Clinical Pharmacokineticist

[KansasPharmGirl]

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I'm currently working at a grocery store pharmacy. While I like my job, I'm also interested in pharmacokinetics. I think I'd enjoy 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 pharmacokineticists is worth it? (I'd hate to go to all the trouble and not find a job).

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

Thanks!

 

[y0ssarian87]

I'd love to know more about this as well.

 

[ChalupaBatman86]

No responses from a pharmacokinetacist yet? C'mon, there are literally dozens of you!

 

[gwarm01]

Is this actually a job? Every hospital pharmacist will do kinetics, but I've never heard of the title pharmacokineticist.

 

[y0ssarian87]

I think the position in most companies is listed as Clinical Pharmacologist. When you look at postings, you'll see that many of these positions deal with what you may be looking for -- you'll notice keywords like PKPD, PBPK, pharmacometrics, modeling, etc. I don't think I've ever heard the term "Clinical Pharmacokineticist".

To OP, just to clarify, are you interested in population PK or PK in individual patients, like what you'd do in a hospital?

 

[y0ssarian87]

OP, you may want to check out resources through AAPS and ISoP (go-isop.org).

 

[KansasPharmGirl]

No responses from a pharmacokinetacist yet? C'mon, there are literally dozens of you!

Yes there is an associate research pharmacokineticist at Quintiles. She gave a presentation when I was in pre-pharmacy club a few years back. And Quintiles also has a PK fellowship program.

 

[KansasPharmGirl]

Is this actually a job? Every hospital pharmacist will do kinetics, but I've never heard of the title pharmacokineticist.

Yes it is a job. The associate research pharmacokineticist at Quintiles gave a presentation to my pre-pharmacy club a few years back. And Quintiles offers a PK fellowship program.

 

[KansasPharmGirl]

I think the position in most companies is listed as Clinical Pharmacologist. When you look at postings, you'll see that many of these positions deal with what you may be looking for -- you'll notice keywords like PKPD, PBPK, pharmacometrics, modeling, etc. I don't think I've ever heard the term "Clinical Pharmacokineticist".

To OP, just to clarify, are you interested in population PK or PK in individual patients, like what you'd do in a hospital?

To be honest, I don't know yet. I did a little bit of PK for patient dosing on my hospital rotation this past summer. I'd like to know more about PK for clinical research (like Quintiles). Thank you though.

 

[y0ssarian87]

To be honest, I don't know yet. I did a little bit of PK for patient dosing on my hospital rotation this past summer. I'd like to know more about PK for clinical research (like Quintiles). Thank you though.

If you're interested in the work they do at Quintiles, then you're looking more at pharmacokinetic modeling in populations. This is a different skill completely than vanc dosing/PK in an individual. Try reading papers about PK modeling in some drugs of interest. Also, check out ISoP. There might be resources there.

 

[y0ssarian87]

Also, what made you interested in what the Quintiles guy talked about? That might be a good place to start. If you're ultimately thinking about a career in industry you might want to check out the different industry fellowship programs to see the different business areas where PharmDs work, and the type of roles they have. There may be other clinical research-type roles that are of interest to you -- Clin Ops, Early Clin Dev, Drug Disp/Metabolism, etc.