How can PhD scientist switch into wellness oriented field??

Hi everyone,

My name is Mike, and I am a 33 year old graduate student in the Boston area, and I am within two months from getting my PhD in bioinformatics from Boston University. My basic research has been in the field of protein structure and their interaction with other molecules.

However, in the last 7 years, my interests and hobbies have shifted to more of a psychospiritual one.  I am extremely interested in making the world a better place, person by person, and find myself to have very strong elements of personal compassion and empathy in my personality.  I am also very driven to achieve my greatest potential, and I truly feel that I have a lot of potential greatness within me that is yearning to come out.

The longer that I have been in academia, the more that I have realized that my personal priorites and values in life feel so different from the core values of my lab coworkers and professsors within my field.   Although my interest in scientific discovery (and of learning in general) is high, the technical and non-passionate ways in which research is performed in my field has alienated me to the point that I am trying to seek a new career path, where hopefully, I am able to combine the advantages of my PhD in bioinformatics with some other discovery and compassion oriented focus, which has been de-emphasized throughout my academic career to date.   

Is there any way to combine the values and interests that are seen on this amazing Zaadz website, while still trying to utilize my long scientific past?  This is my primary motivating question right now.

Thanks for listening.

Take care,

Re: How can PhD scientist switch into wellness oriented field??

Hi Mike,

That’s a great, noble question… My sister is also in science (ecology), and has expressed personal concerns about some of the methods she has had to use - as being opposed to her high value on the sacredness of life.

But with regard to the question of integration - integrating your scientific experience/expertise with your sense of calling. I have *heard* that there is a lot of research going on using western science to prove/discover for the benefit of holistic health and spiritual potency, and recall hearing that there is some sort of center at Princeton (or was it Yale?). I imagine you’ve looked into this side of your question already.

Another something for you to check out: www.wingmakers.com (read the sections on philosophy). This may be pretty far out, but basically this site predicts that by the year 2080, we (humanity) will have scientifically proven the existence of the human soul - and that it will be quite a revolutionizing discovery… The goal of the group that made this site is to help lay the groundwork (and gradually release the knowledge) needed to bring this goal to fruition. (The site also discussed the relationship between the soul/spirituality and genetics.)

Good luck on your quest! If you develop a sense of certainty (inner knowing) that you will find the answer, then it will happen! (www.thesecret.tv)

- Rick