Pharmacokinetics fellowship

[KansasPharmGirl]

I posted this same thread in the "Pharmacy" section, but to no avail; some people don't seem to believe that it's a real career. Anyway, I'm currently working at a grocery store pharmacy. While I like my job, I'm also interested in pharmacokinetics. I think I may be interested in being a Pharmacokineticist for Quintiles (or somewhere similar). I've looked up PK fellowships, which are 2 years. What is the minimum training I would need to pursue this specialty? Also, does anyone know if the job market for this specialty is worth it? (I'd hate to go to all the trouble and not find a job).

If anyone reading this is a Pharmacokineticist (or related professional) I'd really appreciate it if you could write a brief description of your job and/or any advice you may have.

Thanks!

PS- I know that this is a real profession because the Pharmacokineticist from Quintiles talked to my pre-pharmacy club when I was in JC.

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[njac]

Why not contact the program directors of these fellowships directly and ask these questions?

Thankfully, pharmacy is a varied field, but when you ask questions on SDN you're limited to talking to the individuals that post here. And none of us are pharmacokineticists. Some of us may do kinetics on a daily basis, but that's not your question.

Especially in sub specialties the specialists are often pretty willing to talk about what they do/are looking for/etc.

 

[KansasPharmGirl]

Why not contact the program directors of these fellowships directly and ask these questions?

Thankfully, pharmacy is a varied field, but when you ask questions on SDN you're limited to talking to the individuals that post here. And none of us are pharmacokineticists. Some of us may do kinetics on a daily basis, but that's not your question.

Especially in sub specialties the specialists are often pretty willing to talk about what they do/are looking for/etc.

I have already contacted Quintiles for more information. Since these fellowships require a PharmD, I figured somebody on here would be able to give me some more insight, especially with this being the "Residency and Fellowships" board.

 

[goodfellas]

I know of a professor who did a PK fellowship in the 90s and worked in ID for years and is now does renal transplant. Is in academia, and does a lot of PK lecturing. I'm not sure how common this is (my PK classes were taught by some very out-of-touch PhDs, and not PharmD trained PK fellows, but this might be something to look into more)

 

[y0ssarian87]

PK in pharmacy school tends to only cover PK concepts in a single patient. PK at Quintiles and in clinical trials tends to look at population-level PK. They do PK modeling, lots of statistics, dose-response trials, etc.

It should be noted that this is not a standard pharmacist position. To be competent in this role, you need additional training. My school has a MS in Pharmacometrics program, and I know one other school also has a Pharmacometrics program. If you don't have that or other PK modeling coursework available to you, you can do research with someone who does PK studies to get this perspective. I recommend reaching out to your faculty to ask how you can get this experience.