(Almost) Through my 90 Days
Welcome back to my blog! It once again has been a while since I’ve updated, but I am trying to stay consistent with it. In the past few months, I have gotten into rock climbing, started a podcast, and also ran a half marathon. I also went to three concerts since I have started work…
Needless to say, I have been enjoying the work-life balance during my 90-day “in-office” period. Every day, I pull out of my apartment parking lot at 7:45 am. And every work day, I slide into my wheely chair in my office around 8 am, and begin another day by checking emails and Microsoft Teams. Somehow, the constant presence of going to work has been calming; I wanted to use today’s blog to highlight why that has been important to me, and how I have curated my own sense of stability through changes.
When I first started my role as a biostatistician in October, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about my 90 day period, which I will now refer to as “probation” (that’s not quite accurate, as HR had told me multiple times after I tried fixing my self service card, but that’s beside the point). I knew that probation was a federal requirement to earn my hybrid working schedule, and I was okay with it knowing that it was temporary. However, in retrospect, I realize that I will truly miss some aspects of being full in-office and going through probation. I have enjoyed getting to know the office layout, my coworkers, and settling into my office; without the probation, I don’t think I would have had the courage to haul in photos, plushies, and diplomas to my office to feel comfortable in the space I was given. I even get an office that has a solid wood door that can lock!
As I look back at probation, something that stands out to me is the sheer amount of paperwork. I filed the expected paperwork, like benefits, payroll, and telework forms, but I also had to complete forms to request access to more than three federal databases, login credentials to training accounts, and SQL training bootcamp. The paperwork has at times lost me, like setting up a HSA account, allocation retirement funds, and deciding which days I wanted to be in office, but having my coworker and fellow NCSU IAA alumni by my side has been comforting through the chaos. Looking back at my probation, speed walking down the hall to discuss everything from HR tickets, my living situation, and everything in between with my coworker will always stand out to me. I appreciate his presence in the office and subtle humor amidst the chaos.
Despite the paperwork and speed walking, one of my favorite aspects of my role at the Durham VA is the collaboration and open communication between team members. I have found of the biostatisticians welcoming, kind, and happy to answer data questions. We also work collaboratively on research projects, always paired in at least two. This allows us to have the most conducive data results and methodologies. As I onboard and begin to understand the federal databases, it is extremely helpful to have a co-statistician to defer questions to or to be a resource for specific study-related questions. I have been onboarded to three research projects so far and will be joining my fourth soon. The teams are structured in a way that revolves around federal grants, and there is typically a PI lead, two statisticians, and a research assistant on the project. Some projects, depending on funding, have project coordinators as well, and the team can double in size if spanning across multiple federal VA centers or Center of Innovations (COINs).
Something that I really enjoy at work is the diversity of problems I am solving. I probably can’t speak too much on the health outcomes of the projects I am on, but I can disclose that I am looking at PrEP medication intake in transgender Veterans for one project, home health aid visits in a site randomization project, and mental health/psychotherapy interventions for the last project. Each study aim and project team is distinct and diverse, and the tools I use such as SQL, R/RStudio, and Excel span different technical levels. I am grateful to have a stable job that I enjoy so much, with kind coworkers, a great office space (yes, with plushies and diplomas lining the walls), and the best work-life balance a young professional could ask for.
Stay tuned for more work reflections.