Can he be working full-time while studying for his PhD? Like, in a lab or something?

This is what most PhD students and recent PhD's (a.k.a. post-docs) in science do.

Is it unrealistic to have him already PhD'd at 33 or 34 and working as an instructor?

Average time-to-degree in science fields is around 7 years, so finishing up at around 30 is right on target.

The instructor part is actually a bit less likely. The typical science career path goes Work in a lab as a grad student > Work in a lab for several more years after finishing degree > Get a tenure-track job where you get to run your own lab OR leave academia to work in industry.

The economics and career requirements in science are very heavily weighted towards research and publishing. People who teach as a main focus have often either failed to get a job with a lab attached, or have opted out for one reason or another.

And if he is doing that, how come he can't be tenure track?

Instructor is just a job title that means "not tenure track". In the humanities, it also sometimes means "on food stamps" but we always heard that science pays at least a little better ;)

Bob started a tenure track job at 32, with a PhD. It's not natural sciences, though.

Burrell, I hope you sister responds well from now on.

My brother is almost 34, technically 2 postdocs in and on a contractual basis (boss is trying to make it perm; in their field, a third postdoc is considered suspect*) running a lab and training grad students/post-docs/researchers on their protocols (cancer research.) Some of his peers teach, but he's pretty much pure lab/research. He only teaches seminars.

* administration is being a bunch of assholes. His boss is starting to make noises about Josh threatening to walk if they don't come through- at which point he would walk too. And the university does not want that. Too much outside money. But it is complicated, what with spouses and kids and relocating a lab.

Dear fucking health spending account website-

Do not tell me to "Select File A Claim from the left menu" WHEN THERE IS NO SUCH OPTION.

I really hope I just managed to pay the ER bill from it. Otherwise, I'm going to have to track down $400 lost dollars and deal with a company that can't even write instructions.

ION, DH's work has tomorrow off, whether or not the government shutdown goes through, and then he has 4 weeks of vaca accrued if it does. We are...nervous. Our finances are already in the toilet. Stupid pigfuckers.

Gah, so fucking stressful. Such utter, utter bullshit.

Complete and utter bullshit, indeed.

I took a nap today. At 4:30 PM. It makes me so delightfully happy to nap.

It's my gift to myself because now I need to buckle down and grade like a crazy person. And tomorrow, I get my permanent crown on.

And tomorrow, I get my permanent crown on.

I wish they made me feel like royalty, damn it. I still have to get one to finish the cyborg implant.

And tomorrow, I get my permanent crown on.

I get mine next week! Apparently the insurance company took my word for it that it's been 10 years. I should go floss.

ION, DH's work has tomorrow off, whether or not the government shutdown goes through, and then he has 4 weeks of vaca accrued if it does

Damn, that's a lot of vacation! But I'm sure he wants to spend it on more fun things than a government shutdown.

The instructor part is actually a bit less likely. The typical science career path goes Work in a lab as a grad student > Work in a lab for several more years after finishing degree > Get a tenure-track job where you get to run your own lab OR leave academia to work in industry.

Unless he decided to work in like, community college. Our own DXMachina has been doing that these days...

Unless he decided to work in like, community college. Our own DXMachina has been doing that these days...

Yeah, very true -- some of the best paths for people who want to teach instead of research include CCs and small colleges. (And I'd say that applies to all fields, not just hard science.) Guilty of oversimplifying and research-uni blindness, but totally NOT feeling guilty about thinking it can all be a huge grind!

Also, now I miss DX!

I do not know how some of you do it. 11.5 hours of work today. and way too much of that was thinky work.