1) Political Science admissions - One of the main reasons I chose Michigan was the possibility of setting up a joint degree between Health Policy and Political Science. Of course, until I was formally accepted by Poli Sci, this was just a possibility. All indications were that my application would be successful, but it was still daunting to gear up for another admissions process after working full speed for nearly a year on my original doctoral applications. I had the advantage of already being here and taking classes in the department I was applying to. Of course, this also meant that I was under a little more pressure to do well in those classes. Thankfully I got A's on both poli sci classes I took last fall and was doing well in the two classes I was taking when the admissions decisions were made (I ended up with an A- and A+). The good news finally came in February that I was accepted. Now I am in the fantastic position of receiving a degree (1 joint degree, not two separate degrees) from two departments that are near the very top in their fields. This combination dramatically opens up my possibilities after graduation, not only making more competitive for the jobs I apply to do, but opening up new markets I can compete in. In addition to the 30 or so public health schools in the US, I can now look for jobs in the countless number of political science departments or schools of public policy. Perhaps most importantly, I think this combination will greatly strengthen my research, and allow me to explore the questions of most interest to me in a robust way.
2) Jan/Feb applications - One of the nice parts of my current fellowship is the $1,500 I receive for professional development. Knowing I could use this money to travel to conferences I otherwise couldn't afford pushed me to explore options I wouldn't normally consider. One of the most intriguing meetings was the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) graduate student conference in Dublin, Ireland at the end of August. Of course, going to these types of conferences is a lot more productive and a lot more fun if you have something to present, so I suggested to my advisor that I was thinking of submitting an abstract. I honestly wasn't sure how serious I was at that time, but his encouragement and support pushed me over the top.
The next six weeks were a busy scramble to figure out what I was going to focus on for the abstract I submitted to ECPR and how I was going to carry out this research - all while staying on top of 4 doctoral level classes and maintaining balance between family (we spent February house-hunting, Sarah started a new online degree through UMass Amherst and we have a daughter who turned 2 in April), personal (I had my first colonoscopy and I signed up to run the Detroit marathon in Oct 2010), and spiritual/community pursuits (I volunteer in the nursery for 18 month to 3 year old kids on Sundays and am co-den leader of the wolf den in my congregation's cub scout pack).
My adviser in Public Health, Scott Greer, offered to let me write the chapter on France for a book he's putting together on the regional politics of health care in Europe. This generous offer has given my project more focus and a clear end goal. All of a sudden, Sarah and I were planning our second summer in a row and I was looking for funding sources to make this a reality. By February 15th I had submitted the ECPR abstract, as well as a grant for Dr. Greer to receive $6,000 to hire me for summer research, and a $5,000 research grant of my own through the International Institute here at UMich. Anyone who has put together research grants knows how much work they require, even if the final application isn't that many pages long. Developing my budget meant planning out where I wanted to go, how long I wanted to spend there, and what I wanted to do once there - not an easy task given how young the project still was. My ECPR abstract was accepted (read it here) and Dr. Greer and I did receive the $6k, though I did not receive the $5k grant. Strange as it may sound, losing this money was actually very good for my project as it forced me to focus my research and decide what would be most important to accomplish this summer. With too much money at my disposal I may have tried to do too much without doing any of it particularly well.
3) York University EU Center of Excellence Graduate Conference - In January I received an email inviting me to submit an abstract for the graduate conference at York University's new center of excellence in Toronto taking place in mid-March. My research project seemed much too new and under-developed in January for me to be ready to have anything to present by March 11th. However, by mid-February the prospect of an expenses-paid mostly risk-free conference seemed too intriguing to pass up. I submitted an abstract around February 21st for the conference taking place 3 weeks later, being very up front that this paper would mostly be a literature review and opportunity for me to become familiar with the history and theory of health care and regional politics in France. I developed a plan in which I essentially read a book a day and wrote a 20+ page paper over the course of a couple really long days - going to bed between 3 and 5:30am. Did I mention that much of this occurred over what was supposed to be my "spring break?" It's funny that the question of why I was doing this to myself didn't cross my mind more often; I was discovering my genuine interest and enthusiasm for this research.
I was so glad Sarah decided to come with Olivia, even though it turned out to conflict somewhat with a paper she had due later that week (of course she got an A!). I didn't get much time to explore Toronto with them but still had a blast. The conference itself was a lot of fun and I think my first presentation at an academic conference was a success. I was a bit nervous to hear the discussant's reaction, particularly about the theory section of my paper which I wished had been stronger. It turns out she thought that was one of the stronger sections of what she said was a very well done, if clearly quickly written paper. Here's the conference website.
4) Funding - Of course I didn't have time to celebrate upon returning home from Toronto, as I had two very different applications due within the week. The first was a $1,500 research grant from the University of Michigan Center for European Studies (which I received), while the second was to participate in a research seminar that would have provided me with over $4,000 in travel money in the summer of 2011 (which I didn't receive).
Anyone who has been through a doctoral programs knows that one of the perpetual dramas is where funding will come from to cover tuition, fees, and my stipend. No system for awarding such funding is perfect, so there's no point in going into detail about the process here except to say that it does produce some anxiety to not know how much money you'll have to support your family in the coming school year and where it will come from. I am extremely appreciative of everyone in both departments who helped put together a funding package I'm very excited about. I'll be GSIing (graduate student instructor, aka teaching assistant) a masters level health policy course in the fall and will receive a fellowship from Political Science in the winter that will allow me not have to work.
5) Infectious Disease - On top of everything I had going on, I had the opportunity to work with Scott Greer and Heather Elliot (an extremely talented masters student here at Michigan) on infectious disease policy in Europe for a conference Dr. Greer put together through the Center for European Studies. Although this isn't an area of focus for me, it was a great learning experience and a lot of fun to be a part of this project. The conference was rather small, allowing for a high degree of interaction, sharing of ideas, and networking. I think our presentation went pretty well. Check out the conference website here (including audio).
6) School - Did I mention that I was also taking four classes this semester? During the insane period between Feb 1st and March 30th, I not only submitted 4 research grants, 3 conference abstracts (I backed out of the third one because of funding issues and time conflicts), and presented at a research conference. I also wrote five 4-page papers, three 10-page papers, and took two exams. The miracle is that I actually did pretty well in most of my classes. Of course, grades become less important at this stage of academia, with the quality of my research taking precedent, but grades are still important marker of where I stand and I was relieved that my GPA essentially stayed steady this semester.
7) Prelim exam - Last weekend I took my first year prelim exam in health policy and services. It was a somewhat daunting experience, particularly after dealing with some burnout on the heels of an extremely busy semester. The content was not particularly difficult to understand, it's just that there is a lot to master. The exam itself was a marathon, with a 5.5 hour in person session in which I had to write essays in response to 3 seperate questions about the current health reform. After that portion was handed in on Friday afternoon, I was given a new question to take home and write a 3,750 word paper due Monday morning. Sarah and Olivia went to Niagara Falls and Toronto with some friends, so I had the place all to myself. Although I don't think they should be rushing my responses to capital hill to solve any policy debates, I do think it went well and that I passed. With this hurdle out of the way, the only hoops standing between me and candidacy (the phase of your doctorate when you focus solely on your dissertation) are my class work (probably 2 more years), a poli sci prelim, and a year long project in health policy.
8) This summer - I know this has been a long post, so I won't say too much yet about this upcoming summer, except that I couldn't be more excited. The most immediate thing on the horizon is the fact that we're moving. We decided not to buy a place but found what we think will be an even better deal for us.
The fact that the cheapest flights we found were out of Montreal means we will have a couple days with Sarah's sisters in eastern Canada before and after the trans-Atlantic flights. We leave for Paris on June 15th and will be spending a chunk of time doing research in Paris, Rennes (Bretagne/Brittany), and Toulouse (Midi-Pyrenees), as well as visiting Sarah's family in Nice. We may even swing down to Barcelona for a weekend! I'm very excited that we're going to be in France for almost all of the world cup. Hopefully the French team can get their act together in time to put together a nice long run (though I'm not holding my breath). On top of all this I get to see Phish twice on their upcoming summer tour! Sarah and I are going to the show outside of Cleveland on June 12th and I've got pretty good seats for the first night of Deer Creek outside of Indianapolis in August.
PHISH SUMMER TOUR 2010 from Phish on Vimeo.
