Dr. Carol Davis-Shiloh, PharmD

Executive Director | US Field Medical Oncology

Bristol Myers Squibb, US Medical

LinkedIn Profile

When did you decide that you wanted to work in industry versus retail/hospital? Was there an experience that inspired that decision?

I grew up with so much exposure to community and retail settings because my dad (also a pharmacist) owned a pharmacy in an underserved community in Mobile, AL. While I was very proud of my family-owned pharmacy business and the impact it had on the community in my hometown, I was also very interested in exploring opportunities with a global impact. At Florida A&M University (FAMU), we had access to speaker forums that highlighted the experiences of professionals working in various pharmacy settings. During one of the sessions, I vividly recall hearing a speaker highlighting her experience in the pharmaceutical industry, which definitely piqued my interest. It all started coming together as I listened to this fascinating presentation and the various career paths in pharma, including Medical, Commercial, and Regulatory.

I worked with a student guidance counselor in my school to help navigate and think through different opportunities, including student rotations and internships, so that I could start building my experience while matriculating through my PharmD program. I started taking intentional and proactive steps toward getting experience in the pharmaceutical setting. Through my mentorship from professors with backgrounds or resources in pharma, and my network, I was able to obtain a summer program with Harvard Medical School Health Policy (2002), internship at the Schering-Plough Research Institute (2003), student rotation at Bristol Myers Squibb (2004), and a Rutgers Fellowship with Bristol Myers Squibb (2005-2006). After these multiple incredible experiences in academia and the pharmaceutical industry, I knew pharma was definitely the place for me to have a promising and fulfilling career, and this continues to hold true almost 20 years later!