Year: 2014
Type: editorial
Abstract: My career path to biomedical informatics, late at every stage, is peculiar if I compare myself to other psychologists. On the other hand, a peculiar path is the norm for my peers who are loath to call themselves “informaticians,” so tightly coupled is their identity to their former lives as librarians, clinicians, engineers, or computer and social scientists. In thinking about how I came to be on the faculty of a medical school doing informatics research, it occurred to me that my mentors had a powerful influence and not all in the same way. Alas, a few tormentors almost derailed me. I dithered over that last descriptor because I could have more charitably called a tormentor an obstructor, but consider this: The origin of the former word is from the Old French tormentum, an engine for hurling stones, which seems apt 1, and one of several synonyms is backscratcher—the irony of which makes me laugh. So for those of you wrestling with a midlife career change, consider this editorial a call to courage, as well as an abridged guide to mentors and tormentors. First, I give you a brief backstory.
Author: Tanja Bekhuis
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2083068623