Lin Song 0:04
Hey, welcome to the Postdoc Leadership Fellow Podcast. I'm Lin Song, third year postdoc in the Hellen Diller Cancer Center working on lung cancer.
Rachel Rudlaff 0:17
I'm Rachel Rudlaff. I'm a postdoctoral fellow in Bo Huang's Lab.
April Bell 0:21
I'm April Bell. I am a second year postdoc with the California Preterm Birth Initiative.
Oleta Johnson 0:27
And I am Oleta Johnson. I am a third year postdoc, also at the Mission Bay campus, working in Sandler neurosciences building. And in this series, our goal is to promote community at UCSF by connecting you to resources that are important for being a postdoc.
Lin Song 0:51
Our first episode, we are here with our guest, Dr. Gabriela Monsalve, assistant dean for postdoctoral scholars from the postdoc office. We hope you enjoy the podcast.
April Bell 1:07
My name is April Bell, I am one of the Postdoctoral Leadership Fellows at UCSF. I'm here with my colleague.
Lin Song 1:15
Hi, everyone. My name is Lin Song. I'm a third year postdoc, also postdoc leadership fellow.
April Bell 1:22
And today we have with us-
Gabriela Monsalve 1:24
My name is Gabriela Montsalve, aka Gabi, and I'm here from the postdoc office.
April Bell 1:30
So Gabi, today we're gonna ask you some questions about your office. Our goal today is to introduce you and your office to new postdocs at UCSF. And, so, we'll just jump right in and ask you if you can give our listeners a short description of your office, and how you serve postdocs.
Gabriela Monsalve 1:50
So, the UCSF Office for Postdoctoral Scholars is essentially a one-stop shop for any postdoc to come in and look for centralized resources, and things and activities, community events, career and professional development, conflict management, research support. We don't offer all of those things, but we connect you to all of those things, because we have a lot of units on campus that you'll hear more about in this podcast series that specialize and really are our the campus experts in that. So what I tell postdocs is if you have a question, if you do not know how to do something, if you are curious about something, you can always just come to us first. And my goal is to redirect you into the right direction so you can get an answer, if I can't provide an answer myself.
Lin Song 2:43
Gabi, the second question for you is -- What drew you to UCSF and to your current role?
Gabriela Monsalve 2:51
So I did my postdoc here at UCSF. So, that's what drew me to UCSF, was actually my postdoc. But what kept me at UCSF was the community. And I was really excited about coming here to do research. And to be part of the broader Bay Area. I thought that was really exciting. But what kept me here was just this incredibly intelligent, brilliant community of scholars. And what I've told many people is that when I was interviewing for my postdoc, I remember sitting on the quad at Mission Bay and saying, "Okay, how can I make a career at this institution, because this is really remarkable." So, that's what kept me here at UCSF. And that is how I, that's how I approach the work that I do with scholars on a daily basis, is to do what I can to lower the hurdles, to streamline processes, to advocate in the ways that I can at UCSF, to make it so that you can come here to do the very best research that you can, to build the strongest community that you can, and to launch your career in the way that is the most meaningful and impactful for you and for your community.
April Bell 4:08
Gabi, you are amazing. I wish there were more people like you at UCSF. So, what do postdocs most commonly come to see you about?
Gabriela Monsalve 4:18
So, usually postdocs will reach out to me when they've hit a crisis point. And a lot of the times I will meet postdocs in individual advising appointments, which are semi-confidential and that you can book directly on the website. So, if you go to postdocs.ucsf.edu and you go down to appointments, you can book a free appointment with me. And, it really is just a strategy session. Sometimes people come to me trying to figure out like, "Hey, I'm having an issue with my advisor, my PI." And what I do is that we kind of just walk through the different aspects of it and see if there are ways and strategies that we, you know, that we can develop together that would either help you manage up or manage the situation in a way that's going to get you to a better outcome. If I can't help you with that, a lot of the things that I do in advising sessions is also to tell you about campus resources that might be able to help you. So, I do a lot of triage to like the International Students and Scholars Office, a lot to the career office, to OCPD. But also, if there are things that you know, you're not comfortable reaching out to, I can also, with your permission, have reached out on behalf of a scholar and requested information for them. So, so it can go both ways. I can either, you know, we can have a conversation where we talk about, like what you need, and then you got your information, you're good to go. Or, if you need kind of like an extra bit of support, I can also do some of that triage myself and help you there. So, it's usually crisis points. But it hasn't been exclusively crisis points. And I encourage any postdoc, to reach out to me when things are good, because there are things that I can tell you or advise you on. To help you keep a lookout, you're going to hit a bump in the road, you've already done a PhD, you know how bumpy a PhD can be, the postdoc is no different. The bumps are just going to look different. So, if you've got somebody you can say, "Hey, these are the kind of the bumps that you can look for," and then it arrives, you can navigate those a lot better than when you're actually having to deal with it and your car's on the side of the road, you got a flat tire, you're like, "Okay, crap, I've never changed the tire before." So you don't have to wait until it's a crisis point. But if you do, that's okay, too.
Lin Song 6:37
Thanks, Gabi, you're really doing a lot of very important work for postdocs. What misconceptions do postdocs have about using the services at your office.
Gabriela Monsalve 6:51
So, I think a lot of the times, postdocs think that I am somebody that is either a part of their department, or have a close relationship with their PI, that I'm going to go and tell their department or or supervisor that something has happened here. And nothing could be further from the truth. I'm actually not neutral, but probably a lot more neutral than you think. I sit situated between the Graduate Division and Student Academic Affairs. I'm not in a department per se, and I don't report to faculty and faculty don't report to me. So, if you want to reach out, like, you know, there, again, there are limitations to my confidentiality, there are things that I have to report. But it's not something where like if you reach out to me that your faculty member is going to find out or it's going to affect your situation, for the most part.
April Bell 7:48
So, I'm going to combine two questions here. You've already said that you recommend postdocs come to see you just to get to know you before there's a crisis, right? But, if they don't, and let's say they're listening to this, and unsure sure about how your office can help them, or is hesitant about contacting you, like what would you say to them?
Gabriela Monsalve 8:07
I would say to them that it is easier to navigate a problematic situation with help than it is to go it alone. And, you've got somebody on campus--I'm not the only person but I'm definitely one person--who is being paid to think about your well-being and to help you. So, take advantage of it. Come see us, come see me, come see partners and OCPD ISSO. You'll hear a lot more about these people at UCSF. A lot of them have PhDs just like you and have gone into the type of work that they're doing because they really want to help people, particularly postdocs. So, don't be afraid. A lot of us were postdocs at one point. So, we remember how it was.
April Bell 8:57
So, it sounds like you're saying that there's a community of people here, even if they seem invisible, that are here to sort of help you get the most out of UCSF, to bring your best and do your best while you're at UCSF?
Gabriela Monsalve 9:11
Absolutely. And I think it's beautifully said, April. I think one of the awesome things about being at UCSF is that, you know, we do have a biomedical and health sciences approach. But we also, for better for worse, we don't have undergraduate, an undergraduate population, which means that the services that we provide on the administrative end are very specialized, particularly to, like, the scientific population and the postdoc population. So, you're not going to get that everywhere at every institution and you can take advantage of it here. Most of the time, those services are free. It's just, I think the, I think the part that can be tricky is figuring out where those resources are and how to access them.
Lin Song 10:06
Hey Lin here, I hope you're enjoying this episode. If you are, be sure to check out the post office website at postdocs.ucsf.edu to keep up with the latest resource events and programming to build community among postdocs and help your research and career goals. Also, I encourage you to reach out to any Postdoc Leadership Fellow. If you have any questions about what you're hearing in this episode, or if there's something else you would like to hear. And now, back to the podcast.
Lin Song 10:50
As mentioned, the people can schedule a one on one meeting with you. And I also know your office has a lot of wonderful events. So, the next person said, "What's your goal for how you want postdocs to feel after the meet with your attend events from your office?"
Gabriela Monsalve 11:08
That's a great question, Lin. And I think the best way that I can answer is that my goal is for any postdoc who meets with me to feel like they are better informed, and therefore empowered, and whatever decisions or strategies that they're going to employ in their next steps. So, that's my goal. It doesn't always happen. But, that is always my goal, is to help you feel empowered in what you're going to do next.
Lin Song 11:36
Yeah, I have a last question for you, Gabi. What's one thing that your program did for postdocs that you didn't expect?
Gabriela Monsalve 11:46
It's an excellent question, Lin. And, I think this is probably getting a little too meta, but just this podcast is something that I did not expect. So, the fact that, you know, when we set up the Leadership Fellows Program, I didn't know exactly what you all were going to create, but a podcast series where you're going to be centralizing resources, and breaking down the barriers to how people can access and putting a human voice to, to support systems at UCSF for postdocs was not anything that I expected you to do. So, I'm really thrilled that you're going this avenue, that you're developing this important resource for postdocs. And, I can say, based off of the emails that I've seen, that all of us who are helping out postdocs are really thrilled that you're doing this as well. Because we know that, we know that sometimes there's a an activation barrier that is really hard to cross when you're not sure what to do moving forward. And I'm hoping that this podcast that you've developed is going to decrease that activation energy.
April Bell 12:52
That's great, we hope so too. We want people to know that there's this community that's pulling for them at UCSF, and, and to have a better idea of how to access it. Before we go. We have one last question. And you've talked, you've talked a little bit about this already. But what's your favorite thing about this job?
Gabriela Monsalve 13:12
It's a phenomenal question, April. And I think about I've been thinking about this a lot, actually. Especially because of the pandemic, my job, my job has probably been a lot more difficult, like everybody else's, due to it. So, there's been probably more bad days than good. But, the good days are the days when I'm interacting with postdocs. So, my favorite thing is, is seeing the outcome of everything that you've achieved, whether or not you came, whether or not you got the job that you wanted to, the fact that you've been able to launch yourself successfully into something that is impactful and meaningful for you is what gives me energy. The conversations that I have with postdocs, how they've told me that like the advice they got through a referral or through me or something like that is also, like, something that continues to drive me and to keep me at this institution serving postdocs. So, that's what makes me happy in this job. And that's the reason why I'm telling you to come talk to me because you'll just be helping me out if you come talk to me.
April Bell 14:23
So, postdocs, you should definitely come talk to Gabi because we want to keep her happy. So Gabi, is there anything else that you want to share that we didn't ask you?
Gabriela Monsalve 14:35
I had a question for you all. I was wondering what has, what have been the things that have helped you as a postdoc, to feel like it's okay to reach out to help either to the postdoc office or to another unit?
April Bell 14:51
Well, I can go first. Um, I think I'm an older postdoc, so I have worked in a bunch of different places. And, I realized over time that there are resources available to help me with things, but I have to be willing to, like reach out for them. And it was, it was a lesson I learned, I think, a long time ago, but particularly in my, in my PhD program, which was not at UCSF, but I had a particularly difficult time. And, it was not exactly clear to me, where I can reach out to for help. And so, one thing I like about this series of what we're trying to do is make it clear to people, like, if you're having a problem, like where to go, so that you don't lose time trying to figure out where to go. So, I think I'm just an old person. So, you know, I've been around for a while. And I just realized that, you know, there are resources available to help you, but they can only help you if you take advantage of that, you know, and as you said, Gabi, like you're being paid to like care about postdocs. I know, that's not the reason you care about postdocs. But you are actually like, this is your job. It also just seems like it's a, you've made the, you've made this a low hanging branch on this tree of knowledge, right? And so, all you got to do is just like, reach up slightly to get it and to be able to get some help. So, I think it comes down to "I'm old, and I just am reminded that if you, if you if you don't take advantage of the resources, they may as well not be there."
Lin Song 16:24
And for me, I've think depending on if I know the office, personally, and if I ever have connection with the office, and also the attitude of the office. I don't know if it's because my culture, I'm from Asia, I'm a girl. And sometimes I feel it's hard for me to reach out. So, I'd rather to attend the event that is hosted by an office saying for us to builf the first connections, and then it's easier for me to approach to those offices. That's my personal perspective.
Gabriela Monsalve 17:16
What beautiful answers, I appreciate it.
April Bell 17:18
Well, can I, I just want to add them that, sometimes, even when you don't have the personal connection, you just have to take a leap of faith. Because the situation that you're in, if you're having a crisis, it's probably not just going to resolve itself. So, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and send the email or set the appointment to tell somebody else your story so that they can help you find the resources that you need.
Gabriela Monsalve 17:51
And, there's no way that you're going to know an institution as big as UCSF during the time of your postdoc. We have faculty members here, who have been here for 40 years and still don't know the nooks and crannies of this institution. It's a tremendously large bureaucracy. It's unrealistic to expect a postdoc to know how to navigate all this stuff from day one. So, come reach out to us, like, send me an email. There's no such thing as stupid questions, we'll get you an answer. If we don't have an answer, we'll direct you the right way to get an answer.
Lin Song 18:27
Thank you so much, Gabi.
April Bell 18:29
Thank you. We really do hope folks will reach out to you, because it changed my life once I did.
Gabriela Monsalve 18:35
Yay. Good! See, that brought me energy, because I wanted to ask you about that. So that's great.
April Bell 18:43
So, I do help people take advantage of the service that you provide to this community because it, because it can be life changing. And it's not so much life-changing, like work-changing.
Gabriela Monsalve 18:54
Work-changing, yeah, yeah. Being a postdoc is hard enough, like, you don't need to like, make it more difficult than it's already going to be.
April Bell 19:09
Thank you for listening to the Postdoc Leadership Fellows Podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. But more than that, we hope that it was helpful to you.
Oleta Johnson 19:16
And, if it was helpful to you, we encourage you to share this with any postdoc that you think might find this information useful.
Rachel Rudlaff 19:26
As a reminder, you can contact us at any time. You can find our information on the Office of Postdoctoral Scholars website, and you can also reach out to the postdoc office.
Lin Song 19:37
Thank you so much for listening to this episode.