Week 6: Campus Culture
The NIH is huge. The building I’ve circled in this photo is the Clinical Center on the Bethesda campus; that’s where I work. Remember from previous posts? Over 8,000 research employees, including students, work in this building alone. Look at how big the rests of campus is! PLUS, there are campuses across five states. Can you even fathom how big of an organization NIH is overall?
That’s something that I think is really great about working for NIH. I work on a team with five other workers, and our environment is unique (we’re the neuropsych team). We are a part of a larger TBI team, which works in a slightly different way, the environment is different. We are one of the research teams in the RMD, which in itself has a unique culture compared to the rest of the NIHCC, as do each of the individual research teams. No matter what type of work environment is most comfortable, no matter what kind of research you want to work on, chances are, there’s a place for you here.
It’s hard to define the culture at NIH. When I walk to the CC from the metro in the morning, I’m surrounded by other college students, some who are wearing jeans and look like they rolled straight out of bed onto the metro, others in business professional suits. We share a metro stop with Walter Reed Military Medical center, so members of the Navy, Army, Air Force, and so forth also pour out of the train. As you walk to your center you must avoid other pedestrians, bicycles, buses and cars, each heading to a unique environment in their own center. So, it’s hard to define the culture. If I had to put a label on it, I’d call it academic.
I didn’t realize when I applied and began how much of the focus of my summer would be furthering my education. I thought they took students for eight weeks to squeeze as much man power out of them as possible, but I am continually encouraged to leave my desk and go to lectures. We have a team meeting weekly that we’re dedicating to exploring personality theory so we can understand our patients better. I might even get the opportunity to observe brain surgery before the end of my time up here!
Overall, the culture in my office is fun and laid back. Yeah, we get a lot of work done, but we spend at least 10 minutes everyday in sidesplitting laughter, at something ridiculous one of the four of us has done or said in our little cubical corner. Today, it took five of us to make a pot of coffee, and in the end we forgot to put the lid on the pot. I love this environment, and I’m sad to think of it ending in three weeks. I’ve learned a ton, and I’ve met some really great people. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to come back and work here again.
Highlight of the week: Yesterday I attended one of the largest Graduate and Professional School Fairs in the country, and got some great information on a lot of PhD programs. Oh, and I DEFINITELY decided I don’t want to do an MD/PhD right now, which is good I guess.
Until next time!
