And a lot of the readings are nonsense.  It is easy to get up an preach about change management and evil of large firms and business ethics and on and on.  But at the end of the day it is about making money for the firm and shareholders so the firm is successful so it can hire more people who can become productive members of society who can pay taxes so we can live in a nice country.

I mean if I have to hear one more time about how bad Wal-Mart is I am going to freak out.  Look I am no Wal-Mart fan and we rarely shop there.  But I am a fan of their business model.  Look no one is making anyone work there.  I am sorry some people don’t have college degrees or any other skill and that is the only job they can get.  At least they have a job.  And as for the business’s they supposedly put out of business…I’ve got some advice for you – the world changes and adapt.  People will still come to your store if you provide them with something they want.  Example, there is a Home Depot 20 minutes from my house.  There are also a number of mom and pop hardware stores on the way.  I usually go to the mom and pop store because I get better service.  I get an old guy who knows what he is talking about not some 22 year old who is more interested in playing grab ass with the cute cashier.

As for work things are going well.  As usual I have a number of clients needing experienced people.  I had an earlier posting about Krieger.  I’d still like to talk to someone who is in the program to understand exactly what they are offering.  So if someone is reading this and is in the program email me.  Getting ready to land in Tampa so everyone have a great week and if someone knows how to fix my computer problem please email me…if you can fix it you will be compensated!

Great news! I was accepted in to Graduate School at University of Maryland. So this fall I start the Doctor of Management program. Three years from now Doctor Stagnaro. It is going to be a hard three years but will be worth it. Part of the program is a research project and fine is going to be the development of Bachelor in Science Clinical Research Associate program. With so many CRA jobs out there I think this program will be super successful. Had an interesting conversation with a friend who works at Georgetown and pitched my idea to her. She loved the ideas but stated that GU would never go for it because GU doesn’t “teach a job”. So I guess that Nursing, Medicine and Law, all degrees with teach people skills to have jobs in those field are much more important then clinical research. Well their loss. I am sure the parents of all those students coming out of GU with a BS and then working at Starbucks while moving back home are just thrilled to have shelled out $100,000 for that. My program would give them a marketable skill and a $60,000 a year job right out of the chute and they will be at $100,000 with in 5 years. Let’s see any other Bachelor’s program provide that.

As you know from looking at the website I have so many open clinical research jobs that I struggle to fill every day. So again if Google routed you here because you searched CRA jobs and you have at least 6 months CRA experience with a CRO or Pharma firm please email me your CV. As for everyone else, foreign MDs, lab techs, coordinators, to name a few, I really can’t help you. You can continue to email me your CV but they all end up in the trash.

Speaking of unqualified candidates, can some one who has attended the Krieger institute in Canada email me. I am very interested in this firm. I receive lots of CV from people who have taken this program. I really think they are being sold a lot of smoke and mirrors. Just because you have six months “experience” at Krieger that doesn’t translate into six months industry experience. I emailed them a few months ago and played the dumb new college grad and tried to find out what their story was. To their credit they didn’t make my any promised via email but they claim to have job placement on their website. Very curious what firms would take someone with this “experience”. None of my firms would. So if you are thinking about paying for this type of training I would suggest you don’t. If you are an American citizen and have a bachelor’s of Science just apply to any of the big CROs directly. Get six months of monitoring experience and then contact me and I will move your career up.

Enough for now. All my best to you all.

Doug

On a plane again flying from DC to Albany for my site in Bennington, VT. On the flight read an article that a Dad wrote his son regarding why are we here and it made me think…why am I on this damn plane. I don’t want to sound like a lame country western song but really for all of us monitors, married with kids and especially if we are 40 or older why do we do this grind?

Yes I know I am the primary bread winner and have a wife, two kids and a Saint Bernard who count on me but there has to be a better way. Don’t know what that way is right now but if you do feel free to let me know.

I have applied for a Doctorate program so think a good thought for me and hopefully I’ll get in, finish and then get a job as a college teacher. That would sure alleviate the 9:20 pm flight from DCA to ALB. And people will have to call me Doctor, how cool is that.

Does anyone think the Presidential election is going to mean anything for the Pharmaceutical industry? Talk about every extreme, White Black, Young Old, Highly experienced lightly experienced. But the question always is does it matter. Does the President of the United States really have power. Or are we going to be stuck with each lunatic fringe of our parties screaming about individual things that really doesn’t address high gas prices (speculators or India/China or a vast conspiracy), the crazy war in Iraq (Fanatical Islam or again a vast conspiracy), health care prices (my firm pays $800 a month for two employees one with children and one without and the insurance really isn’t’ that great) and the mortgage crisis (the MBA in me says kick them out of their houses because they should have never been in them in the first place but the Catholic in me thinks you can’t kick 2 million people out of their homes…again a gigantic conspiracy to make some people wealth or just American greed that got out hand?).

Back to Pharmaceuticals, does anyone think that if Barack Obama is elected President that the Pharma industry is going to change? I mean right now we are in a bear market, okay the Dow is down 19.9% not 20% but please, and as usual I have clinical research jobs galore. Maybe if the economy stays this way the jobs will be less but it has been my experience that in an up market it is fat city and in a down market Pharmaceutical’s is a defensive play. There will always be a need for our industry. I think the one thing that could radically change clinical research is individual tailoring of drugs. So I go see my GP for my hypertension (damn I’ve got to loss those 20 extra pounds I’ve gained sitting my ass on USAir flights and eating Biscoff cookies like I am right now) and she draws a bit of blood and then make up a drug cocktail for me right there. Sounds like Star Trek but people a lot smarter then me are working on that. Then the question is how do we “test” a drug. Wow it will be a hell of a ride.

Last thought before the captain makes we turn off the lap top. I married a friend of mine last weekend. I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t either of their first marriages so instead of having someone they don’t know they asked me. I said yes, got ordained (not as hard as I had thought…maybe I’ll rant about that some more later) and did the service. I was nervous and thought I could have done better but for my first one not too bad. They really seem to be in love so all my thoughts and prayers to them!

Well one really final thought and this has nothing to do with pharmaceuticals. I have XM and love it and have been listening to Rabbi Shmuley’s radio show. I am hooked. I think he has great wisdom and I really like how he ends each call with God Bless You. It makes me feel good so to everyone who is reading this I hope this makes you feel good too…God Bless You.

My little firm is moving along, I have just got a contract with a small pharma firm in New York and am managing a 17 center trial. It is a great little contract and I am able to hire a couple of monitors to help me with this project. If you are a monitor in Tampa and are looking for a little part time work, email me your resume.

As for me life is good. Had a rough few weeks as one of my son’s got the flu which meant that everyone got the flu. Fortunately I wasn’t scheduled to travel for a few days so I was able to recover. So much for the flu vaccine…I never had great confidence in it anyway.

Okay TTFN (bonus points if you get the reference).

Doug

I thought that I would have a blog to talk about/vent the craziness of the clinical research business. So it is Thanksgiving week and already they are talking about a crazy, more crazy then normal, travel week. Thank God I am local this week. I am sure one of the many things I will be blogging about is travel. As all CRAs know it is a part of our business but it has been getting worse and worse over the years. I have been traveling weekly since 1993 so you can imagine the changes I have seen. I always had a dream of real remote monitoring…another time.

So how about a bit about me. I am the founder and President of Colonial Research Associates, Inc. I like to say we are a small boutique CRO (Clinical Research Organization) that provides cost effective solutions to small pharmaceutical firms. Check out the web site for more info.

I have also started to do some recruiting, or headhunting like it used to be called. I will have lots to say about that.

So on that note Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to having you all read about my life running a small CRO and all the other stuff that and life brings with.