IPhO News

The Value of Industry Pharmacists (VIP) Case Competition has attracted more chapter interest than ever before. This competition is a significant undertaking that requires careful coordination and active participation from chapter members.

Strong leadership of the VIP Case Competition team is needed in order to organize processes, adhere to deadlines, and represent the team on the national level. Clearly, this is demonstrated by our third place winner, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy.

CONGRATULATIONS UCSF TEAM!

In September 2021, 65 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 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) medicine to market.

Now in its 6th year, the VIP Case Competition is one of the most challenging and widely recognized professional development opportunities among student pharmacists who are preparing to pursue a pharmaceutical industry career. At the same time, "the importance of a successful drug launch has never been greater."¹

The median capitalized research and development investment to bring a new drug to market was last estimated at $985.3 million²?—the launch period requires a tremendous amount of financial and human resources. Industry pharmacists play a critical role in many functional areas to contribute to a successful product launch. And for that reason, the VIP Case Competition is an invaluable experience for student participants.

THIS YEAR'S FINAL NOMINEES ARE...

With COVID mandates being lessened around the country, Jerry Silverman, IPhO Senior Vice President of Professional Development and Coaching, had the opportunity on March 7th to visit with several of the IPhO-USC Chapter Officers in Los Angeles (aka Tinseltown).

“It was great to meet with IPhO student leaders in a live setting again, to hear about each of their personal and professional backgrounds and industry interests. I was also able to share with them previews of new programs and resources that IPhO will be introducing this quarter.”

From left to right:
Samin Malek Marzban, 2024, Director of VIP Case Competition; Arghavan Zolfaghari, 2024, Director of Professional Programming; Jerry Silverman, SVP, IPhO; Wenqi Lu, 2023, Director of Communications; Aleeza Sheikh, 2023, Vice President; and Renita Moradian, 2023, President.

Join us on April 5 at 7:30 PM ET as Fellowship Experts Kimberly Le, PharmD and James Alexander, PharmD share key insights and their best tips for pursuing a Fellowship. This event is designed for ALL pharmacy students. Given the required preparation, the earlier you are in your academic career the better!

REGISTER HERE

Megan Kirkpatrick
2021-22 IPhO National Student Officer, Internship Director
The Ohio State University
Class of 2022
Incoming Visiting Scientist Fellow with Eli Lilly and Company

My name is Megan Kirkpatrick, and I am the current National Student Officer – Internship Director with IPhO. I will graduate in May 2022 with my PharmD from The Ohio State University and will be an incoming Visiting Scientist Fellow with Eli Lilly and Company!

I knew I was interested in industry from my first year of pharmacy school but did not know how many unique areas existed within industry. That is where IPhO stepped in and started to fill the gaps through my local chapter. I did not want my involvement to stop at a local level, as I knew there were more opportunities to explore on a national level with IPhO. I applied and was fortunate enough to land the NSO role I currently hold.

This NSO role has not only provided me numerous industry transferable and leadership skills but has also provided me a vast network of industry professionals and like-minded students to foster life-long relationships with throughout my career. My IPhO National Student Leadership position was crucial during my fellowship interviews, as I found myself answering many questions based on my experiences within IPhO. I highly recommend an NSO/RSO role to any student interested in pursuing a future in industry!

THE 2022-23 NSO/RSO APPLICATION IS OPEN - APPLY NOW!

Ashley Stock
IPhO National Student Officer, Chapter Network Management
University of Kansas
Class of 2022

Hi Everyone! My name is Ashley Stock, and I am the current National Student Officer for Chapter Network Management with IPhO. I graduate in May 2022 with my PharmD and MBA from the University of Kansas, and it was about half-way through my first year of pharmacy school that I became interested in industry. That year, I was checking out different career options for pharmacists and nothing really felt like a match for me. Then, after attending an IPhO meeting at KU, I finally found my fit in pharmacy.

If you’re looking to break into industry without a fellowship, you are in the right place! IPhO is pleased to provide a list of direct-to-industry job openings for PharmDs, updated frequently! You can search by company and/or position name and view recent postings to optimize your chances of applying early and securing a role. Be sure to sign up for alert emails to be notified each day that new positions are added!

All that's required is an IPhO website account!

ACCESS THE FEED

Melanie Hendricks
South College
Class of 2022

What did you learn as you went through the interview process?
Going through the fellowship interviewing process can be daunting. While it is important to research each company and position you apply to, you should put an equal amount of time into ensuring you know yourself. It is important to practice common questions that will likely be asked, but you do not want to be scripted. The interviews with the most positive results were the ones in which I was able to be myself. In one interview I was asked “How many Taco Bells are there in the United States?”. There was no way I could have prepared for this question!

This is a two-way process. There are interviews that you will attend where you immediately know that this company is probably not the best fit. That is okay! Evaluating the fellowship program is equally as important as evaluating the current fellows and preceptors to determine what your daily work environment may be like.

IPhO is proud to present a regional chapter effort in the promotion of pharmacy, industry, and professionalism.

Details and RSVP links to the FREE SEMINARS, taking place from February 22-24, can be found below!

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22
“Service” Industry (Agency, CRO, Consulting)
5:30 PM ET
REGISTER HERE

Direct-To-Industry Panel: How to Land an Entry-Level Job
7:00 PM ET
REGISTER HERE

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23
LinkedIn Workshop
6:00 PM ET
REGISTER HERE

How to Get an Internship
8:00 PM ET
REGISTER HERE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24
How to Find Your Best Fit in Industry
7:00 PM ET
REGISTER HERE

Being a Regional Student Officer (RSO) or National Student Officer (NSO) is an opportunity to get involved at the IPhO national level and make a significant contribution to help prepare industry-minded student pharmacists from across the country.

As an RSO or NSO, you will gain valuable knowledge and skills critical to pursuing an industry career including:

• Acquiring industry knowledge through development and participation in IPhO Leadership Development programming
• Enhancing your written and oral communication skills that industry values
• Gaining extensive people and project management experience that will resonate with industry employers
• Networking with fellows, students, and senior leaders within IPhO which allows you to be highly visible and recognized

Interviews and offers will be made on a rolling basis, so don't wait to apply!

APPLY HERE TODAY!

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 276 Class of 2021 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 NOW!

Thank you to the publication authors:

• James G. Alexander, PharmD
• Srayant Gayam, PharmD Candidate
• Myra Sheikh, PharmD Candidate
• Sarah Mathre, PharmD Candidate
• Gwang-Wen J. Hu, PharmD Candidate

Simran Randhawa, PharmD
Global Medical Affairs Fellow, Inflammation & Immunology
Pfizer
University of the Pacific, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy

Why did you choose Medical Affairs as your functional area?
I chose Medical Affairs because of the plethora of opportunities within the functional area to not only expand my clinical knowledge but also to expand the asset and patient care. I have always been interested in working on medical strategy, congress strategy and content, creating relationships with key opinion leaders, as well as participating in the publication of scientific abstracts and manuscripts. Medical Affairs is also very broad in the sense that there are multiple subsections, and for me that was always interesting—seeing how each part of Medical Affairs interacts with each other and cross-functionally intrigued me as well.

On January 11, 2022, the IPhO National Fellows Council Student Development Committee hosted a “REVEAL” webinar to announce the VIP Case Competition Challenge Point. The Challenge Point is a scenario that chapters will have to tackle in order to prepare a successful new product launch plan.

Over 70 IPhO chapters are participating in the 2021-22 VIP Case Competition and 170 representatives from those chapters were on the webinar to hear this announcement. Now these chapters have all the information they need in order to sprint to the February 28th finish line!

Industry Pharmacists Organization (IPhO) is pleased to announce the release of its signature 2021-2022 PharmD Industry Fellowship Analysis!

VIEW NOW

There are 738 PharmDs currently participating in US-based, industry-focused postgraduate fellowships. This is an 18% increase over last year and a record number, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Amira Yusuf
Midwestern University College of Pharmacy
Class of 2022

It is with immense gratitude … I will be spending the next two years … I am excited to finally announce … that I have accepted a Global Patient Safety and Risk Management Fellowship with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Northeastern University.

Posting that was an out-of-body experience. Not because I did not think I would get a fellowship—I worked incredibly hard to be an undeniable candidate on and off my CV. It was because I never saw this part. The celebration, the triumph, and the peace of getting high enough to see where the path is heading. The reality is the pursuit of STEM as a Palestinian American. Arab. Muslim. Woman. is a lonely path. I am happiest knowing I can now be a guidepost. You are on the right track if you:

Siu Ting "Aileen" Lam
Northeastern University
Class of 2022

The key takeaway of my story: I am an international student from Hong Kong. If I can do it, you can definitely do it too! Nothing is impossible if you are determined enough!

What did you learn as you went through the fellowship interview process?
Being an international student trying to get a fellowship offer has come with many doubts and challenges, but I truly believe that you can do anything if you are determined enough. After going through this process, I also learned that being genuine in your answers during an interview helps you stand out from others because everyone has a unique story about why they want to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry and what they did in the past.

Jinny Hur
University of Illinois Chicago, College of Pharmacy, Class of 2022
UNC/GSK Regulatory Affairs Fellow 2022-2024

What did you learn as you went through the interview process?
When we think about a job interview, we normally assume it’s a one-way process in which the company or the employer evaluates the candidates. But in fact, interviewing is a two-way process. Not only are you getting evaluated on your candidacy quality, but at the same time, you are evaluating the company to gauge if the program is going to provide the learning opportunity and the tools for you to become the industry professional that you aspire to be after completion of the fellowship.

Dr. Dimple Gandhi, PharmD, RPh
Position: Medical Communications, Global Medical Affairs Oncology fellow at Takeda
Alma mater: MCPHS University, Boston

My journey to industry has been unconventional. At a young age I discovered my passion and talent for makeup, started my own business as a freelance makeup artist and genuinely believed that was the career path I wanted to follow. My interest in medicine ended up drawing me to pharmacy school, yet I questioned myself every day because I could never see myself working in the traditional career paths of retail or hospital. I used to volunteer at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where I quickly realized that I loved the challenges, innovation and impact that can be found within the Oncology disease space. After many conversations with people and trying different jobs, I stumbled upon the pharmaceutical industry through an internship, which changed the trajectory of my career. I fell in love with the industry environment and the role that pharmacists can play, and for 4 years I worked hard to prepare myself as a candidate to enter industry upon graduating pharmacy school.

Jerry Silverman, BS Pharm
SVP Professional Development and Coaching
Industry Pharmacists Organization

This is the time of year when many of us reflect on those relationships that we are grateful for. Professionally, I am extremely grateful that so many students and post grads have trusted me to help them in their preparation for and pursuit of an industry career.

Many students believe that a fellowship is the only way to launch a pharmaceutical industry career, but did you know that roughly 80% of pharmacists working in industry never completed one? IPhO is pleased to host its inaugural direct-to-industry virtual career fair on March 1, 2022. Attendees will meet and network with prestigious employers who know the value that pharmacists bring to their organizations—and who offer roles to new pharmacy school graduates without a fellowship. All attendees can participate in group meetings with employers to learn more and ask questions. Class of 2022 attendees can also request one-on-one meetings with employers for an invaluable networking opportunity.

Note: The Career Fair is open to Class of 2022 and Class of 2023 students only.

REGISTER HERE