IPhO News

Company and Department: PTC Therapeutics, Business Operations

Current Role: Senior Director, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships

Alma Mater: University of Florida, Class of 2010

During my first rotation, I came up with what I thought was a great idea for an article. I spent a number of hours researching the topic and finally mustered up the courage to share the idea with one of my professors, Dr. Epstein. While he appreciated the enthusiasm, he gave me a particularly skeptical look when I told him I would like to publish the paper in The New England Journal of Medicine. We ultimately collaborated on a different project, which became the start of a great relationship that would end in a journey to industry and beyond.

I then decided to pursue a fellowship at the East Coast Institute for Research (ECIR) with Drs. Epstein and Choksi. My two years would be spent teaching, researching (phase 2-4), and publishing manuscripts. ECIR also had a separate arm that consulted for a wide range of pharmaceutical companies like AZ and Novartis. This was where I got my first exposure to industry and I absolutely fell in love.

Company and Department: Accelovance, Inc., Medical Writing

Current Role: Medical Writer

Alma Mater: University of Maryland, Class of 2018

Throughout pharmacy school, I sought a non-traditional career path and perceived the pharmaceutical industry to be a world of endless excitement and innovation. The core of my pharmacy training was clinically-focused, so I gained skills that would help me prosper in industry.

I spent most of my extracurricular time engaging in international pharmacy enterprises by traveling to six different countries throughout pharmacy school: Honduras, Argentina, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Singapore, and Australia. My key strategy for retaining the clinical skills I acquired in each location was to thoroughly document my experiences and reflections and share them with my professional network. I sought out opportunities to publish my reflections via a variety of pharmacy platforms and learned very quickly that I enjoyed writing – so much so that I would then pivot into industry by showcasing my communication and articulation skills.

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

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. IPhO now connects them to a national network of over 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 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. IPhO now connects them to a national network of over 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 an exciting new partnership with INDEED, a leader in the job search industry, to bring you relevant, high-quality career opportunities for industry pharmacists. Now, you can browse thousands of jobs from Indeed, all with top industry employers!

Save hours of time sifting through job search results and trying to find opportunities that are relevant to you. IPhO has already done the work for you. We've created pre-defined searches based on functional areas that are in high demand by industry pharmacists.

The 2017-18 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 55! These leaders worked tirelessly to ensure that all IPhO student pharmacists were well informed about the resources and tools available to them.

During the 2017-18 term, IPhO NSOs and RSOs:

• Managed all ongoing operational, marketing, and social media communications between IPhO and its Student Chapters and handled onboarding training for multiple new Chapters
• Precepted 50 IPhO interns working on a variety of priority projects
• Collaborated on the development and implementation of the 5th Annual IPhO National Student Meeting, the most successful National Meeting to-date
• Coordinated with the National Fellows Council (NFC) on the VIP Case Competition, which had the largest number of participating chapters ever
• Updated and maintained internship, fellowship, and certificate catalogs that connect students and fellows with meaningful career advancement opportunities

Thank you to the following 2017-18 NSOs and RSOs!

As the 2017-18 fellowship year comes to a close, IPhO would like to recognize and thank its National Fellows Council (NFC) committee members, who have dedicated time and attention to making the year's initiatives incredibly successful.

Congratulations to the following committee members, who are completing their fellowships and accepting full-time industry roles.

Company and Department: Pfizer, Medical Affairs

Current Role: Medical Outcomes Specialist

Alma Mater: University of Wisconsin–Madison, Class of 2004

When I entered pharmacy school in 2000, an industry career was not on my radar. I was working as a pharmacy technician at a large retail chain and planned to continue my career there as a pharmacist. During my fourth year of pharmacy school, I was in a 6-week rotation with a pharmacist working in Medical Affairs at Pfizer. This was when I first became fascinated by the idea of an industry career path.

Despite my fascination, I did continue to work as a retail pharmacist after graduation. I worked in various locations and positions, including a staff pharmacist and pharmacy manager. Although I enjoyed working closely and directly with patients, I realized after 7 years that I was ready to make a career change.

IPhO is pleased to announce five fellowship partnerships for 2018-19! For the programs listed below, IPhO is a full partner in both recruiting and program administration. All candidates were identified through the 3,000+ National Student Network, and all recruiting was successfully accomplished through the IPhO FellowMatch service (without the need for the ASHP Midyear Meeting).

These IPhO fellows will be leaders within the IPhO National Fellows Council, and they are involved with IPhO leadership at multiple levels.

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

Congratulations to student pharmacists at Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. IPhO now connects them to a national network of over 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!

This year's VIP Case Competition saw no shortage of thoughtful, creative, and well-crafted submissions, with University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy taking home the second place cash prize.

The creative process of UIC Student Chapter Members began long before the start of their product development, when they approached their faculty advisor with an innovative concept: encourage students to participate in the VIP Case Competition to earn credit toward their elective requirement.

On April 7, 2018, Purdue University and IPhO hosted the 3^rd annual Midwest Regional Symposium.

Students from 6 different midwestern schools of pharmacy attended the event, which made this year's attendance count the highest to-date! The event featured speakers that represented a variety of industry roles and allowed students to learn more about opportunities for PharmDs in industry. Students were also made aware of the numerous different pathways available to attaining an industry career and had a valuable opportunity to network with the attending industry professionals.

We wanted to take a moment to congratulate the IPhO National Student Officers (NSOs) and Regional Student Officers (RSOs) who have accepted industry fellowship positions! This is a tremendous accomplishment and one that each NSO/RSO worked hard for and so greatly deserves.

We are pleased to congratulate the following NSOs and RSOs on their new upcoming fellowship positions!

On Wednesday, March 28, 2018, MCPHS University Boston IPhO Student Chapter hosted its annual Northeast Regional Event. Students from across the region gathered to learn about the different oncology roles a pharmacist can have within the pharmaceutical industry. Students from 6 nearby IPhO chapters joined, including: MCPHS University Boston, Worcester, and Manchester, University of New England, Western New England University, and Northeastern University. This is the 5^th year that MCPHS University Boston has hosted the event, which facilitates opportunities for networking with other students, faculty, fellows, and industry pharmacists.

Company: Recently Retired Executive Director, Regulatory Promotion and Material Compliance, Amgen
Current Role: Consultant
Alma Mater: Purdue University

As pharmacists, we have skills that qualify us for many different roles – reading the other IPhO member journeys on this website shows the many diverse areas where PharmDs are leading successful careers. You have many options – the key is figuring out what you like to do best. Don’t be afraid to make big changes or sacrifices in the short term to get you where you want to go long term.

In my career journey, I made some big changes to figure out my career options and passion. After working a number of years as a hospital pharmacist gaining clinical experience, I came to a point in my life where I wanted to explore other career options.

IPhO is excited to introduce to its student members the 2018 Internship Catalog, which contains 150+ unique summer 2018 internship opportunities with Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Medical Communications Agencies, and Contract Research Organizations.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in industry, an internship is a great way to explore a new role, begin to develop relevant knowledge and skills, and network with industry professionals. Not to mention, you'll have experience and tangible responsibilities to include on your industry CV.

IPhO would like to thank Brian Cheng, IPhO National Student Officer – Professional Development, St. John’s University, and Qasim Zia, IPhO Intern, MCPHS for their work on this valuable student member resource.

Note: You must be an IPhO member to access the catalog. If you do not have a membership, sign up now to take advantage of special academic pricing!

On March 17, 2018, at the Annual National E-Board Assembly in Nashville, TN, IPhO National Fellows Council (NFC) Co-Chief Zachary McCormack, PharmD, Global Commercial Oncology Fellow, Sanofi Genzyme, announced the winners of the 2nd Annual Value of Industry Pharmacists (VIP) Case Competition. California Northstate University College of Pharmacy IPhO Student Chapter was awarded 1st place for their outstanding creativity and demonstrated knowledge of the drug development process.

This competition—the first of its kind in the industry—tests students' pharmaceutical commercial development knowledge and allows them to apply what they know through an industry-based case scenario. This year, 29 student chapters participated in the competition.

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.

On Saturday, March 17, 2018, students from across the country gathered in Nashville for the IPhO 5th Annual National Student Event.

Student leaders from many of the 54 student chapters attended the E-board National Assembly, which featured an update on the exciting plans in store for the growing national network of IPhO student chapters and recognized the hard work and dedication of chapter leaders.

On Saturday, February 17th, Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) and its Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) School of Pharmacy chapter hosted the Western Regional Symposium. The event brought together students and representatives from top biotechnology companies to provide valuable information about industry career opportunities and insight into current issues, trends, and what to expect in industry.

Attendees heard from academic leaders at KGI, including Dr. Samit Shah, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and Prof. Bernard Tyrrell, Associate Dean of Industry Relations, who spoke about industry’s need for the specialized training and skills that PharmD candidates offer their companies as well as the importance of drug development best practices in the future of industry.

IPhO is pleased to announce a new fellowship collaboration with BioNJ, adding to its family of fellowship partner companies that also includes Novocure, RevHealth, and UCB.

BioNJ is a powerful network of 400 member companies all dedicated to enhancing the climate for biotechnology in the state of New Jersey, representing research-based life sciences companies and stakeholders.

BioNJ is excited to introduce an Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program created to mentor, develop and train life sciences entrepreneurs in New Jersey to encourage the establishment and location of start-ups in the state.

The program will be sponsored by four New Jersey-based life sciences companies that offer high-value projects and experiences, including the opportunity for the fellow to shadow a senior executive from each company. Upon program completion, the fellow will have an established business network and will be prepared to pursue a start-up in the New Jersey region.