IPhO News

Company and Department: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Regulatory Affairs

Current Role: Regulatory Submission Project Management Specialist

Alma Mater: Rutgers University, Class of 2019

During pharmacy school, I wanted to explore the variety of career paths pharmacists could take before deciding on my own. I tried community pharmacy and hospital pharmacy, but it was during my summer internship at Pfizer when I realized I wanted to pursue an industry career. After researching various areas of industry to learn more about what would interest me most, I set out to pursue Regulatory Affairs.

When selecting APPE rotations, I intentionally chose a rotation in Global Regulatory Affairs at Merck before Midyear because I wanted to be able to share my experiences during interviews. I also applied to a part time job at a Regulatory Affairs agency so I could gain even more hands-on experience. My hope was to secure a fellowship at Midyear.

IPhO is pleased to announce the addition of three new student chapters to our growing national network!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at:

• Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• University of Toledo College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Palm Beach Atlantic University Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy

IPhO now connects them to a national network of 70 chapters and more than 4,000 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!

As the 2018-2019 school year winds down, IPhO is pleased to announce the 2019-20 National and Regional Student Officers! They will continue the beneficial work being done by this year's group and IPhO is looking forward to kicking off the new year with them in the coming months.

Learn more about the IPhO National Student Officers and all of the resources available to student pharmacists interested in an industry career, here.

Congratulations and welcome to the following officers!

IPhO is pleased to introduce the newest member of its leadership team! Dr. Leah Palmer joins as the Vice President of Student Leadership Development. With extensive experience in regulatory affairs, in the area of prescription drug promotion and team management, she offers valuable insight to help students progress toward an industry career. Dr. Palmer will take an active role in helping to oversee and grow the existing IPhO student leadership program, which exposes cohorts of successful student pharmacists to the responsibilities they'll face in common industry functional areas.

Welcome to the team, Dr. Palmer!

Learn more about Dr. Palmer and the IPhO Leadership Team.

On Saturday April 27, Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) hosted its second annual Western Symposium. Roughly 40 students attended the event to participate in round table sessions with industry representatives from a number of functional areas. Students from Keck Graduate Institute, Roseman University, West Coast University, Western University, and the University of Southern California came together to learn more about what it's like to work as a pharmacist in industry.

After morning round table sessions, a fellows panel provided the opportunity for students to ask questions about the fellowship application process, benefits of being a potential fellow, and how best to prepare for Midyear.

The day was filled with networking and engaging conversations. Many students in attendance said they found the event to be highly informative and a big success! KGI looks forward to hosting the event again in 2020. Thanks to all students and industry representatives that were able to join.

Article authored by Sona Patel, KGI Class of 2020, IPhO National Student Officer for Professional Affairs

The 2018-19 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. Notably, during their tenure, the number of IPhO student chapters grew to 67! These leaders worked tirelessly to ensure that all IPhO student pharmacists were well informed about the resources and tools available to them.

During the 2018-19 term, IPhO NSOs and RSOs:

• Made significant improvements to the IPhO student chapter annual report process and outcomes measurement
• Developed a new in-depth student chapter handbook
• Designed and produced a comprehensive toolkit for all IPhO products and services, so chapters could better communicate IPhO membership benefits
• Created thorough guides that were utilized by NSO/RSO preceptors and 50 IPhO virtual interns
• Formed the new National Committee of Chapter Advisors and produced the chapter advisor handbook
• Achieved record-setting participation rates in the 2018-19 VIP Case Competition
• Grew the student chapter network to 67 schools, exceeding 2018-19 goals
• Executed national and regional initiatives in partnership with IPhO national leadership with exceptional professionalism
• Helped grow the IPhO Instagram following to more than 1,000 and developed engaging, relevant content for all audiences

Thank you to the following 2018-19 NSOs and RSOs!

Congratulations to the winners of the 3rd Annual Value of Industry Pharmacists (VIP) Case Competition. It was the most impressive turnout to-date with 44 chapters in the running. 16 chapters participated for the first time.

The annual IPhO VIP Case Competition enables students to delve into multiple disciplines within the pharmaceutical industry as they develop their hypothetical drug, including, but not limited to: Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, and Commercial Functions. Each phase of the drug's development lifecycle presents a unique challenge that encourages students to think strategically and apply both their clinical and pharmaceutical industry knowledge.

It was a busy Saturday on April 6 at Purdue University, as 72 student pharmacists and ten distinguished speakers gathered to network and share insights about attaining a pharmaceutical industry career. Students came from Purdue, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Midwestern University, Rosalind Franklin University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Butler University.

The day was packed with learning opportunities, including a keynote address, breakout sessions, networking roundtables, a fireside chat, a fellowship panel, and "state of the chapter" addresses from the Midwestern chapters in attendance.

Fellowship Sponsor Company: MCPHS/Novartis

Function/Discipline: Clinical Quality Assurance

Fellowship Years: 2018—2020

Alma Mater: Ohio Northern University, Class of 2018

Having gone to school in the Midwest, industry wasn't on many people’s minds and it certainly wasn’t on mine. I interned at an independent compounding pharmacy and a hospital pharmacy, and always planned to become a clinical specialist at a hospital. After an internship in the Investigational Drug Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in clinical research that would enable me to deliver new treatment options to patients who needed them.

I discovered that I could most actively contribute to clinical research in the industry setting, and chose a fellowship in quality assurance because of my interest in protecting patient rights and designing safe processes and systems. Although I did not have industry-specific experience when applying for fellowships, I was able to demonstrate the value of the experience that I did have to obtain my fellowship position. My favorite fellowship memory has been hosting Friendsgiving and Christmas cookie decorating with my Novartis co-fellows!

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

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Larkin University College of Pharmacy. IPhO now connects them to a national network of 67 chapters and more than 4,000 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 pleased to announce the addition of another new student chapter to our growing national network!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Hampton University School of Pharmacy. IPhO now connects them to a national network of 66 chapters and more than 4,000 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 pleased to announce the addition of another new student chapter to our growing national network!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Duquesne University School of Pharmacy. IPhO now connects them to a national network of 65 chapters and more than 4,000 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!

The first-ever IPhO Northeast Regional meeting was held at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS) in late February. Nearly 75 students from across the northeast attended, representing ACPHS-Vermont, University of Buffalo, University of Rhode Island, and Binghamton University.

Meeting attendees had the opportunity to network with a number of industry professionals, including current fellows, IPhO Executive Director and Founder Dr. Jim Alexander, and ACPHS President Dr. Greg Dewey. Dr Dewey and Dr. Alexander spoke about the significant increase in need for pharmacists in industry over the past few years, so that students could gain insight into the opportunities available to them outside of a clinical setting.

IPhO chapter leaders joined hundreds of student pharmacists from across the country in Washington D.C. for the 2019 Student National Pharmacists Association (SNPhA) Conference. The annual meeting keeps students up to date on topics like best practices in health care, available professional resources, career development, and more.

Mitchell Linton (National Student Officer of Professional Affairs), Kimberly Watson (Regional Student Officer of Southeast Region), and Jayla Briggs (IPhO Howard Chapter President) took advantage of the forum to help raise awareness among attendees about the growing prominence of pharmacist roles in industry. They shared their experiences working with IPhO and advised students on how to leverage available resources to secure an industry career and make a global impact on health care. The SNPhA conference provides an outlet for aspiring pharmacists to come together, learn from eachother, and discuss important industry topics—such as how to improve the representation of minority groups in the field.

IPhO thanks the SNPhA Howard University Chapter for the opportunity to exhibit. We look forward to ongoing collaboration with NPhA/SNPhA—a partnership that will continuously advocate the value that pharmacists bring to industry.

Authored by Mitchell Linton, IPhO National Student Officer of Professional Affairs and Chapter On-boarding, Howard University, Class of 2019

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

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Regis University School of Pharmacy. IPhO now connects them to a national network of 64 chapters and 4,000 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!

When I started applying to pharmaceutical industry internships, it was like shooting darts in the dark. Knowing how difficult it was to obtain an internship, I attempted to present my best self in my applications by having my school's career center look over my resume and letters of intent. I also applied to internships as soon as I found them.

I faced many rejections before I received even one email to request an interview, and then even more rejections after the interviews I did get. I accepted any interview I could because I knew that any experience was valuable, especially when I was just starting out. In my personal experience, either a recruiter reached out for a preliminary phone call to discuss my resume and get to know me a bit before setting up an interview with the hiring manager, or the hiring manager contacted me directly. The number of interviews for each company varied from one to three.

The 2019-2020 IPhO National Student Leadership application is now open to students! Apply now for the unique opportunity to lead national initiatives, expand your network, and make a difference in a professional organization on a national level.

Don't wait! The deadline for application submission is March 1, 2019.

View application information and apply here.

We are pleased to announce that the 2019-2020 IPhO National Student Leadership application will open on February 18, 2019! Because of the rapid growth of the organization, we have added new National Student Officer (NSO) positions as well as new regions for our Regional Student Officers (RSOs) for the coming year. This is a great opportunity for students to lead national initiatives, expand their networks, and make a difference in a professional organization on a national level.

Check back again on February 18. Position details, eligibility requirements, and application instructions will be available. Good luck!

Fellowship Sponsor Company: ECIR Medical Communications

Function/Discipline: Scientific Communications/Medical Affairs

Fellowship Years: 2018—2019

Alma Mater: Keck Graduate Institute School of Pharmacy, Class of 2018

I knew early on when I started pharmacy school that I wanted to pursue a career in industry. My interest was peaked when my pharmacy school provided a 10-day introduction to industry experience, giving me the opportunity to visit Amgen. I learned about the various roles that pharmacists in industry play and the global impact they make on patients and healthcare.

My coursework and industry experience through rotations helped me determine the areas of insdustry that interested me most. I leveraged my rotations, leadership experience gained through IPhO, and the network I built throughout pharmacy school to prepare for a fellowship.

While on rotations, I set up as many 1:1 meetings with individuals in different roles as possible, and always offered a helping hand so I could gain exposure to their day-to-day responsibilities. I took on several leadership roles, including my role with IPhO, to improve my public speaking skills as well as to learn from others. Finally (and importantly), I turned to my mentors for guidance and advice. Ultimately, I decided to pursue a fellowship in scientific communications/medical affairs to advance my skills and knowledge in pharmacy and expand my career options. As a current fellow, I am grateful for my role and being part of a supportive team and work environment that allows me to grow personally and professionally each day.