IPhO News

FellowMatch powered by IPhO, a new tool for Fellowship sponsors to engage interested candidates, is available NOW!

Please visit here to learn more: http://www.industrypharmacist.org/fm_landing.php Several companies have already posted positions to be considered by the IPhO Student Network of over 1,000 students.

IPhO already has 12 very active student IPhO Chapters. Free to participating Felowship sponsors this year, FellowMatch is designed to match Fellowship Sponsors with Fellowship Candidates.

Sponsors can post open Fellowship positions through FellowMatch on the IPhO website, and any IPhO Student National Member will be able to submit requested materials describing their candidacy. FellowMatch serves as an advanced candidate screening tool for participating entities, helps students identify career opportunities of interest, and should help make existing interviewing and selection processes even more productive.

Questions? Email us using our contact form here or visit FAQs for FellowMatch, powered by IPhO here: http://www.industrypharmacist.org/fm_landing.php

Please spread the word to anyone who you think could benefit from this new service. Good luck to all who are "Matching!"

Consumer research has consistently shown that pharmacists are one of the most trusted healthcare professionals. This applies to the traditional professional practices known to consumers and to other healthcare professionals such as community, hospital, and consultant pharmacy. However, the supply and demand of pharmacists in these traditional settings has fluctuated greatly in recent years, and lately it has been more difficult to find the right position upon graduation.

This is one of the reasons pharmacists are increasingly looking towards opportunities outside traditional pharmacy practice, such as those offered within the pharmaceutical industry. The newly licensed PharmD is considered a medication expert, having extensively studied pharmacology, pharmaceutics, and biochemistry in addition to rotating through clinical and community settings to provide direct patient care services and perform drug utilization and drug information reviews. Pharmacists can also apply their skills in the pharmaceutical industry setting, especially as companies gravitate towards more complex specialty medicines that require a higher level of sophistication from their professional employees. Just as other industries have turned toward professionals with a high level of technical expertise, the pharmaceutical sector may significantly benefit if they turn to pharmacy graduates to handle many departmental responsibilities.

In addition, the opportunity exists for pharmacy graduates to benefit pharmaceutical industry employers in other ways, including the opportunity to elevate their corporate image with consumers, healthcare providers, and health insurers.

Based upon this opportunity for pharmacy graduates and the pharmaceutical industry, the IPhO National Fellows Council is sponsoring the VIP Advocacy Challenge. This challenge goes out to all of the IPhO Student Chapters nationally, as an opportunity to increase the awareness and recognition among healthcare consumers, providers, payers, and industry employers of the critical contributions that pharmacy graduates are making within the pharmaceutical industry. Each IPhO chapter is being invited to develop an outreach platform that advocates for the contributions and benefits that industry pharmacists have in supporting the role of industry in improving patients’ quality of life.

The invitation of the VIP Advocacy Challenge has just recently been sent out to all IPhO Student Chapters and applications are to be completed by October 10, 2014. After application submission, feedback and support will be provided to chapters by the INFC, in order to ensure the success of student chapters’ projects and align challenge ideas with the goals of this advocacy challenge and the IPhO mission. Chapters will then have the opportunity to execute the project by March 15, 2015.

Student chapters will be eligible for recognition from the INFC and IPhO leadership team with participation in this challenge. One of the many benefits of this initiative will be the close collaboration between the INFC and each of the IPhO Student Chapters.

Authored By: Jonathan Douek, IPhO Student Pharmacist Intern and Temple PharmD Candidate 2017

Mary Alice Dwyer, PharmD, Vice President, Global Medical Excellence & Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca, Michael Toscani, PharmD, Rutgers Institute for Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowships, and Jack Bradley, PharmD, JD, Medical Director North America, Sobi, Inc., discuss the topic, "The impact of changing companies after a brief period of time."

Jill DeSimone, RPh, Head, US Oncology Commercial Unit, Merck, and Jack Bradley, PharmD, JD, Medical Director North America, Sobi, Inc., discuss "How can IPhO work with its constituents to advance the careers of industry pharmacists?"

Leadership Opportunities For Industry Pharmacists: Irene Laurora, PharmD, VP Global Medical Affairs, Bayer Healthcare, Katie MacFarlane, PharmD, Managing Partner, SmartPharma LLC., and Jill DeSimone, RPh, Head, US Oncology Commercial Unit, Merck, share their views on how to seize opportunities.

Mentoring and Leadership for Industry Pharmacists: Irene Laurora, PharmD, VP, Global Medical Affairs, Bayer Healthcare, and Jill DeSimone, RPh, Head, US Oncology Commercial Unit, Merck share their views on Mentoring and Leadership.

Although few industry pharmacists are engaged in direct patient care that requires a pharmacy license, many still maintain their license because i) they may need it some day, and/or ii) they worked so hard to get it.

As a student pharmacist intern at IPhO, I am working on developing an ongoing service for our members to help them identify continuing education (CE) that is relevant to their professional careers in the pharmaceutical industry.

I am currently contributing to the IPhO Employment Research ("ER") Study as a Student Investigator. The study is designed to document industry pharmacist career paths, and to date it has been a terrific opportunity.

During the past twelve months, IPhO has been conducting an industry pharmacist employment study to collect data for reporting on the employment trends and career paths of industry pharmacists. The IPhO Employment Research (ER) Study involves collection of self-reported public domain information from LinkedIn profiles. The study goal of collecting 1500 industry pharmacist profiles was met and career trends and pathways are expected to begin being reported in the fall of this year.

IPhO Expresses its Gratitude and Recognition to INFC Upon Completion of a Very Successful Inaugural Year!

After a very successful first year, IPhO Leadership wants to thank our National Fellows Council for their outstanding accomplishments during the past 12 months. Several of our INFC members are finishing up their post-doctoral work and have already accepted their first position in industry; congratulations and we look forward to your continued contributions to IPhO and accomplishments as an industry pharmacist.

The mission of INFC is to connect fellows of all programs nationally and to advocate for their career development. A list of the INFC's recent accomplishments is provided below.

I am pleased to announce that Tina Chang, PharmD has joined the IPhO Leadership Team as VP, Marketing & Strategy! She will be working on the Advocacy for Industry Pharmacist platform and other exciting initiatives.

To learn more about Tina and other members of the IPhO Leadership Team, please visit here: industrypharmacist.org/leadership

What do industry pharmacists need to do to prepare themselves to take advantage of the increasing demand for pharmacists’ skills and experience?

Mary Alice Dwyer, PharmD, VP Global Medical Excellence and Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca provides some of her personal perspectives.

Are some departments more likely than others to highly value Industry Pharmacists' backgrounds?

Click or tap below as Irene Laurora, PharmD, VP of Global Medical, Bayer Healthcare weighs in on this topic.

Please check out and like this video of Grace Lee, a student pharmacist at Rutgers who is extremely talented! Her cover version of the Oscar-winning song from the Disney film Frozen, has garnered more than 5 million hits.

On Sunday, March 30 the IPhO National Student Leadership Group hosted our first ever national IPhO student event at APhA 2014 in Orlando, FL, entitled “Industry Careers: Pathways and Preparation.”

On Wednesday, March 26 the MPCHS University-Boston IPhO Chapter hosted an exciting event entitled, “The Emerging World of the Industry Pharmacist” on the MCPHS-Boston campus.

Over 200 Industry Pharmacists, Fellows, and Students came together to network and discuss industry pharmacists’ emerging role and future growth opportunities. The event featured a keynote address from Michael Ku, PharmD, VP Global Clinical Supply for Pfizer and a panel discussion about challenges and opportunities for industry pharmacists moderated by IPhO Executive Director James Alexander. The panel was comprised of a number of accomplished industry pharmacists from Boston-area biopharmaceutical companies, including:

• Tanya Basu, Manager, Medical Information, Sunovion
• Kelly Hageman, Fellow, Global Medical Affairs, Sanofi Oncology
• Dipak Mistry, Senior Medical Science Liaison, BMS
• Scott McConnell, Senior Director, Global Medical Information, Cubist
• Drilon Saliu, Worldwide Medical Director, Medical Affairs, BD Diabetes Care

MCPHS University President Charles Monahan delivered the welcoming address, and closing remarks were provided by MCPHS Assistant Dean and Fellowship Director Bernie Tyrrell.

Many thanks to the MCPHS-Boston IPhO Student Chapter, including student leaders Sonny Shah, Nicholas Heath, Neal Kharawala, Paul Avenoso, Mary Salatino, Bridget Cloonan, Sandeep Singh, Alisha Couto, Pooja Patel, and Chintan Patel.

Stay tuned as we will be featuring a video series from the “Emerging World” event on the IPhO website in the near future!

Check out what’s new for student pharmacists from IPhO!

• See the valuable resources we offer students, including a database of industry internships, a "how to" guide for how to get an industry internship, a catalog of all available fellowship programs, and a guide for how to apply to fellowships:

This video series was adapted from the very successful inaugural 2013 midyear event that brought together nearly 100 Fellows from all different programs around the country to network and discusses best practices among Fellows.

The Fellowship Excellence Videos include Q &A highlights from a diverse group of current Fellows, Residents, and Visiting Scientists who are members of the IPhO National Fellows Council.

The Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) and its MPCHS University-Boston IPhO Chapter are pleased to present The Emerging World of the Industry Pharmacist. This exciting event will take place in White Hall on the MCPHS-Boston campus.

• Network with other industry pharmacists, fellows, and students in the Boston area.
• Hear a keynote address from Michael Ku, PharmD, VP Global Clinical Supply for Pfizer and a panel discussion about challenges and opportunities for industry pharmacists moderated by IPhO Executive Director James Alexander. The panel features a diverse group of industry pharmacists from companies in the greater Boston area, including:

On behalf of the Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) and our Student Leadership Group, we are excited to present our first ever IPhO student event at APhA 2014 in Orlando, FL, entitled “Industry Careers: Pathways and Preparation.”

To attend this important program, please RSVP here: www.industrypharmacist.org/rsvp/IPhOIndustryCareersForStudents

This informational and networking event is designed for student pharmacists who are serious about evaluating a possible professional career in the pharmaceutical industry.

Episode 6: Are some departments are more likely than others to highly value Industry Pharmacists' backgrounds? Jill DeSimone, Senior VP of Global Women's Health at TEVA, weighs in on this topic in the latest episode of IPhO Conversations.