Obtain Management Skills Early Posted on July 30, 2008 Learn how to manage your projects early, advises Jane N. Kogan (bio).

I think early in a trainee's career, it's important to think about project management skills, and I think it's one of those skill sets that we take for granted, that we assume people have and most don't.

And I think that it's important to do it from the very early stages because with the pilot, small pilot studies, with the studies you work on with your mentors at very early in your career, because the opportunities to practice these skills and exercise these skills will put you in a good position when you are pulling in NIH, federal funds, and it's really important to learn those skills early on.

I think between the inception of a good idea and peer-review publication, there are many, many steps and activities that take place that require skills that again, either come naturally or you have to learn them. And if you, if they don't come naturally, you have to figure out how to learn them.

And mentors can help with that, mentors can help actually teach you these things, they can help connect you with people who can also teach you these skills, and in some cases you're never going to quite get some of these skills, like for example some of the data management pieces or budgeting. Some folks just hate numbers. They don't enjoy doing that sort of thing, so it's important to try to surround yourself with people that do have the skills necessary to get you from inception of a good idea to peer-review publication.

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