Grandpa goes back to school to retool career,
and stay in Kalamazoo with his grandchildren

by R. Kay Miller

Family? Or job? Most people struggle balancing time between these two valuable aspects of life, but in today’s working world, it can also mean giving up one or the other.

Douglas Decker of Kalamazoo was a research scientist and young grandfather (in his 40s) when he was faced with this dilemma through the Pfizer Inc. takeover of Pharmacia/Upjohn. He wondered — could he start over professionally?

Decker chose to remain near his three grown children instead of following the company east and found a way to retool his work life at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

“I weighed being able to see my grandkids grow up, and going to Connecticut to keep my career just wasn‘t as important,” Decker said. The implication was an alternate job “because, while money’s not everything, you still have to eat.” At 52, Decker’s proved he’s hungry for life’s challenges. He’ll graduate in May from the respiratory-care program at KVCC, which will give him plenty of options to work as a respiratory therapist in the Kalamazoo area. He also holds down a full-time job as vice president of a company he established.

And the bonus? He begins every work-day morning, since his wife cares for their grandchildren, with kisses from his newest, nearly 2-year old granddaughter.

Research was a familiar task to the scientist in Decker as he determined a new direction. But, in weighing his decision, it was ultimately less his science background than the demand for respiratory care therapists in the region and the national reputation he said he discovered that the KVCC program had.

KVCC, he said, “deserves a lot of credit for wanting the graduates of its program not just to end up with a job, but to become professionals with a career, taught by recognized professionals in the field.”

The cincher for Decker’s vocational decision was to job-shadow a therapist prior to entering the program. As Decker looked into the two-year-degree program, the opportunity surfaced to form Kalamazoo-based PharmOptima, LLC with nine other scientists. A start-up enterprise researching problems with antibiotics and their resistance to bacteria, the company also consults to help other firms through the new-drug discovery process.

While initially KVCC was just a fall-back plan to the risky nature of the company, Decker said, now “it’s exciting” to think about having his license and to begin assessing patients’ breathing problems. “Even if our company works out, I’ll still work part time on weekends as a therapist.”

Decker’s among the oldest in his classes, but he’s not unique in managing the rigors of creating a new career — balancing school, clinics and full-time work. “Can’t say it’s been easy,“ he said, “but I’m in the same situation as many of my classmates.“ The respiratory-care program is geared toward classroom learning the first year, with hands-on clinical rotations in area hospitals during the second year.

“In the end, we’re prepared to go into the hospitals and do work we enjoy,“ Decker said. “I’m glad this program was available to me.” CS