For many, myself included, the transition from graduate student to early career professional is an exciting and dauting time. It is a period of newfound independence and immense possibility about the direction and scope of your career. Yet, it is also a time where you are required to do more, such as learn new skills and take on more responsibilities, while also having doubts about your own abilities or your career path.
Mentorship, support, and guidance from experienced professionals in the field has played a critical role in helping me navigate this transition. Moreover, my participation in ISTSS has allowed me to make connections with leaders in the field of traumatic stress and build mentoring relationships that have contributed to my growth and development. ISTSS supports students and early career professionals in many ways in addition to providing opportunities for involvement within the professional organization.
StressPoints has long valued the involvement of students and early career professionals. Each newsletter includes contributions from students on important and impactful topics. The development of an Associate Editor position is a new and exciting way that StressPoints is supporting early career involvement. The Associate Editor position is designed for an early career professional (within three years of receiving a graduate degree) to gain valuable experience and mentorship on the editorial process by working closely with the editor to put together the StressPoints newsletter. I am incredibly excited and grateful to have the opportunity to serve as the new Associate Editor.
In this role, I hope to support the vision of editor Dr. Anka Vujanovic and the mission of StressPoints as a platform for dissemination of and discourse around important and timely topics in the field of traumatic stress. I also hope to encourage ISTSS members from early career stages to share their innovative and diverse perspectives in this publication format.
I look forward to connecting with the readers of this newsletter and hearing your questions, feedback, and ideas about StressPoints.
About the author
Dr. Kelsey Serier (she/her) is an early career researcher and clinical psychologist at the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD at the VA Boston Healthcare System and an Instructor of Psychiatry at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. She received her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of New Mexico in 2021. She completed her predoctoral internship at the VA Boston Healthcare System and an Advanced Fellowship in Women’s Health at the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD. Dr. Serier’s program of research is focused on understanding the long-term physical health consequences of PTSD, including the development and course of type 2 diabetes. Her work also investigates disparities in the associations between PTSD and chronic illness across gender, race, and ethnicity.