Bridget O'Brien (TSP 2005-2006) is a research scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where she works on the Preparation for the Profession of Medicine project. Prior to joining the Foundation, she conducted research on training and retention programs for early childhood educators. She is currently completing her dissertation in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley. Her dissertation focuses on efforts to professionalize occupations that historically lack professional status, namely child care providers and caregivers for the developmentally disabled. Her work also explores the ways and means by which caregivers in these two occupations develop the knowledge, skills, and professional values used in their practice of carework. O'Brien received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University, and holds a master's degree in business administration from UC Berkeley.