IPhO News

Melanie Lam
MCPHS University, Boston
Class of 2022
IPhO Regional Student Officer: Cycle 2021-2022

How did you become interested in industry?
I’m pursuing a career in the biopharmaceutical industry because I find the opportunity to help facilitate innovative solutions in healthcare and drive the development of transformative medications incredibly fulfilling. I aspire to leverage my specialized clinical training as a medication expert at a medication company. It is beyond exciting to me to see what PharmDs bring to the table at these companies and how much we contribute to medical strategy in collaboration with other healthcare professionals.

Michael Spork, PharmD
I am a second year post-doctoral fellow at Xcenda on our US Market Access Strategy team. I am also in my second year with the University of Florida Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy Master’s in Science program, specializing in Pharmaceutical Value Assessment and Communications.

What is your current day-to-day role at your company?
In my current role I partner with pharmaceutical companies to improve access to their innovative products. This includes the scientific work of developing the evidence as well as creating materials to communicate this value to a payer audience. This includes working on payer value propositions, pre-approval information exchange, market research, as well as a variety of other strategic work and resource development. We work with companies pre-launch, through launch, and as an asset matures.

Maria Reji
Summer 2021 IPhO Virtual Intern
Midwestern University College of Pharmacy

Why did you apply for the IPhO Virtual Flex Internship?
I applied to the IPhO Virtual Flex Internship because I knew this internship would be the perfect opportunity to get an inside look into the industry realm and to strengthen the leadership skills I have learned as a student leader at my university's local chapter. I joined IPhO in my first quarter of pharmacy school and have loved every second of being involved in IPhO, from being an engaged member and a PS-1 liaison and president-elect in my university chapter. Since then, I knew I wanted to be involved with IPhO on a national level, and this internship seemed like a wonderful opportunity to enhance my involvement with IPhO.

It's officially fellowship application/interview season and our National Fellows Council has put together a valuable resource to help you prepare to answer the following common interview questions:

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why industry?
• Why our program?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• Why this functional area?
• What was your greatest achievement?
• Do you have any questions for us?

Lexie Villariasa
IPhO National Student Officer, Professional Development
St. John's University
Class of 2022

Hello everyone, my name is Lexie Villariasa and I am a student at St. John's University with an anticipated graduation year of 2022. I am the National Student Officer, Professional Development for the 2021-2022 cycle where I recently helped to plan our Annual Meeting. I became interested in pursuing a career within the pharmaceutical industry during my pre-pharmacy years. Like most students, I had never heard of industry pharmacy before and was only aware of the community and hospital routes.

Michele Muir, PharmD, RPh
First Year US Medical Affairs Fellow
GSK/University of North Carolina

What is your current day-to-day role at your company?
The UNC fellowship is unique in that you spend the first year at the university engaging in research. This provides the foundation and experience in clinical research that translates to the second year at GSK. My current day to day role involves project management, prepping abstracts/manuscripts for conferences or publications, and making a positive impact at a global level.

IPhO Press Release:

Three IPhO Internship Research Projects to be Presented at ASHP Midyear 2021!

IPhO is pleased to announce the acceptance of three internship research projects to this year’s virtual ASHP Midyear. The three research posters provide highly relevant data and previously not addressed in the literature including industry practice specific job satisfaction, fellows’ therapeutic areas of focus, and CRO direct-to-industry opportunities.

IPhO is committed to providing the necessary insights, data, and analytical information to assist students, fellowship program stakeholders, and industry employers in their identification of industry opportunities and recruitment of industry talent. Results of all three research studies directly offer application and career development guidance.

Study Previews

We are pleased to announce that High Point University has joined our network as the 97th chapter!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at High Point University! IPhO now connects them to 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, contact us here.

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

The meeting takes place this weekend (September 17-19)! Click here to join the meeting if you are registered (please make sure to log into your IPhO website account). We look forward to seeing you!

Thank you again to our meeting sponsors/exhibitors!

Whether you are applying for your first full time role or exploring new opportunities, negotiating a job offer can be a daunting and difficult conversation. In this infographic, learn about the primary components of a compensation package and follow a simple framework to use at your next negotiation discussion.

Note: if you are viewing on a mobile device, access the guide here.

If you missed the deadline to register for the IPhO Annual Meeting, taking place from September 17-19, you still have options! P4s and recent graduates can sign up to attend the sponsor exhibit Q&A sessions, and ALL students can be added to a waitlist in case any additional full meeting slots open. Visit the meeting landing page to learn more!

We are pleased to announce that University of Washington School of Pharmacy has joined our network as the 96th chapter!

Congratulations to student pharmacists at University of Washington! IPhO now connects them to 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, contact us here.

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

IPhO is excited to announce the launch of the 2021-2022 Value of Industry Pharmacists (VIP) Case Competition! This signature IPhO professional development program and annual competition is offered to all student chapters to challenge you to design a cohesive drug development and commercialization plan for a theoretical new molecular entity.

Team registration is open and can be completed here.

The new case and competition guidelines can be found in the VIP Case Competition Guide 2021-2022.

MCPHS is conducting a national research survey entitled, Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program Assessment of Trainee Preparedness for Employment, and kindly invites you to complete this survey (see link below), which is expected to take no more than 15 minutes.

This survey is for all fellowship programs and their preceptors. Please help spread the word! Deadline to complete the survey is October 1, 2021.

Click here to access the survey.

Believe it or not, this year's Annual Meeting is exactly one month away! We're giving registration away for free to ten contest winners!

The rules are simple:

• Follow IPhO on Instagram (@industrypharmacistorg).
• View our feed and locate the "IPhO Annual Meeting" Giveaway post (made at 12 PM ET on August 17, 2021).
• Like the post.
• Comment on the post and tag three friends who might benefit from entering the contest/attending the meeting.
• Ten winners who follow the steps above will be selected at random and tagged in an announcement post on August 24.
• Winners will receive a complimentary code to register for the meeting on the IPhO website.
• Terms and conditions apply. Please see below.

Deadline to like and comment is Friday, August 20, at midnight ET. Good luck!

Nicole Fuchs, PharmD and Alec Thompson, PharmD are no strangers to the fellowship application process. They navigated arguably one of the most challenging recruitment cycles during the pandemic, and both secured fellowship roles in their desired functional area. Hear what they have to say about what they learned, what not to do, and how to position yourself as a competitive fellowship candidate in our newly-launched Fellowship Prep Perspectives video series.

Note: this resource is for IPhO members only. If you are interested in signing up for a membership, you can do so here!

Now in its 6th year, the annual VIP Case Competition has become a highly recognizable, signature IPhO program that provides participating chapters with an opportunity to develop a cohesive plan to bring a theoretical new molecular entity from ‘bench to bedside’.

Each and every year, chapter participation and submissions grow more competitive and knowledge of key industry functional areas for new product commercialization are critical for a competitive submission.

The top performing chapters from the 2020-2021 competition are hosting a series of Best Practice Seminars to help prepare IPhO chapters for this year's competition. Your chapter's VIP Case Competition team is strongly encouraged to attend one of the sessions below to learn:

• How best to prepare for the competition.
• How to optimize your participation and create a "winning" presentation.
• How to work together as a team to ensure a strong performance during the competition.

Stephen Boateng, PharmD
Commercial Training and Development Manager
Daiichi Sankyo