Forte theft

The professional association I belong to sends out a weekely email newsletter. One of the events listed in this newsletter is a regional lecture even to get continuing edu credits. The lecture is for the generalists in my field... A talk on how to tap into a 'largely untapped income-source' That being MY nitch field. Income... eh? Of course earning our keep is part of the force behind working but most of us in our profession LOVE what we do. It's not just a 'income-source'.

I'm kinda suprised and very annoyed that the 'generalists' in my field are unaware of existance of my specialized profession. Sure there might be a thousand of us in the US, and that's stretching the numbers. Also, there are less than ten schools in the world offering the major. So we are not common...

I don't pretend I can do what the generalists do. In theory I should be able to, but my training was so focused from the beginning that I'm well versed in my own nitch sector but not so for the entire field. So I wouldn't think of doing 'general' stuff just to supplement my income. I'm not interested or comfortable doing so.

Lets just say the 'general' folks tapping into my field would be like a family doctor trying to perform a mirco-vascular limb reattachement.

There's a reason we 'specialists' go thorough extra training, have a board certification process should we choose to become board certified. We don't have to, but it shows you took an extar steps and letters after your name is kinda cool. ;-)
Granted, anyone can call themselves what I am, but the fact of the matter is the topics I deal with is something that most people are unfamilier and uncomfortable with. People's eyes frequently glaze over when I talk about the projects I'm working on. I'm sure most people's idea for researching for work doesn't involve reading the ACCP guidelines.

From the looks of it, others in my field that are local to the said event are attending it. I'm sure they'll set them stright... I hope. They'll be bursting some bubbles... ha.

I know I sound like a compelete snob but we are damned proud of who we are... :-)