Recently I've engaged in some interesting parenting related conversations with my friends and after each one, I sat wondering when is it appropriate to go against the advice of a trained professional? It seems like we have more access than we have ever had to information on every imaginable topic- mostly due to the ever increasing number of blogs and webpages. I'm not sure that we have more or better access to credible sources on many topics, though. To be transparent, I define credible as peer reviewed journal articles and publications that follow professional journalism standards. Either way, it seems that it is easy to back up just about any possible opinion with something found on the internet.
A few weeks ago, I posted about the anti vaccine movement and how I had yet to see a peer reviewed journal article that supported non vaccination. Today, I read a very interesting blog post about the natural birth movement and how there is a new reality show showing women giving birth completely unassisted. The article went on to point out that being able to have a natural birth is a privilege and we are forgetting that before the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, a very low percentage of women had paid prenatal and maternity care. The author went on to suggest that our focus should be on lowering our maternal and fetal mortality rate vs. pushing for births that are medically unassisted.
It struck me today that the underlying theme with both discussions was that for a segment of our population, being educated on a subject and self advocacy have reached a new level where there is little regard for the professional training and expertise of the care provider(s). I'm all for both, however, I've always felt that there was a limitation to my level of expertise on anything medically related seeing that my degrees are not in a medical field. I certainly feel that I can ask intelligent questions and seek out other opinions on any topic, but at some point, I will follow the thinking of my care provider or mechanic or whomever the expert happens to be in that case. So I arrived at the question- why is it that some people feel that they can completely ignore the experts? And to take the question a step further- why is it that not only do some people completely ignore the experts, but they also go on a crusade to try to "educate" those around them with opinion based information that can't be backed up by a credible source?
I'm intrigued by this way of thinking as it is potentially harmful- both to the person and their family, but also to our communities, in some cases. Is this a form of free speech and individualism gone too far? Or is it driven by something else? I certainly will take a moment of pause and try to discern where the line should be for me. I certainly implore others to do the same as we can't all be experts on everything and we aren't always right. I feel like we've lost the art of thoughtful and respectful debate and inquiry. It seems like it is time to bring both back!
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
The Farce of "Working Moms"
I'm so tired of seeing article after article and blog after blog about "working moms" only to read the article and find out that they are talking about moms who work, not moms with professional careers. Is there a difference- YES! I have a career and I happen to be a mom. I'm so tired of seeing lists of the best jobs for working moms only to find that they are almost laughable (here was a good one- http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/03/new-mother-work-time-money-forbes-woman-leadership-career_slide.html ). Granted I should not be surprised by this list seeing that it was in Forbes, but it's infuriating!
I've also noticed that there are a number of working mom blogs, which is wonderful. But again, they never seem to speak to career advancement, career change, etc. It's like we forget that once a woman has a child that she might want to advance her career and just might be looking for insight into how other working moms handled the uncertainty of the transition. The part that keeps getting me is that there are books and articles out there, but they all are fluff. Where is the real, meaty content? Or is that asking too much?
I'm looking for a new job and I'd love to hear from the other working moms who are like me- have a career and aren't looking for a "mom" job. I'm also in somewhat of a career transition so my search is a little more complicated in some ways. Either way, I know that I'm not the only mom who feels this way, but I often feel like I'm the only mom in this situation. I ultimately will take a job that isn't a perfect fit for our family if it means that it has a good opportunity for career growth and advancement. I'll be ecstatic if it also includes some work life balance perks- flex scheduling, work from home, ample PTO, etc.
I've also noticed that there are a number of working mom blogs, which is wonderful. But again, they never seem to speak to career advancement, career change, etc. It's like we forget that once a woman has a child that she might want to advance her career and just might be looking for insight into how other working moms handled the uncertainty of the transition. The part that keeps getting me is that there are books and articles out there, but they all are fluff. Where is the real, meaty content? Or is that asking too much?
I'm looking for a new job and I'd love to hear from the other working moms who are like me- have a career and aren't looking for a "mom" job. I'm also in somewhat of a career transition so my search is a little more complicated in some ways. Either way, I know that I'm not the only mom who feels this way, but I often feel like I'm the only mom in this situation. I ultimately will take a job that isn't a perfect fit for our family if it means that it has a good opportunity for career growth and advancement. I'll be ecstatic if it also includes some work life balance perks- flex scheduling, work from home, ample PTO, etc.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Hey You, Non-Vax Parent, Listen Up!
First disclaimer- this is purely my opinion on vaccinations. Second disclaimer- this is purely my opinion as a parent.
Okay- now that we've gotten that out of the way, I've noticed that the vaccine discussion has been a hot one recently. I tend to frequent parenting groups on facebook and other parent related resources and this is a somewhat common topic. I think that the discussion has been fueled recently by this article: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/dear-parents-you-are-being-lied The author, Dr Jennifer Raff, does a great job of giving all of the peer reviewed research reasons for vaccinating. I will be very upfront- I am in support of vaccinations and felt that she did a very good job of providing research based evidence of why vaccinating is important. Further, I loved that she raised two other points- first, the fact that the studies she cites have been replicated and yielded the same or similar results. And second, the concept of herd immunity, which I'll circle back to in a moment.
I have a fair number of friends and former students who hold advanced degrees in the medical field (most are MDs, several are PharmDs, some RNs and other roles- PT, etc). I take extra notice when they weigh in on this topic as they have advanced training in several arenas- human physiology and science (mainly biology, chemistry, and biochem). This is not to say that other folks don't have an understanding of these topics, but in my opinion this has more weight than I googled the topic and Dr Google told me x, y, or z. I am the type to research and weigh my/our options on different topics and over and over again, I've found there is very little, if any, scientific evidence supporting no vaccinations. The few studies that do exist have been disproven or have not had a credible follow up study that replicated the results. I'm not saying that trained medical professionals are not the only source of information on this topic, but when someone who has an ADVANCED degree in this area and is an expert in public health or immunology weighs in, I listen. I am an expert in my field and I feel strongly that there are limits to my area of expertise and I owe it to other professionals to listen and trust their professional opinion and information. I know a chiropractor or two and find that they often are the most vocal against vaccinations. Thankfully, the one that I would call a friend has mostly been vocal against the flu vax, which has had studies show support for both sides- vax and no vax.
From a personal standpoint, we are in a very interesting situation. Our son is 2 1/2 and is up to date on all vaccinations for his age. I considered doing a delayed vax schedule and ultimately decided that it wasn't the best option for our family for several reasons. Either way, he would be fully vaccinated at this point because the delayed schedule typically puts more vaccinations between age 1-2 and has the child fully vaccinated by or shortly after the second birthday. We send our son to a wonderful in-home daycare and I recently found out that her newest child is not vaccinated. In many ways this isn't a problem for us- our son is up to date on his vaccinations and would be more of a threat to the non vaccinated kid than he is to our son. Where this all gets a little more sticky is that even with a vaccine, there is no guarantee that someone can't contract a particular illness. The vaccine helps build immunity to the illness and will lessen the severity, but in some cases won't completely prevent the disease from happening. Again, this is a relatively rare occurrence and probably won't be an issue. We are expecting a second child and putting a newborn into an environment with a kid who is not vaccinated is concerning to say the least. I know at least one family whose kids were exposed to something that would have been covered by vaccinations due to a non vaxed kid at their daycare. In their case, their twins were preemies so they were on a slightly delayed vax schedule and had not yet received the vax that would have protected them from this disease. Thankfully, they did not get sick, but the fact that they were exposed because of someone else's selfishness and total lack of regard for their community is by far the most frustrating thing for me as a parent.
I'm all for not vaccinating your kids, but then I also expect that you plan to stay home with your children. homeschool them, and refrain from vising public places. Your utter lack of regard for your community and the common good (i.e. herd immunity!) makes me and most parents that I know very upset. I've actually had a non vax parent tell me "vaccines are good for the community and bad for the person". This was several years ago so I nodded and smiled to the comment. I've since become a parent and researched the topic in depth and have learned that vaccines are good for the person AND the community. Besides, there are so many things that we can't prevent or control as parents, why would you choose not to prevent a set of very serious, often deadly, illnesses? This makes absolutely no sense to me!
I'll end with a final thought/challenge- please provide me with peer reviewed journal articles that show that vaccinations are not effective (and I'm not talking about the journal article linking vaccinations to autism that has since been debunked- multiple times- that ship has sailed). I'm all for being educated further on this topic and would love to read more supporting no vaccinations. I have not been able to locate REAL research that actually proves that vaccinations are not effective or good. REAL research is from a peer reviewed source and has been replicated. Bloggers are not reputable sources (I love bloggers, but let's face it- they often aren't experts on the topic- just like I'm not in this case!).
Okay- now that we've gotten that out of the way, I've noticed that the vaccine discussion has been a hot one recently. I tend to frequent parenting groups on facebook and other parent related resources and this is a somewhat common topic. I think that the discussion has been fueled recently by this article: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/dear-parents-you-are-being-lied The author, Dr Jennifer Raff, does a great job of giving all of the peer reviewed research reasons for vaccinating. I will be very upfront- I am in support of vaccinations and felt that she did a very good job of providing research based evidence of why vaccinating is important. Further, I loved that she raised two other points- first, the fact that the studies she cites have been replicated and yielded the same or similar results. And second, the concept of herd immunity, which I'll circle back to in a moment.
I have a fair number of friends and former students who hold advanced degrees in the medical field (most are MDs, several are PharmDs, some RNs and other roles- PT, etc). I take extra notice when they weigh in on this topic as they have advanced training in several arenas- human physiology and science (mainly biology, chemistry, and biochem). This is not to say that other folks don't have an understanding of these topics, but in my opinion this has more weight than I googled the topic and Dr Google told me x, y, or z. I am the type to research and weigh my/our options on different topics and over and over again, I've found there is very little, if any, scientific evidence supporting no vaccinations. The few studies that do exist have been disproven or have not had a credible follow up study that replicated the results. I'm not saying that trained medical professionals are not the only source of information on this topic, but when someone who has an ADVANCED degree in this area and is an expert in public health or immunology weighs in, I listen. I am an expert in my field and I feel strongly that there are limits to my area of expertise and I owe it to other professionals to listen and trust their professional opinion and information. I know a chiropractor or two and find that they often are the most vocal against vaccinations. Thankfully, the one that I would call a friend has mostly been vocal against the flu vax, which has had studies show support for both sides- vax and no vax.
From a personal standpoint, we are in a very interesting situation. Our son is 2 1/2 and is up to date on all vaccinations for his age. I considered doing a delayed vax schedule and ultimately decided that it wasn't the best option for our family for several reasons. Either way, he would be fully vaccinated at this point because the delayed schedule typically puts more vaccinations between age 1-2 and has the child fully vaccinated by or shortly after the second birthday. We send our son to a wonderful in-home daycare and I recently found out that her newest child is not vaccinated. In many ways this isn't a problem for us- our son is up to date on his vaccinations and would be more of a threat to the non vaccinated kid than he is to our son. Where this all gets a little more sticky is that even with a vaccine, there is no guarantee that someone can't contract a particular illness. The vaccine helps build immunity to the illness and will lessen the severity, but in some cases won't completely prevent the disease from happening. Again, this is a relatively rare occurrence and probably won't be an issue. We are expecting a second child and putting a newborn into an environment with a kid who is not vaccinated is concerning to say the least. I know at least one family whose kids were exposed to something that would have been covered by vaccinations due to a non vaxed kid at their daycare. In their case, their twins were preemies so they were on a slightly delayed vax schedule and had not yet received the vax that would have protected them from this disease. Thankfully, they did not get sick, but the fact that they were exposed because of someone else's selfishness and total lack of regard for their community is by far the most frustrating thing for me as a parent.
I'm all for not vaccinating your kids, but then I also expect that you plan to stay home with your children. homeschool them, and refrain from vising public places. Your utter lack of regard for your community and the common good (i.e. herd immunity!) makes me and most parents that I know very upset. I've actually had a non vax parent tell me "vaccines are good for the community and bad for the person". This was several years ago so I nodded and smiled to the comment. I've since become a parent and researched the topic in depth and have learned that vaccines are good for the person AND the community. Besides, there are so many things that we can't prevent or control as parents, why would you choose not to prevent a set of very serious, often deadly, illnesses? This makes absolutely no sense to me!
I'll end with a final thought/challenge- please provide me with peer reviewed journal articles that show that vaccinations are not effective (and I'm not talking about the journal article linking vaccinations to autism that has since been debunked- multiple times- that ship has sailed). I'm all for being educated further on this topic and would love to read more supporting no vaccinations. I have not been able to locate REAL research that actually proves that vaccinations are not effective or good. REAL research is from a peer reviewed source and has been replicated. Bloggers are not reputable sources (I love bloggers, but let's face it- they often aren't experts on the topic- just like I'm not in this case!).
Mid Career Job Searching- UGH!
I've spent the last year or so in job limbo. A year ago, I jumped at an opportunity take a position that had the potential to be a really great career move. The position, rather the organization, didn't really pan out as I had hoped. It was a good move career-wise in many ways, but has left me in limbo many times over the year. I was very fortunate to have a recruiter contact me late last year about a short term contract so I was able to work very full time for several months this spring. That contract is winding down and I've been embroiled in a pretty intense job search for the past month. I've had some good interest, but nothing has panned out so far. I know something will work out, but I grow increasingly impatient with each passing day.
I have recruiters from several (probably 5 or 6) agencies who are actively looking for something for me- all say the same thing- you have an impressive resume and I'd love to help. The downside- I have an impressive resume in a very specific industry so I'm hard to place outside of that industry and I'm also hard to place within that industry because my industry is driven by functional areas and fails to see how the skill set is the same across functions! Frustrating to say the least. I also am in that weird place where I'm overqualified on paper for many jobs that I'd happily take (and probably would open doors for me to advance within an organization). I'm under-qualified for the jobs that I appear to be qualified for although the "missing" items often are pieces that I could quickly learn and really are helpful things to know before starting in a particular position, but aren't skills and frankly fall into the same category as items that are organization specific, which I would need to learn anyway.
My take away from this search is that even though I live in an area with a relatively low unemployment rate and have the educational background and experience for many of the jobs out there, I'm not able to get a job. It's so weird to me that our market has become this way and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be stuck not working or being underemployed simple due to the fact that I haven't worked for the right organizations at the right time. Couple this with the fact that I desperately wanted to leave my old job because it was a horrible fit for a working mom. I'm feeling like if I find a job, I'll end out settling for another job that will be a horrible fit personally simply because I really want a job.
So I'm left wondering, who are they hiring? And what could I have done differently along the way to not be in this situation? In the mean time, I'll overhaul my resume again, keep applying, and hope for the best!
I have recruiters from several (probably 5 or 6) agencies who are actively looking for something for me- all say the same thing- you have an impressive resume and I'd love to help. The downside- I have an impressive resume in a very specific industry so I'm hard to place outside of that industry and I'm also hard to place within that industry because my industry is driven by functional areas and fails to see how the skill set is the same across functions! Frustrating to say the least. I also am in that weird place where I'm overqualified on paper for many jobs that I'd happily take (and probably would open doors for me to advance within an organization). I'm under-qualified for the jobs that I appear to be qualified for although the "missing" items often are pieces that I could quickly learn and really are helpful things to know before starting in a particular position, but aren't skills and frankly fall into the same category as items that are organization specific, which I would need to learn anyway.
My take away from this search is that even though I live in an area with a relatively low unemployment rate and have the educational background and experience for many of the jobs out there, I'm not able to get a job. It's so weird to me that our market has become this way and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be stuck not working or being underemployed simple due to the fact that I haven't worked for the right organizations at the right time. Couple this with the fact that I desperately wanted to leave my old job because it was a horrible fit for a working mom. I'm feeling like if I find a job, I'll end out settling for another job that will be a horrible fit personally simply because I really want a job.
So I'm left wondering, who are they hiring? And what could I have done differently along the way to not be in this situation? In the mean time, I'll overhaul my resume again, keep applying, and hope for the best!
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