Gould D J
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington 40536-0298, USA.
Clin Anat. 2000;13(6):453-5. doi: 10.1002/1098-2353(2000)13:6<453::AID-CA11>3.0.CO;2-4.
Dramatic increases in the number of PhDs granted during the last several decades have not been balanced by comparable increases in the number of academic positions, producing a glut of postdoctoral fellows. One major reason for the burgeoning numbers of postdoctoral fellows is a widespread perception that there is no alternative route to a career in academia other than through gaining expertise in bench research. This paper suggests that considerable numbers of postdoctoral fellows who are interested in securing a tenure-track position at a major medical or research university should consider directing their postgraduate training toward teaching. Teaching at universities is becoming a specialized field partly because researchers are unable to keep up with the explosion of information, new instructional theories, methodologies, and technology. Thus, some individuals who are currently in a postdoctoral holding pattern could use those years to increase their teaching competence. Such an "educational" postdoctoral position may offer a faster route to a career in academia as universities continue to recognize the need for teaching specialists.
在过去几十年里，获得博士学位的人数急剧增加，但学术职位的数量却没有相应增加，导致博士后研究员供过于求。博士后研究员数量迅速增加的一个主要原因是，人们普遍认为，除了在实验室研究中积累专业知识外，没有其他途径可以进入学术界。本文认为，相当数量有意在大型医学或研究型大学获得终身教职的博士后研究员，应考虑将研究生培训方向转向教学。大学教学正逐渐成为一个专业领域，部分原因是研究人员无法跟上信息、新教学理论、方法和技术的爆炸式增长。因此，一些目前处于博士后停滞状态的人可以利用这些年提高自己的教学能力。随着大学继续认识到对教学专家的需求，这样一个“教育型”博士后职位可能会提供一条更快进入学术界的途径。
