In this guest column by UTMB’s David Niesel, Jose Barral and Tammie Taylor: Thanks to television shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “ER,” most people know that newly minted M.D.s typically begin their careers with more training as hospital residents. They have earned the title “doctor” and serve a vital role in patient care, but these physicians are still learning, and their work is supervised by a chief resident and an attending physician. Fewer people know, however, that students who earn a doctoral degree, or Ph.D., in one of the biological or biomedical sciences follow a similar path. They receive their diploma and continue their career at a research institution like UTMB, where they become a postdoctoral fellow, or “postdoc” for short.