Statisticians in Demand in Today's Job Market: Meet a Math Major from the Class of 2006 who works in Postmarketing Surveillance

This month, students in my introductory statistics course are co-blogging with me. A couple of weeks ago we hosted a special guest, Simmons alumna, Alison Timm, a statistician who spoke to the class on what life is like post-grad, and how what she learned in statistics has led her to find a fulfilling career. At the two-thirds point of the semester, I thought it was time for students to lift their eyes from their textbooks and meet an alumna, recently graduated, who is practicing the very theory they've been learning.

And it turns out, the timing was right! To quote one of my students: "Have you ever been sitting in a classroom ... and thinking to yourself, Although this is interesting, when on earth am I ever going to use this knowledge?" And another: "What struck me most while listening to Alison was the seemingly limitless options she has a statistician. ...This showed us that we can work in areas that we're interested in, all under the large umbrella of statistics."

The questions below were asked by students who were surprised to learn that even though the U.S. is currently in a recession, statisticians are in demand. Alison, who earned her M.A. in biostatistics last December, described the range of her work experiences in statistics since her senior year at Simmons, including a position at Boston Scientific for which she's just been hired.

Alison Timm (B.S., Math, 2006; M.A., Biostatistics, Boston University, December 2008)

            

 

How did you end up majoring in math and becoming a statistician, Alison?
I originally started off college as pre-med. But as time went on, I found I wanted to get out of the chemistry lab and into a different kind of research. When I transferred to Simmons at the end of my sophomore year, I was thinking that I would become a high school mathematics teacher. A major turning point for me was an internship in my senior year.

 

What was your internship like?

In spring semester of my senior year, my adviser, Professor Beers, contacted Simmons alumna, Sharon Sharnprapai (B.S. Mathematics, Class of 1987; M.S. Epidemiology, School of Public Health, UMass-Amherst) to see if she might have any internship openings. Sharon is Director of Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) - Division of Tuberculosis Prevention and Control. Over the past several years, she has generously supervised several Simmons math majors in internships at the Massachusetts DPH.

 

Under Sharon's supervision, I assisted with a study of patients who had been exposed to TB and who had undergone a nine month treatment plan, including medication. Tuberculosis is a persistent infection which requires long-term treatment. To monitor the use of the medication and its side effects during the treatment, each patient was required to visit a TB clinic once a month. Unfortunately, the completion rate for the treatment plan was around half. I tested the hypothesis that there is a correlation between how far a patient lives from the closest TB clinic and the extent to which they completed their program of treatment. Much to my disappointment, the results of the test were inconclusive. But when I look back at this experience now, I see that this was a valuable, real-life lesson: Not all scientific studies come up with conclusive results, which can be frustrating. In thinking about why this was so in my study, it may be that the sample size was too small. Or perhaps there other variables to pursue, such as patient age or number of children.

 

What benefits did you get from your internship?

The internship was invaluable in many ways. I became comfortable and confident with statistics. I was constantly immersed in experiments and surveys which the Clinic worked on daily. I worked with many different colleagues at the Clinic, never sitting next to the same person twice. This helped me continually to learn something new throughout the internship. Best of all, I learned that I enjoyed doing research in public health.

 

What did you do right after graduating from Simmons?

Coincidentally, at the same time I was doing my internship in spring, 2006, I also got a part-time, entry level position as research assistant at the Tufts Medical Center. I continued working at Tufts after graduation. I learned a lot about different statistics software such as SPSS, S-Plus, and SAS and gained experience in statistical modeling. I also had the opportunity to research particular topics in statistics in order to help members of the staff prepare their professional presentations. With the encouragement of my co-workers, I left Tufts after a year to pursue a Masters in Biostatistics at Boston University. At BU, I contributed to a wide variety of projects ranging from breast cancer and childhood obesity to analyzing data on children in Zambia who had suffered post-traumatic stress in order to learn how they are able to cope with stress and extreme situations. What I especially liked about all these projects was that they allowed me to combine my interests in mathematics and health care.

 

Now that you've earned your Masters, what do you plan to do next?

In a couple of weeks I'll be starting a new job at Boston Scientific in postmarketing surveillance. This means that I'll be helping to ensure that the company's medical tools and devices are safe. I'll be collecting data on people who use their devices and keeping track of malfunctions. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees postmarketing surveillance.

 

What are the job prospects for statisticians for the near future?

Even though the economy is weak right now, statisticians seem to be in high demand. A Masters degree in statistics opens the door to many job opportunities, e.g., pharmaceutical research, financial planning, and public health.  

 

What do you do for relaxation?
I'm very much an outdoor person - I love to run, ski, and bike!

 

Do you have any advice for undergraduates?

One suggestion is to work for a year before going to graduate school. This can help you to develop resources and to network. Also, knowledge of statistical packages like SPSS or SAS might be very helpful in landing an internship.

 

 

If you have any questions for Alison or about this blog, be sure to write!