‘What do I want to do after my PhD track? Where do I see myself in five years? And how do I get there?’ Upcoming October, Erasmus MC Graduate School launches a coaching program specifically tailored for second- and third-year PhD candidates. Through this program, PhD candidates will have the opportunity to participate in professional development-oriented coaching sessions. These sessions will provide a platform for them to discuss their ongoing careers, make significant decisions for their future paths, and address any uncertainties they might be facing.
MATCH your future
Making well-informed choices about your career requires space and attention to personal growth and personal development: ‘Who am I?’, ‘What do I want?’, ‘And how do I get there?’ All questions that you may need to find the answer to. Identifying your own strengths and weaknesses enables you to make crucial choices. Erasmus MC Graduate School places great significance on encouraging PhD candidates to consider their growth during their PhD trajectory and to think about their career after the trajectory, which is why the MATCH your future program offers appropriate guidance.With the MATCH program, support for professional development has been offered to various target groups within Erasmus MC since 2019. This is done through development-oriented coaching in order to contribute to an optimal climate for lifelong learning and development.
When starting the program, PhD candidates can choose a coach. A poule of independent coaches was selected on the basis of (evidence-based) quality criteria. By offering this, we aim to contribute to an optimal and safe learning and working climate in which support for professional development is a matter of course for everyone: PhD candidate, supervisor and doctor.
‘We are all being educated optimally knowledge-driven. I hope we can also optimize professional development with solid support. To be able to complete a successful PhD trajectory at Erasmus MC with pleasure but also with optimal results.’ – Dr. Anne de Pagter, initiator MATCH.
For PhD candidates
We have noticed that for PhD candidates there is a need for support in professional development, career choice and optimal performance. Therefore, Erasmus MC Graduate School and the MATCH your future team worked together to develop a program for PhD candidates. 1 The effectiveness of this program will be evaluated in the upcoming months through a randomized controlled trial.Erasmus MC Graduate School deliberately chooses second- and third-year PhD candidates to participate in the program. Shaun Girigori, PhD pre- and onboarding coordinator: ‘During the first year of your PhD program, you are faced with many new experiences. You are still finding your ways, and are not yet thinking about your future after your PhD. For this reason, we only offer the coaching program to second- and third-year PhD students for the time being.’
Curious?
This program is free for PhD candidates within Erasmus MC. The program is offered as of October 2023, and offers a limited number of spots per year. Twice a year, second- and third-year PhD candidates are invited by email to participate in the MATCH coaching program.All second- and third-year PhD candidates received an invitation for the information session about the program. Haven’t you received an invitation, or do you have a question regarding the program? Feel free to contact Shaun Girigori via gsoffice@erasmusmc.nl.
For more information on physician coaching programs we refer you to Challenge&Support. For master students in Medicine we refer you to the MATCH your Future website. Please note that both websites are in Dutch.
