Rami Nader
What are your main responsibilities or activities in your current position?
Director and management of Canada's largest psychology clinic. Provision of psychological treatment and expert witness forensic and clinical assessments for medical-legal purposes.
How does your current work relate to your graduate degree?
Particularly in my assessment work, because it involves a review of background materials, relevant scientific literature and the ability to concisely summarize that information in a way that it can be understood by anyone reading the report. Court testimony is similar to defending theses and proposals, where I have to be able to think quickly on my feet and explain/defend opinions in my reports.
What do you like and what do you find challenging about your current position?
I enjoy the challenge of being able to explain complex psychological processes in a way that lay-people can understand.
Is your current career path as you originally intended?
It has turned out much better than anticipated and I am much further ahead in my career at this point than I thought I would be.
What motivated you to pursue graduate work at UBC?
It was a great school and had an excellent clinical psychology program.
What did you enjoy the most about your time as a graduate student at UBC?
I had a wonderful research supervisor who was incredibly supportive of whatever career path I wanted to take.
What key things did you do, or what attitudes or approaches did you have, that contributed to your success?
A willingness to tolerate uncertainty and take risks and do things a little outside of the box.
What is your best piece of advice for current graduate students preparing for their future careers?
Have a plan, but be open to alternative opportunities and be willing to follow unplanned opportunities as they come up.
How did you find out about/obtain your current position?
I started working at the clinic following my pre-doctoral clinical internship and eventually took over management of the clinic with 4 other colleagues (three of which are also UBC PhD grads) in 2012.
How are jobs normally posted and filled in your organization or industry?
Online advertisements and word of mouth.