In this episode, Sharbacha and Arlene talk about learning to ask for help, passion vs paying the bills, and keeping your eye on the bigger picture when pursuing a career.
We hope you enjoy the journey on today’s Pathway!
Sharbacha Edward was born and raised in the town of Vieux-Fort, St. Lucia. She attended the Vieux-Fort infant, primary and secondary schools, then pursued her A levels at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in Castries, St. Lucia. After teaching mathematics at her alma mater, the Vieux-Fort Comprehensive Secondary School for 3 years, she left to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Physics. This degree helped her transition into the field of Medical Physics, where she worked for 2 years in the Radiation Oncology department at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Sharbacha is now in the 5th year of her PhD degree in Medical Physics at the MD Anderson UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston, Texas. Sharbacha considers herself a foodie and loves to travel. She hopes to someday be a full-time world traveler, sampling cuisines from around the globe.
Show Notes:
- Sharbacha mentions her PhD program being funded by the NIH, which is the National Institute of Health in the US, primarily responsible for biomedical research and public health.
- There is some discussion about how Sharbacha was part of the first cohort from St. Lucia to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Look out for an upcoming blog post about the inspirational story behind that movement back in 2010.
- Intrigued by the work done by Medical Physicists? Check out Sharbacha’s blog entry on our website to learn about how radiation technology is trained to target cancer cells within the body.
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Here on Pathways, one of our key goals is to help expose students to the various career opportunities that exist for them, and to give them the resources they need to explore their own interests and forge a path forward. That’s why we’re offering current students and members the chance to join one of our podcast episodes to speak directly to someone currently working in a field they may be interested in.
Searching for a mentor can be hard, and we want to help you get the answers that might just put you on the right track for the next step of your academic or professional career. If you think you, or someone you know can benefit from an opportunity like this, send an email to our team at pathways@grensteam.org. Let us know what field you’re interested in or who you would like to talk to, and we’ll set it up. Listen out for student spotlights like this on our upcoming episodes!
This episode of Pathways was produced by Arlene Hayes and Carolyn Harris for Grenadian STEAM Inc.
Audio editing by Targhyl “Bob Da Phoenix” Thomas.
Video editing by Kate Masaltseva of MindzEye Films.
Theme song produced by Andrew ‘Hitz’ Phillip
Your host is Arlene Hayes
The thoughts and ideas expressed on this podcast episode are those of the host and her guest(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of, Grenadian STEAM or its members.