What's On Your Mind?

[laladeedee]

Happy Nurses Week! ! !

[NutritionRunner]

I've been looking for a job for this summer for two months now. I expected to start working as soon as exams were done - that was three weeks ago now - which is why I started looking about 5 weeks prior to that.

 

I can only work days because of daycare hours, which is why I have yet to find anything. So far, just one interview and nothing came of it. If my husband can handle the morning routine tomorrow, I'm planning to head up to a harbour at dawn to see if I can get on a mussel or lobster boat for the summer.

 

The sad reality of living in a place with 12% unemployment - I can't even find a temporary job during the busiest months for every industry. Pathetic, eh?

 

That's too bad. I don't suppose there was anything available at the university itself?

 

Tons of jobs in the summer here at the university, but sadly most of them are only available to work-study students (ie. students who need financial assistance). As I don't qualify for financial assistance, I don't qualify for all those work-study positions (and there are TONS in the summer, as a lot of students don't stick around and go home).

 

Fortunately, last year I had an NSERC for the summer, and this year I have another research position starting May 20th. And I have my part-time job teaching fitness classes.

[Birdy]

That's too bad. I don't suppose there was anything available at the university itself?

 

Tons of jobs in the summer here at the university, but sadly most of them are only available to work-study students (ie. students who need financial assistance). As I don't qualify for financial assistance, I don't qualify for all those work-study positions (and there are TONS in the summer, as a lot of students don't stick around and go home).

 

Fortunately, last year I had an NSERC for the summer, and this year I have another research position starting May 20th. And I have my part-time job teaching fitness classes.

 

The only day hours jobs were the research positions, and while I did try very hard to get one, they won't hire students below second year. There's currently 3 posted jobs at the university, all part time (5-15 hours a week) or shift work.

 

I'm on a bunch of student job registries and a number of youth employment programs, and the provincial seasonal job registry, and the Health Futures program, and pretty much any other list I could find to put my name on. But I haven't worked in 3 years, which really doesn't help either.

 

If I could work shift work, this would be easier, but there's no way for me to do that. It's days or nothing.

 

Having a bit of a pity party this morning, but I'll be spending the afternoon walking around and papering the town with resumes.

[aaronjw]

The only day hours jobs were the research positions, and while I did try very hard to get one, they won't hire students below second year. There's currently 3 posted jobs at the university, all part time (5-15 hours a week) or shift work.

 

I'm on a bunch of student job registries and a number of youth employment programs, and the provincial seasonal job registry, and the Health Futures program, and pretty much any other list I could find to put my name on. But I haven't worked in 3 years, which really doesn't help either.

 

If I could work shift work, this would be easier, but there's no way for me to do that. It's days or nothing.

 

Having a bit of a pity party this morning, but I'll be spending the afternoon walking around and papering the town with resumes.

 

Any connections? Ask people you know if they know anyone who is hiring? People who can vouch for you and your work ethic.

 

That's how I was always been able to get jobs for friends or people I know. I'd put the word out to people I know about a good kid in school that works hard and isn't just another book smart type and it would either directly or indirectly lead them to something for the summer and usually longer if they were able to handle it during school.

 

Networking is the #1 job finder.

 

When you talk to people try to draw connection between your academic success (so far) and you're drive to succeed and work hard. Not in a boasting kind of way but in a way that says, look: I have two kids (one who is autistic), went to school fulltime and still managed to pull down very good marks... that's an indication of a person's ability and desire to work hard and smart. I never cared much for grades when I was hiring but I did believe a student who had excellent grades did demonstrate a willingness to work hard and a desire to achieve because lets face it, for most people, achieving excellent grades doesn't come without some ball busting work and long hours.

 

Just some thoughts.

 

I'm sure you'll land something though!!!

[Birdy]

Any connections? Ask people you know if they know anyone who is hiring? People who can vouch for you and your work ethic.

 

That's how I was always been able to get jobs for friends or people I know. I'd put the word out to people I know about a good kid in school that works hard and isn't just another book smart type and it would either directly or indirectly lead them to something for the summer and usually longer if they were able to handle it during school.

 

Networking is the #1 job finder.

 

When you talk to people try to draw connection between your academic success (so far) and you're drive to succeed and work hard. Not in a boasting kind of way but in a way that says, look: I have two kids (one who is autistic), went to school fulltime and still managed to pull down very good marks... that's an indication of a person's ability and desire to work hard and smart. I never cared much for grades when I was hiring but I did believe a student who had excellent grades did demonstrate a willingness to work hard and a desire to achieve because lets face it, for most people, achieving excellent grades doesn't come without some ball busting work and long hours.

 

Just some thoughts.

 

I'm sure you'll land something though!!!

 

Thanks.

 

I'm working on the connections angle. My family is primarily involved in agriculture here so I'm trying to network through that route.

 

I did apply for a summer student internship at a sales and service company that exists to help build business and management skills. I'm hoping to hear from them in particular. A doctor's office is, after all, a business, so I'm hoping to build on that angle and tie it into my academic plans. That's one I really, really want. If I haven't heard from them by tomorrow (a week after the close of applications) I may drop by and express my interest in person.

 

Thank you for the suggestions, I do appreciate it.

[jrmch]

Thanks.

 

I'm working on the connections angle. My family is primarily involved in agriculture here so I'm trying to network through that route.

 

I did apply for a summer student internship at a sales and service company that exists to help build business and management skills. I'm hoping to hear from them in particular. A doctor's office is, after all, a business, so I'm hoping to build on that angle and tie it into my academic plans. That's one I really, really want. If I haven't heard from them by tomorrow (a week after the close of applications) I may drop by and express my interest in person.

 

Thank you for the suggestions, I do appreciate it.

 

Hey Birdy,

Did you put your name in for the Federal Student Work Experience program? They usually have a few different kinds of positions here on the island. Primarily, Parks Canada but also AgriCan (sometimes) and a few other fed locations. May be worth a shot if you haven't already - you apply and then HR pools for matches and holds interviews when they have an open spot.

 

 

http://jobs-emplois.gc.ca/fswep-pfete/index-eng.php

[Birdy]

Hey Birdy,

Did you put your name in for the Federal Student Work Experience program? They usually have a few different kinds of positions here on the island. Primarily, Parks Canada but also AgriCan (sometimes) and a few other fed locations. May be worth a shot if you haven't already - you apply and then HR pools for matches and holds interviews when they have an open spot.

 

 

http://jobs-emplois.gc.ca/fswep-pfete/index-eng.php

 

Yup. That's how I got the interview. I'm now on the list of qualified candidates, but nothing yet.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[NutritionRunner]

Ah, I just love it so much when people with no education in nutrition try to give me advice about diet and exercise. Then they think I'm part of the problem when I say I rely on scientific studies and know how to critically analyze scientific literature, as opposed to relying on fad diets and popular diet books.

 

Somehow these people are convinced that all scientific research is negatively influenced by "big pharma" and "big grocery" so we can't believe anything published in scientific journals. *sigh* It's impossible to reason with them, but they seem to have a fanatical zeal to try to convince me that I'm wrong and they're right. I just have to shake my head and walk away.

[Robin Hood]

Ah, I just love it so much when people with no education in nutrition try to give me advice about diet and exercise. Then they think I'm part of the problem when I say I rely on scientific studies and know how to critically analyze scientific literature, as opposed to relying on fad diets and popular diet books.

 

Somehow these people are convinced that all scientific research is negatively influenced by "big pharma" and "big grocery" so we can't believe anything published in scientific journals. *sigh* It's impossible to reason with them, but they seem to have a fanatical zeal to try to convince me that I'm wrong and they're right. I just have to shake my head and walk away.

 

And that's the kind of BS supporters of "alternative medicine" always use, it bugs me.

[aaronjw]

Ah, I just love it so much when people with no education in nutrition try to give me advice about diet and exercise. Then they think I'm part of the problem when I say I rely on scientific studies and know how to critically analyze scientific literature, as opposed to relying on fad diets and popular diet books.

 

Somehow these people are convinced that all scientific research is negatively influenced by "big pharma" and "big grocery" so we can't believe anything published in scientific journals. *sigh* It's impossible to reason with them, but they seem to have a fanatical zeal to try to convince me that I'm wrong and they're right. I just have to shake my head and walk away.

 

It depends on what type of diet or nutrition advice maybe. I would never rely solely on someone with an education in nutrition to provide me with a program for athletic performance if they did not have the experience with similar clients to prove their capabilities.

 

Lots of people can read and interpret scientific research but we don't live in a scientific bubble therefore what becomes more important is application. Scientific research used to tell us fat was bad, which fostered all these low fat diets without understanding the cellular and hormonal implications that fat has a role in. blah blah blah lol

[thehockeykid]

i h8 ppl who makes excuses for the failures in their life.

-can't spend time with children because too busy working

-can't lose weight because they are too busy

-can't do the things on their bucket list because they are too busy

 

give me a break. are you living to make money or to live life?

[duck_season]

Good morning everyone!

 

i h8 ppl who makes excuses for the failures in their life.

-can't spend time with children because too busy working

-can't lose weight because they are too busy

-can't do the things on their bucket list because they are too busy

 

give me a break. are you living to make money or to live life?

 

Too busy huh? Well people often get trapped in a certain kind of lifestyle, and they just can't/don't know how to live any other way. Maybe your parents (I'm assuming it's your parents) are frustrated they can't do those things as well, but changing their current lifestyle would give them even greater anxiety.

[future_doc]

Good Morning, all.

[Exocytosis]

There's nothing quite like waking up to the smell of the Detroit Greyhound station. I'm sitting in a bus and I can still smell the stale urine.

[future_doc]

Don't breath through your nose.

 

Have a good trip.

[rmorelan]

And that's the kind of BS supporters of "alternative medicine" always use, it bugs me.

 

and yet they are blind to the shear pile of money all the health product industry is racking up based on useless products. They have no incentive of course to lie about the effectiveness of their products

[rmorelan]

There's nothing quite like waking up to the smell of the Detroit Greyhound station. I'm sitting in a bus and I can still smell the stale urine.

 

ahhh Detroit. It has seen better times.

[NutritionRunner]

It depends on what type of diet or nutrition advice maybe. I would never rely solely on someone with an education in nutrition to provide me with a program for athletic performance if they did not have the experience with similar clients to prove their capabilities.

 

Lots of people can read and interpret scientific research but we don't live in a scientific bubble therefore what becomes more important is application. Scientific research used to tell us fat was bad, which fostered all these low fat diets without understanding the cellular and hormonal implications that fat has a role in. blah blah blah lol

 

Well, see, that's the thing about science (as opposed to fads), when the evidence shows that we need to change things, we make a change! That's why we currently don't recommend low fat diets - we recommend HEALTHY fats in the diet (so <7% saturated fat, as little trans fat as possible, and emphasis on mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids).

 

It's just like years ago we thought that people with heart problems should avoid dietary cholesterol. Now we know that dietary cholesterol plays a minimal role in blood cholesterol levels (except for some individuals with a certain genetic mutation) and that saturated fat in the diet has a huge impact on blood cholesterol levels. So we changed our practice guidelines to reflect our new scientific knowledge.

 

The Canadian Diabetes Association just released their new clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of diabetes (they do so about every 5 years). In updating their guidelines, they have a group of experts in the various aspects of diabetes examining all the latest research and evaluating the quality of that research. If there is strong evidence that things needs to be changed, then changes are made.

 

So that's the great thing about science - clinical practice guidelines and recommendations are constantly being updated. Registered Dietitians (and other health professionals) also need to be able to critically analyze scientific research because we will have clients coming to us asking about the latest fad diets or the latest nutrition research they have seen in the news. We need to be able to analyze the evidence and then tell our clients, in a way they can understand, if it is something they should consider or if there just isn't strong evidence to support it.

[FrenchToast]

Well, see, that's the thing about science (as opposed to fads), when the evidence shows that we need to change things, we make a change! That's why we currently don't recommend low fat diets - we recommend HEALTHY fats in the diet (so <7% saturated fat, as little trans fat as possible, and emphasis on mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fatty acids).

 

It's just like years ago we thought that people with heart problems should avoid dietary cholesterol. Now we know that dietary cholesterol plays a minimal role in blood cholesterol levels (except for some individuals with a certain genetic mutation) and that saturated fat in the diet has a huge impact on blood cholesterol levels. So we changed our practice guidelines to reflect our new scientific knowledge.

 

The Canadian Diabetes Association just released their new clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of diabetes (they do so about every 5 years). In updating their guidelines, they have a group of experts in the various aspects of diabetes examining all the latest research and evaluating the quality of that research. If there is strong evidence that things needs to be changed, then changes are made.

 

So that's the great thing about science - clinical practice guidelines and recommendations are constantly being updated. Registered Dietitians (and other health professionals) also need to be able to critically analyze scientific research because we will have clients coming to us asking about the latest fad diets or the latest nutrition research they have seen in the news. We need to be able to analyze the evidence and then tell our clients, in a way they can understand, if it is something they should consider or if there just isn't strong evidence to support it.

 

This is true, but the problem is that there are often huge lag times - for publications themselves, for reviews of publications, and for the dietitians to be updated. I agree with you that nutrition (and medicine) should be evidence-based, but the system needs to be fixed to speed things up a tad.

[Birdy]

Fire makes me very, very nervous. Wildfires in particular. They are not regularly an issue here, though.

 

That said, they are currently evacuating a few homes (less than ten, but houses are spread out) within about two kilometers of me. There are two fires on the go nearby - one about ten acres and hard to get to - and we've been advised to be on alert in case it spreads more.

 

I hate forest fires.

[Hannaah]

I want to shoot the mod who deleted the other thread. :@

 

That is really funny, thank God he didn’t delete from the user list. Well, I’m thinking to eat a big burger.

[Tacrolimus]

I'm so burnt-out from Winter Semester that I'm not putting much effort into Physics II in Spring. Just to confirm: McMaster is the only school that looks at spring/summer grades, right?

[WtsupDoc?]

Fire makes me very, very nervous. Wildfires in particular. They are not regularly an issue here, though.

 

That said, they are currently evacuating a few homes (less than ten, but houses are spread out) within about two kilometers of me. There are two fires on the go nearby - one about ten acres and hard to get to - and we've been advised to be on alert in case it spreads more.

 

I hate forest fires.

 

 

I heard about this on the news yesterday. I couldn't image... would be so scary. I hope you stay safe and aren't affected by them. Hoping all who have been evacuated get to return home soon.

[WtsupDoc?]

This is true, but the problem is that there are often huge lag times - for publications themselves, for reviews of publications, and for the dietitians to be updated. I agree with you that nutrition (and medicine) should be evidence-based, but the system needs to be fixed to speed things up a tad.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. This is why we have best practice guidelines and recommended standards of care. No single practitioner (dieticians, physicians, or otherwise) have the time (in addition to patient-care) to seek out new research, critically appraise and sythesize multiple findings. Thus the need for working groups, committees and various organizations to make these guidelines for practitioners.

[Birdy]

I heard about this on the news yesterday. I couldn't image... would be so scary. I hope you stay safe and aren't affected by them. Hoping all who have been evacuated get to return home soon.

 

We're safe, and no houses were harmed, fortunately. The firefighters stayed overnight to put down hotspots. The volunteer firefighters here are awesome.