IPhO News

Name: Leslie Ibenana
School: Texas Southern University, Class of 2022
Position: Director, Professional Programming
Hometown: Baltimore, MD

"I was fortunate to be a part of the HBCU Industry Panel Webinar. That experience was really great in not only giving representation but showing that there is a network of people that look like me who are making an impact in the industry space. Having that image is enough to really ignite a flame in students and help them in pursuing that career and knowing that it is possible."

Are you a current pharmacy student interested in sharing a story? Click here to let us know!

Name: Chidinma Onyia
School: University of Colorado, Class of 2022
Position: Director, Social Media & Marketing (Past)
Hometown: Little Rock, Arkansas

At the end of an IPhO meeting, the guest speaker mentioned that his company was hiring interns. Chidinma used it as an opportunity to introduce herself and through this networking experience, she secured an industry internship! In her video, she shares valuable advice for students looking to land a role in industry based on what's working well for her.

Are you a current pharmacy student interested in sharing a story? Click here to let us know!

Company: PRECISIONscientia

Current Role: Medical Writer, Oncology

Alma Mater: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Pharmacy

There are usually two trajectories into industry: one more traditional (which I like to call "vertical") and the other one I call "horizontal"—which, if you guessed it, is where I fall. My writing path was from the creative to the scientific prescriptive and is now a comfortable combination of the two.

As an undergraduate, I spent most of my days in class, afternoons in the library, and evenings creating stories in a world of science fiction online. I unlocked a well of creativity and allowed my readers to visualize and internalize some of the abstract notions of modern science. At the start of pharmacy school, I took a hiatus from writing and by my third year, it was a long-forgotten hobby.

Overview This two-year fellowship in pharmacovigilance and medication safety is a collaboration of BeiGene, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology (OSE) and Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS). This partnership of a global pharmaceutical company with a regulatory agency and an academic institution will provide a rich and rewarding experience for the fellow. In addition, the three partners want to build on their individual strengths and common objectives to create a compelling project that will span the two years.

Danny Talati, PharmD
Lead, Business Development
ATAI Life Sciences AG

When did you decide that you wanted to work in industry versus retail/hospital?

I went to Northeastern University’s direct pharmacy program. During my 4th year, we would have co-ops where we would take a semester off to work in a real-world setting. I worked at CVS and an independent pharmacy, eventually realizing retail was not for me. I was always interested in business and I minored in business during my undergraduate education. So I wanted to seek an industry opportunity, but my pharmacy school’s co-op department had no connections with biotech companies. I was flipping through an alumni book and learned about an alum who worked at a pharmaceutical company in California. Fortunately, they had an opening and I temporarily moved to San Francisco to work at Alza Pharmaceuticals for 6 months in medical information. During this experience, I had great mentors and learned a lot.

Name: Andrew Ejiofor
School: Hampton University, Class of 2022
Position: Director, Professional Programming
Hometown: Raleigh, NC

Witnessing his father's battle with cancer inspired Andrew to pursue a career in industry. His goal: to ensure that medications are safe and effective for all patients in need. Hear about his experience and what he's doing to build his path to industry.

Are you a current pharmacy student interested in sharing a story? Click here to let us know!

The guide below was written and submitted by Jaqueline Pereira and Michael Schaefer. Both are University of Florida PharmD Candidates, Class of 2022. These talented students helped pave the way to turn the VIP project into a pharmacy school elective credit. Thank you to both of these talented students for their helpful guidance!

The University of Florida (UF) is proud to announce that the IPhO VIP Case Competition is the first industry pharmacy course in the UF College of Pharmacy curriculum called “Pharmacists’ Roles in Drug Development.” This course allows students to learn the various functional roles for pharmacists in industry and how to contribute to a cohesive drug development plan. The VIP Case Competition will enhance students’ exposure to career opportunities in the industry field which is a valuable experience for students to learn more about the many non-traditional pharmacy career paths.

If you are interested in making the VIP Case Competition an elective credit course at your school, these are the steps UF took to get the VIP Case Competition approved for elective credit. VIEW THE GUIDE

Company: Genmab

Current Role: Global Medical Affairs Consultant

Alma Mater: Rutgers University

Throughout pharmacy school, I heard many of my classmates speaking with such excitement about the career paths they had chosen to take. I was happy for them, but I often felt uneasy about the simple fact that I wasn’t sure which path I wanted to take. My unsettlement about the future changed when I had the privilege of experiencing an APPE rotation at Daiichi Sankyo in US Medical Affairs. While performing various projects that assisted in the drug launching process, I became passionate about being a small part of a larger working organism. During those few weeks, I was able to taste a little bit of how a pharmacist could impact the pharmaceutical industry world.

Company: Sanofi Genzyme

Current Role: Manager, CLDP Program

Alma Mater: University of Florida College of Pharmacy, Gainesville Campus

Going into college for the first time, I always knew that pharmacy was the end goal. But through some serendipitous circumstances, I ended up majoring in business finance while completing my pharmacy prerequisite courses. Over the course of those 4 years, I ended up falling in love with business; so much so that when I entered pharmacy school in 2015, I was determined to integrate it into my future career.

2020 has been an unprecedented year – from natural disasters, to a global pandemic and a push for significant societal change. With so much activity within the external environment, it can be quite challenging for work-from-home employees to focus on their work assigned. For example, according to an article from Medium, employees working on their computer are distracted once every ten and a half minutes. (Medium, 2017) In addition, it can be a tough transition from pharmacy student life to the virtual working world for many pharmaceutical industry fellows. The topic of “deep work” is pertinent to many as we adjust to this space in addition to the numerous distractions that surround us. Distractions can include the news, social media, our cell phones, families, and even our professional engagement activities. Many influential individuals such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and even the late Steve Jobs incorporated deep work rituals in their daily lives and credit this skill for their overwhelming success.

Clinical research today faces many challenges, from lengthy recruitment periods and poor clinical study outcomes to waste in clinical supplies.

Involving pharmacists as stakeholders in clinical research allows for the creation of new solutions to these long-standing issues.

RxE2 will be disrupting clinical research and creating thousands of jobs specifically for pharmacists in industry, benefiting communities around the world.

Watch the video above and visit the RXE2 website to learn more about how this innovative company is making a global impact with pharmacists at the forefront.

Baylor Scott & White Health in conjunction with the University of Texas at Austin is pleased to offer a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) for 2021-2023. The purpose of this two-year fellowship is to prepare talented individuals with a strong interest in pursuing a career in HEOR for positions in areas including managed care, pharmaceutical industry, consulting and academia. Our fellows earn a Master of Science degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Division of Health Outcomes at the University of Texas College of Pharmacy upon completion of required didactic courses and successful thesis defense. An interview should be requested by November 30th, 2020. Click here for more information.

IPhO is pleased to announce the addition of another new student chapter to our growing national network!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Notre Dame of Maryland University. IPhO now connects them to a national network of 90 chapters and more than 5,000 student pharmacists with similar interests, as well as a national network of hundreds of industry fellows and thousands of industry pharmacists.

Several more schools are in the late stages of filing their chapter applications and will soon join the growing national network.

To start a chapter at your school, click here.

For the student benefits of joining IPhO, view the National Student Brochure here!

IPhO is excited to announce its first official Instagram giveaway! We've developed a comprehensive online CV seminar, designed to help pharmacy students stand out to prospective industry employers. We're giving it away for free to three contest winners!

The rules are simple:

• Follow IPhO on Instagram (@industrypharmacistorg).
• View our feed and locate the "Learn from Home" Giveaway post.
• Like the post.
• Comment on the post and tag three friends who might benefit from entering the contest.
• Three winners will be selected at random and tagged in an announcement post on October 12.
• Winners will receive a complimentary code to access the CV seminar on the IPhO website.
• Terms and conditions apply. Please see below.

Please see the link and contact information below to find out more information about this exciting opportunity:

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Contact: pharmfip@pacific.edu

Please see the link and contact information below to find out more information about this exciting opportunity:

Weblink

Contact: pharmfip@pacific.edu

Please see the link and contact information below to find out more information about this exciting opportunity:

Click here for the website.

Contact: pharmfip@pacific.edu

Fellowship Sponsor Company: UNC/United Therapeutics

Function/Discipline: Global Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance

Fellowship Years: 2019—2021

Alma Mater: UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Amy, a Global Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance fellow, shares her experience with product safety, from development through clinical use. She offers sound advice on pursuing fellowships, including tips on how to approach them with an open mind!

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amykranz

Have a fellowship question? Click here to ask a current fellow!