Research Manager Gets to Interview Patients Directly

Name: Blake Martin (she/her)

PhD: Sociology, North Carolina State University, 2021

What was your main area of research?

My dissertation examined how kids aged 8-12 define what it means to be healthy. In the context of being raised during the "obesity epidemic", I asked how kids talk about and make sense of health, body image, and stigma.

It was a qualitative study including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and photovoice methods.

What is your current job?

I am a Research Manager for Flince Research + Design, and I work remotely (I'm based in Raleigh, North Carolina).

I do "end-to-end" qualitative market research for pharma and healthcare clients. This includes developing research materials (screeners, discussion guides), conducting interviews, and writing reports. It's a lot of project management for research projects as well as executing the actual research (as part of a team of 2-3, typically). I've also developed and co-hosted strategic workshops for clients.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I love that I get the opportunity to interview/speak with patients.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

Conducting my own qualitative research, i.e., in-depth interviews with a variety of people.

Also, learning how to read and absorb new information/subject matter quickly. I had no experience in medicine/pharma, but after 9 months in my current role I can tell you the current standard of care and new treatment developments in metastatic ovarian cancer.

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

Qualitative methods courses, experience as a research assistant on a large, multi-year qualitative project. But really just the general, social science graduate school experience is a good foundation for what I do.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

LinkedIn

PhD candidate ➡️ behaviorist at healthcare marketing agency ➡️ senior consultant at healthcare market research consultancy ➡️ research manager (same level, different title) at current healthcare market research consultancy

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Moderate interviews as much as possible and work on learning how to go from an academic writing style to a consulting writing style (it's much more concise and to the point). Learning basic powerpoint design skills is also very helpful.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I was relatively location-bound (south east US) and now I'm absolutely location bound (I own a home in Raleigh, NC).

I also felt that I worked too hard for too long to make such a low salary as a tenure track professor. Seeing where my peers ended up working in academia, and feeling that they had better CVs than I did, I wasn't confident I could land a job paying more than $60k a year.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Network, network, network! Connect with graduates of your program who have pursued non-academic careers, as well as graduates generally with similar academic backgrounds.

You probably know less than half of the potential career options that are available to you.

Are there any components of your identity you would like to share, including how they have impacted your journey?

I had my first child in grad school when I was all but dissertation (ABD) and shortly after I finished collecting my dissertation data in December 2019. Surprisingly, I felt I had more understanding and better accommodations as a working mom in grad school than I did in some of my workplaces after I graduated. It's one thing to learn about the motherhood penalty in grad school and a whole other thing to experience it directly. Of course, as a cisgender white woman, this speaks to holding a large amount of privilege in the first place.