Wow! I didn't know you could even speak French! Sounds like a fun day!

I went through a bunch of social epi papers recently that did mediation and this is pretty common:

Intro: need to know about mechanism
Conclusion: the mediator is another place to intervene to reduce Y

So the question is rarely really about mechanisms to begin with.

Totally agree with Ellie. Very brave of you to share. And I hope we can help you through this transition ☺️

Came here to say this too: translational methodologist is almost impossible to fund, so there’s no reason you cant still find ways to do it on the side. We’re pretty much all doing it that way anyhow.

Thanks for sharing @cameronpat.bsky.social. There is so much value in being a passionate person in statistics that inspires good statistical work in others. Good communication should not be undervalued! Take care of yourself. ❤️

My own object to the term 'provider' is that over the years I feel that I've gone from being an educator to a 'service provider'. I now expect that one day I will be replaced by a vending machine.

Interesting. These used to just all be known as HEIs. Doesn't matter how small or specialist they are, if they delivered higher education they were an HEI. At least back in the day.

Then they should say 'higher education institutions'. Not 'providers'. The concept of 'providing' education is very strange.

That is good to hear! There is a long and distinguished history of biostatisticians without PhDs!

I wrote an afterword in my thesis that acknowledged my luck.

When writing it, I was thinking very much of all the other deserving people who didn't or wouldn't get a PhD for lack of luck.

For what it's worth, I think most translational methodologists" are doing it as side hobbies. The good ones do great applied research that buys them the space to do fun side stuff.

I'm the only one I know who's tried to do it fill time. And it's bleak. Noone funds you and you can't get promoted.

Our economy is a mess. There's no money for anything. We must all suffer more economic pain. And still - almost 10 years after the Brexit vote - the reason is not really being discussed. How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't admit them.

We deserve so much better from our politicians.

I'm sorry Cameron. This sounds shite.

Abandoning a PhD doesn't make you a failure. It just means you haven't had the right circumstances - or enough luck - to finish.

I had to abandon my original PhD and was lucky to be able to pivot to doing one 'by publication'. But it was still a knife edge.

Our economy is a mess. There's no money for anything. We must all suffer more economic pain. And still - almost 10 years after the Brexit vote - the reason is not really being discussed. How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't admit them.

We deserve so much better from our politicians.

I have a vague recollection of someone trying to explain at the time that the £350m that we send to be part of the EU to be part of the club was around 10x smaller than the estimated benefits of being part of that club. But I guess such nuances are harder to put on the side of a bus!

Funnily enough, the estimated impact of Brexit (at around 3500m-4600m per week) is around 10x larger than the amount on the bus!

Latest estimates suggest the UK has lost 6-8% of GDP due to Brexit.

That's equivalent to £180bn-240bn every year.

That £30bn 'black hole' in the UK's public finances, which requires so much pain to fix, is a drop in the ocean compared to the utter devastation due to Brexit.

We can't go employing people based on competence. It must to be based on their visions. The more hallicinatory the better