Question: before you went into teaching.. how did you become a phsiologist? was it difficult to get where you are? can anybody get to the possition you are in?

Michael Taggart answered on 14 Jun 2011:

Jings, this is a good question. Looking back, I think I tried to choose certain things at certain times but now realise you can only do so much of that – there will always be someone else influencing your goals (did you get the right grades for entry to a course, did someone offer you a job at interview etc). So I think I tended to try for things I wished to do but didn’t get too concerned if somehow they didn’t come off. So, really, there’s a huge amount of luck involved in ending up wherever you end up. But… I guess I liked physiology because I was an active runner at school. So at uni I took biology (and maths and chemistry) and then specialised in physiology for the final part of my degree. My first lab experiments at uni gave me the bug for research. So that led me to seeking to study again for a PhD (4 years in my case) which you really need to do to have the best chance of a real job in research (you’ll see some of my zone buddies are doing just this). That was very hard work and quite tough. Then it was out in to the big bad world moving from place to place (lab to lab) for about 8 years before being accepted for a proper university lecturer position. Can anybody do it? Well, yes and no. You need to have the interest and the ability (luck) to pass the exams but if you do then there’s no other reason to stop you.