Jackson Marcus T A, Lindsey Merry L, Martin Pamela M
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2025 Sep 1;49(3):774-779. doi: 10.1152/advan.00078.2025. Epub 2025 Jun 6.
Being a graduate student is perhaps the most challenging part of the career progression of a research scientist. Only about 1.2% of the US population holds a PhD, with similar numbers or less in other countries around the world. As we were discussing ways to provide advice to our students (including the first author of this perspective), it occurred to us that training for a PhD is very similar to playing professional football for the National Football League (NFL). This perspective highlights the shared traits and strategies between successful PhD graduate students and NFL players. We emphasize the importance of preparation, adaptability, teamwork, and goal orientation in both fields, which sets the stage for understanding how candidates for both fields prepare for their careers. Here, we summarize the 10 ways the two positions are comparable.
成为一名研究生或许是科研人员职业发展中最具挑战性的阶段。在美国，只有约1.2%的人口拥有博士学位，世界其他国家的这一比例与之相近或更低。当我们在讨论如何为学生（包括本文第一作者）提供建议时，我们突然意识到攻读博士学位的过程与为美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）效力的职业橄榄球生涯非常相似。本文强调了成功的博士研究生与NFL球员之间共有的特质和策略。我们强调在这两个领域中准备、适应能力、团队合作和目标导向的重要性，这为理解两个领域的候选人如何为其职业生涯做准备奠定了基础。在此，我们总结了这两个职业具有可比性的10个方面。
