Faculty, Freelancers, and Fairness: Rethinking How We Value External Experts

Faculty, Freelancers, and Fairness: Rethinking How We Value External Experts

In academia and healthcare, inviting external experts to speak or facilitate sessions is a common practice. These engagements add richness, new perspectives, and practical value to learning. But it is worth reflecting: Do our systems of honoraria and reimbursements really acknowledge the different situations of invited faculty? Sharing an Experience Not long ago, I was invited by a reputed institution to deliver a talk and facilitate a group activity. There was no honorarium given to speakers. Happens off and on. I accept that in the spirit of sharing.  But when it came to travel reimbursement, things became unexpectedly complicated. Since…
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Health science libraries and librarians – rewrite the expectations!

Health science libraries and librarians – rewrite the expectations!

Should the library be closed? This was a question I found in the main library file, when I joined the  Hinduja Hospital as Librarian in March 1992. That was nearly three decades ago. The reason stated was - the library was not being utilized enough. Having just joined, the question seemed scary to me. How long would my job last - I thought to myself? It turned out that I stayed in the job for 3.5 years. By that time I had turned the library into a bee hive of activity, usage and more. And it is gratifying to remember…
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What are your problems?

What are your problems?

I recently attended a webinar titled "Sales Excellence for B2B Selling in Emerging Markets". The topic obviously sounds "Oh so commercial", but guess what? The audience were all from the social sector. Now why did we need such a webinar? It turns out that all of us are either creating products or offering services (or both). Only, what we do is for a social objective. The presenter of the webinar was Scott Roy from "Whitten & Roy Parthership" (USA) and he did a great job of tailoring his talk with the social sector in mind! The main message that he…
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