• Question: What is your favorite thing about your job?

    Asked by anon-225586 to Simon, Selen, Paul, Nawapat, Natalie, Katy on 10 Nov 2019. This question was also asked by anon-225436, anon-225449, anon-224956.
    • Photo: Paul Laurance-Young

      Paul Laurance-Young answered on 10 Nov 2019:

      This is a two part answer for me: I love knowing that the work I have carried out today in the hospital setting means that someone out there can go to bed with a diagnosis. You should never underestimate how stressful it is for a patient not knowing what is wrong with them! It’s a small part in a big machine but so absolutely worth every minute.
      The second one is what I call the teaching lightbulb moment: that moment where a student has come with a question or not understood something, I have explained it (sometimes multiple different ways) and then… *ping*… their face lights up and “Oohhh I get it!” Sometimes the student has spent a long time not understanding a subject and been too afraid to come forward for help for fear of looking stupid, when all it needed was a little correction to a minor point, then everything slips into place for them.

    • Photo: Natalie Fowler

      Natalie Fowler answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      This is a hard question! I love my job because I get to help and care for the sickest patients in the hospital. I think my favourite thing is when a patient gets to go home after they have got better, seeing them and their relatives happy to be going home together gives me a real warm fuzzy feeling.

    • Photo: Katy Bruce

      Katy Bruce answered on 14 Nov 2019:

      My favourite thing about research is the buzz I get from discovering something new, no matter how small, and the knowledge that it may help forensic scientists solve more crimes in the future (and I realise that’s two things – sorry!).

      My favourite thing about postgraduate teaching is being able to help a student understand a concept or experiment and watch the expression on their face change from despair to enlightenment. This is also particularly satisfying if their lecturer had previously tried to explain it! 😉

      My favourite thing about outreach is being able to inspire and enthuse the next generation of forensic scientists and hearing school children say things after my workshop like “cor that was wicked, that’s what I want to do when I grow up!”.

      My favourite thing about working at the hospital is being able to make a frightened, injured or tearful patient feel better at reception, just by offering a tissue, a smile and some encouraging sympathetic words.

    • Photo: Selen Ozbek

      Selen Ozbek answered on 14 Nov 2019:

      I do love being a psychologist at all costs! My favourite part is that I get to make a difference by touching people’s lives and learn new things at the same time.

    • Photo: Nawapat Kaweeyanun

      Nawapat Kaweeyanun answered on 14 Nov 2019:

      The best thing about research is that every day you are making decisions no one have ever made before. Right now I am making a program to solve a question with no current answers, and others are waiting for my answers as it will help further their own research. It’s very rewarding to know that you are needed for your work, and that every day you make a lasting contribution to our knowledge of the universe.

Comments

  • Photo: anon-224967

    anon-224967 commented on :

    I personally love Paul’s answer. It is so detailed and goes into so much depth about the happiness he receives from helping others get better. To me, it is really obvious that he put an immense amount of effort into what he was going to write and that he is truly genuine. The fact that his answer is so long just goes to show how great he is especially in comparison to the little amount that the other scientist wrote. Thank you for that.