Founder’s Story

I am a Biomedical Innovation Professor and the founder of PhD Source LLC. I completed my PhD at the University of Notre Dame. I received a NIH fellowship to study at NYU in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. During those 2 years at NYU, I was exposed to careers outside of academics, taking courses in pharmaceutical drug development, biomedical entrepreneurship, medical communications, and many business courses.

I made the decision to go into industry.

After months of networking, courses, seminars, interning, and career fairs, I finally made the transition. After I started working, I realized that I had a plethora of knowledge about jobs and PhD careers that my friends from my PhD did not. I knew every job in industry for STEM PhDs, how to transition, how to write the perfect resume, and had the network to go with it. I had spent 100s upon 100s of hours on the phone and at career events networking with industry professionals and I knew exactly how to get from a postdoc into the career that a person desired. Because of this I decided I had to help other PhDS.

I realized that all that knowledge from my job search would have been great to know at the beginning of my PhD. That’s why I developed the PhD Diagnostics Test. This test is designed to help you track your performance, and give you proactive insights for your PhD.

Tom Coughlin, PhD, Founder & CEO of PhD Source LLC