IPhO News

The 2022-23 student leadership term has been incredibly productive and exciting for our IPhO National Student Officers (NSOs) and Regional Student Officers (RSOs). We want to take a moment to thank them for their numerous accomplishments. These leaders worked tirelessly to ensure that all IPhO student pharmacists were well informed about the resources and tools available to them.

Dr. Obi Okafor, PharmD
IQVIA Consultant
IQVIA
LinkedIn Profile

What was your motivation to pursue the pharmaceutical industry as a career path?

My motivation is to help bring new medicines to patients. The pharmaceutical industry provides an ecosystem to learn and discover new things and is dynamic, fast-moving, and at the cutting edge of technology.

Talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the pharmaceutical industry; what should companies be doing to continue making progress?

Develop initiatives that will bring new ideas in. Create workforce pipeline programs with colleges and high schools to directly engage equitable and diverse talent. Encourage on-site visits and gap-year alternatives. Recruit and hire regionally and provide opportunities for students to apply for internships or experiential rotations at all times during the year. These initiatives will help the pharmaceutical sector remain competitive and grow stronger.

In a single weekend, IPhO chapters from across the country gathered for three collaborative events:

• IPhO Philly Chapter Conference, March 31
• IPhO Northeast Regional Meeting (NERM), April 1
• IPhO Purdue Chapter Industry Pharmacist Symposium, April 1

Students worked incredibly hard to plan events offering insightful takeaways and networking opportunities for all industry-minded attendees. And we're pleased to report that all three events achieved their goals! Congratulations to everyone involved.

IPhO is pleased to announce the release of two new publications that analyze feedback and opinions of student pharmacists, Fellowship applicants, and incoming Fellows regarding Fellowship recruitment processes and ASHP Midyear attendance.

These reports provide valuable insights not only for students pursuing a Fellowship, but also for Fellowship stakeholders who are planning for the fall 2023 recruitment and application cycle.

The reports below can be accessed and downloaded here (see Scholarly Publications and Posters section):

• Class of 2023 Fellowship Applicants: Recruiting and Midyear Findings
• Class of 2024: Fellowship Recruiting Process Preferences

Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) is pleased to announce the release of its first Diversity Initiatives Analysis! For the past two years, IPhO and its supporters have launched multiple initiatives aimed at increasing equity and inclusion in the pharmaceutical industry—including skill development opportunities and tailored workshops focusing on virtual interviewing, public speaking, and presenting for industry to help student pharmacists of color advance in their careers.

In addition, IPhO and its partners have awarded scholarships to students of color to enhance equity and access to a variety of valuable IPhO resources, including IPhO Membership, Annual Meeting Registration, and 1-1 Coaching.

The goal of this research was to assess the value of IPhO diversity initiatives and their impact on helping student pharmacists of color succeed in the pursuit of a pharmaceutical industry career.

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One important takeaway was that, compared to the 20% national average of obtaining a Fellowship position, 55.6% of the 2022 IPhO Diversity Scholarship Recipients obtained a Fellowship position upon completion of their PharmD curriculum. This is an increase from the 44.4% of IPhO Diversity Scholarship Recipients from 2021.

In September 2022, 72 IPhO student chapters from across the country embarked on a six-month professional journey to create a drug development plan that would bring a theoretical new bladder cancer medicine to market.

This year's winning team did an extraordinary job putting together a comprehensive drug development plan and was especially impressive when justifying their thinking at key decision points throughout the competition. Congratulations to our winning team members for going above and beyond at every stage!

Team representatives will present their case at the annual BCAN Bladder Cancer Think Tank Meeting in Washington, DC this August.

Vivi Le, PharmD
Pharmaceutical Marketing Fellow - Copywriter
RevHealth

Can you give a brief overview of your fellowship and its structure and value within your company?

Pharmaceutical marketing Fellows at RevHealth have the opportunity to rotate between two main areas: content development and account services. Content development works internally to develop promotional/educational materials, translate scientific data to digestible messages, and help create concepts/campaign ideation for our clients. Account services is the client-facing role in which they work externally with the clients to develop strategic plans, formulate key competitive insights, and oversee development of marketing materials with cross-functional teams through promotional review. The PharmD Fellows at RevHealth are regarded as valuable additions to the team as we have the clinical expertise to ensure all messaging is scientifically sound.

In September 2022, 72 IPhO student chapters from across the country embarked on a six-month professional journey to create a drug development plan that would bring a theoretical new bladder cancer medicine to market.

Congratulations to our second-place winner! Our reviewers were impressed by this team's strong submission, collaboration, and attention to detail. This is a very well-deserved recognition!

In September 2022, 72 IPhO student chapters from across the country embarked on a six-month professional journey to create a drug development plan that would bring a theoretical new bladder cancer medicine to market.

Congratulations to the two teams below for placing in third and fourth in this year's competition. Both submissions were thorough, innovative, and creative. All participants should be incredibly proud of their hard work!

In September 2022, 72 IPhO student chapters from across the country embarked on a six-month professional journey to create a drug development plan that would bring a theoretical new bladder cancer medicine to market.

Participating teams were asked to cover drug development from many perspectives, including clinical development, medical strategy, regulatory affairs, and marketing. With support from the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN) team, students also incorporated patient advocacy best practices into their submissions—ensuring that the patient voice is always kept top-of-mind throughout the drug development lifecycle.

THIS YEAR'S FINAL NOMINEES ARE...

Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) is pleased to announce the release of its signature 2022-2023 PharmD Industry Fellowship Analysis!

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There are 830 PharmDs currently participating in US-based, industry-focused postgraduate Fellowships. This is a 12.5% increase over last year and a record number.

Dr. Jateh Major, PharmD
Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs Oncology
Bristol Myers Squibb
LinkedIn Profile

What was your motivation to pursue the pharmaceutical industry as a career path?

I had many motivations to pursue the pharmaceutical industry and particularly regulatory affairs as a career path. When I was completing my APPE rotations as a pharmacy student, I had a rotation with AbbVie pharmaceuticals in regulatory affairs advertising and promotion. I learned so much from that experience and I saw the continuous growth, in knowledge but also in opportunities for career advancement, which I found appealing. I gravitated towards regulatory affairs because this function attaches you to innovation in new therapies, new mechanisms, new technologies, etc. This made sense to me as a career path, as I was always excited to lead/work on new projects throughout pharmacy school.

If you're looking to break into industry as a PharmD, this resource is for you! In addition to fellowships, direct-to-industry roles are a great option for pharmacists to begin their careers. Check out different employment options in the infographic below, as well as our tips for applying.

ACCESS THE FULL REPORT HERE

If you're looking to enter industry without a fellowship, don't miss our newly released direct-to-industry analysis, now available on the IPhO website. From this publication, you'll learn about the roles that were most common for the 253 Class of 2022 graduates who entered industry without a fellowship, along with details about the employers that hired them.

We've shared many times that roughly 80% of pharmacists currently working in industry never completed a fellowship. And we continue to reinforce that statistic because it's important that graduating pharmacy students know that a fellowship is not the only way to launch an industry career!

ACCESS THE FULL REPORT HERE

This report from the Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) documents the outcomes of PharmD Fellows with a planned Fellowship end date in 2022 (n=407) by analyzing the characteristics of their full-time employment post-Fellowship.

View the full report to learn more about:

• Characteristics of full-time positions that Fellows secured after their Fellowship
• How long Fellows stayed in their Fellowship before starting a full-time job
• What percentage of Fellows are retained by their host company post-Fellowship
• Differences and similarities in 1-Year vs. 2-Year Fellowship outcomes
• Much more!

On February 8, 2023, SIA-IPhO (Industry Pharmacists Organization) students at USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy hosted an Internship Forum event, coordinated by the first-year board representatives.

Mr. Jerry Silverman, IPhO Senior Consultant, Coach, and Industry Instructor, described the high interest of student pharmacists seeking industry careers, the importance of starting early when preparing for industry as P1 and P2 students, and the value that prospective industry employers place on clinical rotations.

Furthermore, Mr. Jerry Silverman, Dr. Denise Barlett, Dr. Sara Fouad Mahmoud, and Dr. Zade Hikmat presented valuable insights about professional development resources, direct-to-industry pathways, fellowships, internships, and valuable resources for students offered through IPhO and the USC E. Mann School of Pharmacy.

Stacie Smith, PharmD, MBA
Associate Director, Global Market Access – Oncology
Eli Lilly and Company
LinkedIn Profile

What was your motivation to pursue the pharmaceutical industry as a career path?

My motivation for pursuing a career in the pharmaceutical industry was the desire to contribute to the development of life-changing therapies that improve health outcomes and patient quality of life.

We are pleased to announce that Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at Xavier University! IPhO now connects them to nearly 6,000 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, contact us here.

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

Georgia Quartey, PharmD
Global Patient Safety & Regulatory Affairs Fellow
Ironwood Pharmaceuticals

What is your current day-to-day role like at your company?

My current day-to-day role consists of attending various cross-functional meetings, both internally and externally, and collaborating on the authoring and maintenance of regulatory documents. The types of meetings I attend include global/regional labeling, maintenance of IND and/or NDA applications, regulatory strategy, regulatory intelligence, and regulatory operations. I also assist in the interpretation of FDA regulations and guidelines to ensure that published materials are compliant with the FDA.

We are pleased to announce that Auburn University Harrison College of Pharmacy has joined our growing 100-chapter network!

Congratulations to the student pharmacists at Auburn University! IPhO now connects them to nearly 6,000 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, contact us here.

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