I am an international student. Before I began to pursue my PhD degree, I had worked as medical technologist for several years in my home country. Right now, I am on my third year of PhD in USA. I am thinking of becoming a medial technologist in USA after graduation. Is it a good idea? Does anybody do this way?

Thanks, guys. The American Prof. who I want to switch to is a M.D. and PhD, and he is in a top 5 medical school. Do these factors matter? Should I tell him that I would like to do the lab rotation first, which means I need to work in his lab without financial support?

Right now, I contacted another prof, but he said I need to do a lab rotation in his lab for 4 months first, in which he would not pay my stipend. After that he would like to pay my salary.

Even though I get financial support now, but I am still not happy. Is it because of personality? I know I used to tend to go back to store and change something after I bought it because I can always find some flaw.

I regret that I have chosen this Korean prof. I know he is a good scientist and he’d like to help me. But I also think the spoken English is very important to me. Right now, it seems impossible for me to switch to that new professor. But I am unhappy in my current lab. My current prof probably knew about this, and he is unhappy with me also. But we just have not talk with each other about this. I do not what to do.

I do not know why PhD is so hard for me.

However, that was not all. After I stayed in my home country for over a month, my spoken English dropped dramatically. My second advisor was very dissatisfied with me and she did not want to support me anymore. I had to find another advisor. In this June, I got two offers. One is from the College of Medicine (COM) of our uni, which is the top 5 medical school. Another prof. is from COM of another university, which is next to our uni. Our department is very independent, so it is fine to find an advisor from another university as long as they are in this city. When I made a choice, I was really not confident in my ability, so I chose the professor from our Un because it is easy to get financial support. But this professor comes from Korean, so his spoken English is not so good. I know my spoken English is not so good either, but just for this reason I feel that I should work with an American prof, like another professor.

Part2: Just at that time, I wanted to go back to my hometown and got married. It was supposed to be a happy trip, but in the end it turned to be a nightmare. Because of the tough time in the past year, I felt guilty to my family, so I just planed to stay in my hometown for 1 day.
I was supposed to pay back the money ASAP, but I could not. So my sister-in-law was very dissatisfied with me. She had argued with my brother. Right after I left my hometown, my brother got a stroke. After staying in ICU for half a month, he died. My brother, who functioned as my father in my life, died in this special way.

It was a pain for me. I know my brother undergone much pressure for me. For a long time, I could not go out of this nightmare.

Maybe my PhD student life is the worst. Maybe I should not persuit PhD at the beginning.

I am an international student. I came to USA to persuit my PhD 2005 with the support of my brother. The tuition and living cost in USA is very high, especially for us, which means a huge mount of money. When my brother heard that I need money to study abroad, he promised to support me without hesitation, even it was not easy for him to do so.

I thought I could get financial support easily once I came here. But it was not true. The first professor usually does not support students in the first year, which is the most needed time for a PhD student. So, after one quarter, I left his lab and switched to another professor. This professor is crazier. She wanted us to work 60-80 hours per week, but she did not want to pay the stipend, which is just half of the standard stipend.

Usually, it is easier to get funding for PhD study rather than master.

Right now, I work in a medical research lab with a stipend in Philadelphia. But my professor comes from Korea, so his spoken English is not so good.I want to switch to another advisor for my PhD study, whose interests match my background well. He want me to do a lab rotation for 4 monthes first, in which he would not pay my stipend. After that, he can decide whether he will support me or not. Should I make a switch?