Idea for an APPE rotation

[IndustryPharmD]

I have been toying with the idea of setting up a rotation for pharmacy students from my alma mater to give them opportunity to experience pharmaceutical industry, but I am not sure whether it would generate enough interest, so whether it would be worth the trouble of doing all the legwork (and there is A LOT of it). So, I would love to hear from the current pharmacy students, particularly those from Midwest.

The location would be outside NYC (less than an hour), with no housing provided, so there would be a housing cost of possibly as much as $1500. And there is no public transportation going to the site so bringing a car would be a must. Would this be enough to deter interest? What about if there was, say $500 subsidy for housing?

The company would be a small pharma company. Some of the main duties on rotation would include taking an in-depth look at a therapeutic area and updating or creating a pipeline of upcoming drugs in that area. Learning different sources of information about drugs in development and how to analyze the information (clinical studies, posters at scientific meetings, press releases, FDA materials, etc.) to determine what's likely to be a big thing and what's likely to be killed off in development and/or tank when and if it makes it to market. Learning different forces and events affecting pharmaceutical industry and learning a little of scenario analysis and models to analyze impact of an event upon an industry.

There would be opportunity to participate in scientic and/or commercial team meeting. Also, opportunity to meet with people from different departments, PharmDs and non-PharmDs one-on-one to learn what their jobs are like.

Hours would be probably 9-6 or so with no Fridays and no evenings or weekends.

So, if you are a P-3, P-4, or just graduated - would you sign up for such a rotation? If you have any thoughts or ideas on how this could be improved, I would love to hear it.

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[Sparda29]

Call up Touro NY. I'm sure they would like to take on an industrial site if they haven't found one already.

Question about the location. You said it is less than an hour outside NYC. Is it upstate NY, New Jersey, or Long Island?

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Call up Touro NY. I'm sure they would like to take on an industrial site if they haven't found one already.

Question about the location. You said it is less than an hour outside NYC. Is it upstate NY, New Jersey, or Long Island?

Upstate.

Eh, I think East Coast students are spoiled with industry rotation opportunities. If I am to go through all this trouble - I would rather do it for students from my school, which offered no industry rotations whatsoever when I went to school, and I doubt the situation changed in the last few years. There are only a few graduates who went on to work in industry, and normally all rotations that are out of state (of which are quite a few, I must say) are those set up by alumni of the school (or IHS, but that's beside the point).

Besides, I am not sure about New York, whether it has a set of particular requirements to be a preceptor. In New Jersey to be a preceptor you have to register with the Board and meet certain criteria, that's too much trouble for me.

Still, what do you think of the rotation description itself, as far as duties/learning opportunities?

 

[Sparda29]

It sounds nice but there aren't that many schools that are gonna allow you to set up a rotation site like 1500 miles away from the school, it doesn't make much sense. Upstate NY? Then that site is probably an ideal candidate for Touro NY and Albany.

Touro NY is a new school, the first class hasn't graduated yet and currently are P3s. Touro NY students have 2 years of rotations (P3 and P4) instead of the normal 1 year at most schools.

 

[bacillus1]

It sounds nice but there aren't that many schools that are gonna allow you to set up a rotation site like 1500 miles away from the school, it doesn't make much sense. Upstate NY? Then that site is probably an ideal candidate for Touro NY and Albany.

Touro NY is a new school, the first class hasn't graduated yet and currently are P3s. Touro NY students have 2 years of rotations (P3 and P4) instead of the normal 1 year at most schools.

Why not? We used to have a rotation in Hawaii. Now we have rotations in Alaska and New Mexico, as well as Baltimore and NYC. If there are no industry opportunities whatsoever, I think people would go, but a housing subsidy would be a good idea.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

It sounds nice but there aren't that many schools that are gonna allow you to set up a rotation site like 1500 miles away from the school, it doesn't make much sense. Upstate NY? Then that site is probably an ideal candidate for Touro NY and Albany.

My old school does, it's located in the Plains but the rotations were as far flung as Seattle, Martha's Vinyard, Arizona, Texas, etc. Even a couple rotations abroad. Small schools are very smart about providing all the opportunities to students willing to take them. It's not my concern - setting it up on the school end - I have kept in touch with the school, and they all remember me quite well and quite positively. My concern is more that the students will not be willing to go through all this expenses for this type of a rotation. In particular, because most rotations at my school had provided free housing (some of the most popular ones did not, that's true, and it didn't deter people from wanting them, but still) when I went to school, it probably remained the same to this day, and that creates a certain expectation.

 

[Sparda29]

Why not? We used to have a rotation in Hawaii. Now we have rotations in Alaska and New Mexico, as well as Baltimore and NYC. If there are no industry opportunities whatsoever, I think people would go, but a housing subsidy would be a good idea.

Well I know that at my school, the practice experience directors will probably want to be able to randomly visit the site 1-2 times/month.

 

[model63]

I, too, went to a small school in the plains. I know if such a rotation had been offered us students would have been very interested in the opportunity. My rotation with the school was one of the first outside their normal opportunities. The school knew the preceptors so no on-site visits were necessary, we just kept in touch weekly. And, frankly, by the end of school more debt seems like a minor necessity to open new avenues.

 

[psychoandy]

Sounds like a great rotation, since most of the industry ones that I know of require an extensive knowledge of xerox machines and powerpoint and etc. I mean I don't expect a P4 to know anything about say, regulatory affairs, but making copies doesn't amount to much learning...but that's another topic.

I'm on the east coast and could pick from several industry sites, but all of them were hot commodities since at least 25% of my class was gunning for fellowship or wanted to at least check it out. Even in an area with many rotations there's still a huge demand that's not met. Since you're not exactly in the city, require a car, and require housing, IMO it's limiting to those who have money and/or are from the tri-state area. Then again, if you're targeting your midwest school, shouldn't most people already have cars? so maybe it's not as big of an issue as I think it is. Also, none of the rotations I know of offered free housing or any perks like that, so I don't think that's a huge deal.

Regardless, I think you should do it bc there's always a scarcity of good industry rotations and if you're really good, word of mouth will spread and people will apply. If not, 3 day weekends + 45 minute train ride to the city is still pretty appealing.

 

[p-rog]

I'm a P4 who just finished my first industry rotation. Coming from a student who's very interested in industry and goes to a school in the south that had very limited industry rotation options, this rotation idea sounds awesome. I'm not sure how you ended up in industry but I ever end up there, I would feel compelled to give other pharmacy students with limited or no industry roations options the opportunity to do an a good industry APPE.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Well I know that at my school, the practice experience directors will probably want to be able to randomly visit the site 1-2 times/month.

How many sites have you got, ten? A month has only 22 working days, you know.

My school had a couple hundred rotation spots available, a lot more than we had students. That happens when the school offers PharmD for a long time. And the state itself would take a whole work day and then some to drive across anyway.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

And, frankly, by the end of school more debt seems like a minor necessity to open new avenues.

That's true, and most people tend to budget for the rotations so they can take the ones they want rather than the ones they can afford, but it's still going to be one of the most expensive options due to high cost of living here...

 

[Sparda29]

How many sites have you got, ten? A month has only 22 working days, you know.

My school had a couple hundred rotation spots available, a lot more than we had students. That happens when the school offers PharmD for a long time. And the state itself would take a whole work day and then some to drive across anyway.

Oh, we have like 40 sites for community practice, 9 hospitals, 6-8 long term care/nursing home sites, 15 public health sites, and I don't know of industrial sites.

They usually like to have 2-3 students at each site at a time.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

I'm a P4 who just finished my first industry rotation. Coming from a student who's very interested in industry and goes to a school in the south that had very limited industry rotation options, this rotation idea sounds awesome. I'm not sure how you ended up in industry but I ever end up there, I would feel compelled to give other pharmacy students with limited or no industry roations options the opportunity to do an a good industry APPE.

Well, there was a lot of determination and a little bit of luck for me to end up where I am today. My school had no industry rotations so I had to set one up myself. I didn't know anybody either... but I was lucky that one company was willing to go through the trouble and paperwork and take me along with students from schools they normally got students on rotations. Then I was able to sell that fact when applying for the fellowships - that I did all the legwork myself, so I really want it - and I can make things happen when I want them. Companies like people who make things happen. But I would like to give back to my school - because I had great four years there and got top-notch education. And I strongly believe in paying it forward.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Oh, we have like 40 sites for community practice, 9 hospitals, 6-8 long term care/nursing home sites, 15 public health sites, and I don't know of industrial sites.

They usually like to have 2-3 students at each site at a time.

Not quite as bad as you made it sound, but I would have expected better of a school in such a populated area... not a lot of variety, either - unless you don't know yet of all the possibilities - what year are you in school?

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Sounds like a great rotation, since most of the industry ones that I know of require an extensive knowledge of xerox machines and powerpoint and etc. I mean I don't expect a P4 to know anything about say, regulatory affairs, but making copies doesn't amount to much learning...but that's another topic.

I'm on the east coast and could pick from several industry sites, but all of them were hot commodities since at least 25% of my class was gunning for fellowship or wanted to at least check it out.

There are good rotations and bad rotations. Since I don't expect a rotating student to be productive while on rotation - it takes at least four months to be marginally functional in my area (tried a few times on a few PharmD fellows), it would be more for their benefit, and opportunity to learn and explore. I remember talking to a few colleagues when I was at a big pharma, whether it would make sense to get rotating students to help with some busywork - but I have always been against it. First of all, someone without necessary background won't do much useful work - no better than automated database search and marginally better than automated literature search. Secondly, it would be cruel to a student to have them do boring searches or boring write-ups all the time...

I know industry rotations are popular around here - at big pharma company, we did not take rotating students, but some other departments did. I was one of the people they would get to meet so they would learn other things PharmDs can do in industry, besides their department... I could tell some of them were just being polite when saying that they liked their rotation. Can't blame them, though, I think medical information is one of the most boring things in the world. Not quite as boring as IV room, but pretty damn close. I wouldn't want my rotation to be like that.

Regardless, I think you should do it bc there's always a scarcity of good industry rotations and if you're really good, word of mouth will spread and people will apply. If not, 3 day weekends + 45 minute train ride to the city is still pretty appealing.

It's not the goodness of my heart, it's the laziness that would have me do it as 3-day weekends. Half-day Fridays mean it makes a lot more sense to work from home - and I wouldn't want to drive to work just to supervise a student on rotation.

Whether I would be a good preceptor... I don't know, fellows in my department liked working with me, but I never have been the full preceptor, which is a whole different ballgame. Would be a good learning experience for me, too.

 

[clutzyshell]

As a soon to be 5th year student and a pharmacy student in NYC, I would love that. NYC hardly gets any industrial experience, which weakens PharmD grads from NYC to have any opportunity in the business of industrial pharmacy.

So yeah, I might sign up, if I figure out the expenses and if my university considers it.

=)

 

[p-rog]

Whether I would be a good preceptor... I don't know, fellows in my department liked working with me, but I never have been the full preceptor, which is a whole different ballgame. Would be a good learning experience for me, too.

I will say this, the best thing about my industry preceptor was that she was willing to go out of her way to help me set up meetings with extremely busy people who had experience in the area(s) that I was interested in. She genuinely cared about me getting exposure to those areas and wanted to see me succeed in forging my eventual career in the industry. If that sounds like something you could be up to doing for your students, you will make an amazing preceptor. Even if it doesn't sound like you'll be able to go too far out of your way for the students, just the fact that you have been a site mentor here for pharmacy students wanting to know more about fellowships and the industry in general shows that you'll probably make a pretty damn good preceptor.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

I will say this, the best thing about my industry preceptor was that she was willing to go out of her way to help me set up meetings with extremely busy people who had experience in the area(s) that I was interested in.

I thought that's an integral part of a rotation - getting someone to at least talk to people from all different areas, not be stuck with the same few people all month and get a skewed perspective. Not to mention that the main reason I love my job is that I am the collecting link between all the different departments and get to interact with a lot of people. Which is a challenge in and of itself, but it makes the job more fun. And to me "interesting" has always been the most important criterium when choosing a job, more than the pay, or career opportunties, or title, or location.

Even if it doesn't sound like you'll be able to go too far out of your way for the students, just the fact that you have been a site mentor here for pharmacy students wanting to know more about fellowships and the industry in general shows that you'll probably make a pretty damn good preceptor.

I would hope so... the thing is, I expect a lot from myself and from others, so to avoid musual disappointment I would have to hand-pick my students. A couple rotations when I went to school had separate applications which ran in parallel to the regular rotation selector - like veterinary pharmacy, managed care, international. These were reviewed by the preceptors who chose the students they felt would benefit the most from the experience and who they felt they could work with. I would certainly want to know why someone wants a rotation like that, what they expect to get out of it, and whether they have a personality I could work with.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

As a soon to be 5th year student and a pharmacy student in NYC, I would love that. NYC hardly gets any industrial experience, which weakens PharmD grads from NYC to have any opportunity in the business of industrial pharmacy.

I am surprized that would be the case... considering all the pharma industry in North NJ and in New York and with Connecticut and Massachussetts not beign that far away...

 

[Argentium]

I am surprized that would be the case... considering all the pharma industry in North NJ and in New York and with Connecticut and Massachussetts not beign that far away...

Maybe he goes to one of the newer pharmacy schools. Touro is the only pharmacy school I can think of in NYC anyways and that seems to fit the bill. A lot of the spoiled schools you mentioned are pretty old schools in the tri-state area. Rutgers is definitely one of them

 

[Sparda29]

I am surprized that would be the case... considering all the pharma industry in North NJ and in New York and with Connecticut and Massachussetts not beign that far away...

Maybe he goes to one of the newer pharmacy schools. Touro is the only pharmacy school I can think of in NYC anyways and that seems to fit the bill. A lot of the spoiled schools you mentioned are pretty old schools in the tri-state area. Rutgers is definitely one of them

Touro doesn't have a 5th year, so the OP can't be from there. Has to be either LIU or St. Johns. North NJ, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are pretty far away. When looking at the locations of the rotations, I think the commute should be an hour tops. Having to move or getting temporary residence somewhere is unacceptable.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Touro doesn't have a 5th year, so the OP can't be from there. Has to be either LIU or St. Johns. North NJ, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are pretty far away. When looking at the locations of the rotations, I think the commute should be an hour tops. Having to move or getting temporary residence somewhere is unacceptable.

Is this rooted to one spot mentality an NYC "don't believe life exists anywhere else" thing or just your personal feeling? All my friends did at least 4 or 5 out of 10 rotations out of town. Rotations are about different opportunities, not about choosing between Target down the street and Walmart two corners over. But, to each his own, I guess. All the people who have never been outside their home state or states immediately surrounding their home state would make me sad had I bothered to care. I personally would turn homicidal if I was stuck at the same place all year round... Good thing that the last time I spent more than 9 months continuously in the same city I was 11 months old.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Maybe he goes to one of the newer pharmacy schools. Touro is the only pharmacy school I can think of in NYC anyways and that seems to fit the bill. A lot of the spoiled schools you mentioned are pretty old schools in the tri-state area. Rutgers is definitely one of them

Maybe. I mean, quite literally half (maybe more than half by now already ) pharmacy schools currently enrolling haven't been around when I went to school, so my perception could be skewed.

 

[Sparda29]

Is this rooted to one spot mentality an NYC "don't believe life exists anywhere else" thing or just your personal feeling? All my friends did at least 4 or 5 out of 10 rotations out of town. Rotations are about different opportunities, not about choosing between Target down the street and Walmart two corners over. But, to each his own, I guess. All the people who have never been outside their home state or states immediately surrounding their home state would make me sad had I bothered to care. I personally would turn homicidal if I was stuck at the same place all year round... Good thing that the last time I spent more than 9 months continuously in the same city I was 11 months old.

Life doesn't really exist anywhere other than NYC. If the rotation is going to be off in some distance place, I expect free housing, utilities, food, and a nice stipend since I'm gonna be losing wages by not being able to work at my pharmacy. You can't expect someone to pay out of pocket when they are already paying a hefty tuition.

 

[p-rog]

You can't expect someone to pay out of pocket when they are already paying a hefty tuition.

If they are really interested they would pay for it. I'm doing an out of area rotation where I'll be paying out of pocket to probably live in a hotel room for 5 weeks. I voluntarily signed up specifically for the rotation because the experience will be invaluable as far as my career is concerned. That extra $500-1000 that it costs me isn't going to matter in the long run.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Life doesn't really exist anywhere other than NYC.

I knew you would take the bait, but thank you anyway.

If the rotation is going to be off in some distance place, I expect free housing, utilities, food, and a nice stipend since I'm gonna be losing wages by not being able to work at my pharmacy. You can't expect someone to pay out of pocket when they are already paying a hefty tuition.

That's true that free housing is nice - and most rotations at my school offered free housing, but stipend - that's asking too much.

And some of the best rotations I know of did not offer free housing, but were no less popular for that. If you really want something - you want something, and you are willing to make short-term sacrifices for that. Many people will not - and that's fine too, as long as those many people don't happen to be my family or friends, so I am not stuck listening to them whine about cold, cruel world not letting them have a life of their dreams a few years/decades down the road.

 

[Sparda29]

Anyways, Touro requires students on rotations to report back to school on Fridays for an hour or two of reflections. If the site was that far away where someone was required to get temporary housing somewhere, it wouldn't be feasible.

And the school wants to restrict the sites to the Harlem community/inner city/low income areas since that is part of the mission of the school.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Anyways, Touro requires students on rotations to report back to school on Fridays for an hour or two of reflections. If the site was that far away where someone was required to get temporary housing somewhere, it wouldn't be feasible.

Every Friday? I would be annoyed - even if I were in the hospital across the street. I don't see much utility in having these reflections... once, at the end of each rotation, I could see it - but every week? Your school is very new, isn't it? Maybe it's because they are trying to gage which sites are good/bad and try to collect as much feedback as possible, and/or try to assist the sites so they can make modifications and make it a better experience? Then I could see value of it.

I looked it up - inaugural class came in the fall of 2008. OK, that explains a lot.

And the school wants to restrict the sites to the Harlem community/inner city/low income areas since that is part of the mission of the school.

Oh. Makes sense, then. That's an admirable mission, but one that does not appeal to me personally at all.

Strange curriculum, too. Oh well, as long as the students who are there are happy - who cares what I think, right?

 

[owlegrad]

Oh. Makes sense, then. That's an admirable mission, but one that does not appeal to me personally at all.

I have to agree. Reporting every Friday seems oddly controlling and restricting rotation sites seems downright unfair to the students. I guess if the student strongly agreed with the school's mission it wouldn't be a problem, but it still seems very controlling and strangely limiting to the students. It's funny because I don't actually want to do any out of state rotations, but if my school didn't allow me that chance, it would drive me nuts. It's all I would be able to think about. I would lose sleep at night thinking about all the rotations that I couldn't do.

 

[Sparda29]

Every Friday? I would be annoyed - even if I were in the hospital across the street. I don't see much utility in having these reflections... once, at the end of each rotation, I could see it - but every week? Your school is very new, isn't it? Maybe it's because they are trying to gage which sites are good/bad and try to collect as much feedback as possible, and/or try to assist the sites so they can make modifications and make it a better experience? Then I could see value of it.

I looked it up - inaugural class came in the fall of 2008. OK, that explains a lot.

Oh. Makes sense, then. That's an admirable mission, but one that does not appeal to me personally at all.

Strange curriculum, too. Oh well, as long as the students who are there are happy - who cares what I think, right?

Yeah, part of it is to get feedback about the sites. One of the sites I had last year was supposed to be about public health. It turned out to be a place that dealt with domestic violence. I got there and I immediately sensed the femi-nazi nature of the place. They had me filing papers for most of the day. I gave them a negative review even though I got a positive review. My next public health rotation is gonna be a HIV clinic and support center.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

I have to agree. Reporting every Friday seems oddly controlling and restricting rotation sites seems downright unfair to the students. I guess if the student strongly agreed with the school's mission it wouldn't be a problem, but it still seems very controlling and strangely limiting to the students. It's funny because I don't actually want to do any out of state rotations, but if my school didn't allow me that chance, it would drive me nuts. It's all I would be able to think about. I would lose sleep at night thinking about all the rotations that I couldn't do.

I don't think I knew anything about rotations when I applied for pharmacy school. I do remember meeting with an assistant dean because I had a few questions - and the guy was the pharmacist for the US Olympics team at the time, and he said there was a rotation at the US Olymipcs training facility in Colorado? (can't remember the state) so I thought it would be cool. Unfortunately he left before I got to the last year, so I did not get to do it... truth is, list of rotations offered is likely to be somewhat different between when you get in and when you actually get to go on rotations - people change jobs, after all. But overarching philosophy is certainly something to think about. I would never go to a school that is highly restrictive in terms of what its students should/would do... I am all for offering as many opportunities as possible - and let the students make a grab for it, as best as they can. I am lucky my school happened to do just that. Good old Midwestern common sense.

 

[Sparda29]

We were going to have a rotation in Peru, but they couldn't guarantee that there would be kosher food, etc so it was cancelled. (Touro is a Jewish sponsored school.) There was going to be a faculty preceptor with us. It was going to be a rotation on medicinal plants in the Amazon.

There are plans for a rotation in Ghana as well (pharmacy services in Ghana.) Also gonna be a faculty preceptor.

 

[owlegrad]

We were going to have a rotation in Peru, but they couldn't guarantee that there would be kosher food, etc so it was cancelled. (Touro is a Jewish sponsored school.) There was going to be a faculty preceptor with us. It was going to be a rotation on medicinal plants in the Amazon.

There are plans for a rotation in Ghana as well (pharmacy services in Ghana.) Also gonna be a faculty preceptor.

Sounds cool.

Is Ghana known for having kosher food? Or (and maybe I am thinking a little to "inside the box") what about having a rotation in Israel? No problem with kosher food there, I would imagine.

 

[Sparda29]

Sounds cool.

Is Ghana known for having kosher food? Or (and maybe I am thinking a little to "inside the box") what about having a rotation in Israel? No problem with kosher food there, I would imagine.

Hehe, Israel. I'd probably be detained and questioned upon landing because of my religion (Muslim), and since I've donated money to a lot of pro-palestinian causes (some might be considered terrorist), including the group that was on that ship that tried to break the blockade.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Hehe, Israel. I'd probably be detained and questioned upon landing because of my religion (Muslim), and since I've donated money to a lot of pro-palestinian causes (some might be considered terrorist), including the group that was on that ship that tried to break the blockade.

A Muslim going to a Jewish-sponsored school? Only in America...

 

[Sparda29]

A Muslim going to a Jewish-sponsored school? Only in America...

That didn't matter much to me, actually get a bunch of extra holidays because of it. Only complaint I have about this is that they took the Monster energy drinks out of the vending machines since it isn't kosher. The Israel-Palestine conflict is purely a political conflict about land. The people that bring religion into it are the problem.

 

[FruitFly]

I do remember meeting with an assistant dean because I had a few questions - and the guy was the pharmacist for the US Olympics team at the time, and he said there was a rotation at the US Olymipcs training facility in Colorado?

Probably no anabolic steroids, frusemide, psueodoephedrine dispensed during that rotation (I would hope)

 

[Farcus]

Hi IndustryPharmD

Do you mind telling me your roll and daily job description as a pharmacist in the pharmaceutical industry?

From pharmaceutics i'm getting the impression the pharmacist are there for drug development phase testing? What else? Highly curious

 

[p-rog]

Hi IndustryPharmD
From pharmaceutics i'm getting the impression the pharmacist are there for drug development phase testing? What else? Highly curious

Having just finished a rotation at a pharmaceutical company, I will say that yes, many pharmacists are involved in the pharmaceutics aspect of drug development and also with clinical trial management (I assume that's what you meant by "phase testing"). That being said, pharmacists can work in basically any department of the company if they get the right training/experience. Most pharmD's enter industry as MSL's or some other part of med info/communications (basically drug info and disease state info providers) or drug safety/pharmacovigillence (dealing with AE reporting mostly).

If memory serves me correctly, IndustryPharmD is involved on the commercial side, specifically in marketing, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

Hi IndustryPharmD

Do you mind telling me your roll and daily job description as a pharmacist in the pharmaceutical industry?

From pharmaceutics i'm getting the impression the pharmacist are there for drug development phase testing? What else? Highly curious

You can do pretty much anything you want to do... it just the question of how difficult or how long it takes to get there. I think I have covered it in the Pharmaceutical Industry 101 thread linked in my signature...

Which, by the way, I have updated a little. Especially the first post... when I first wrote it, I really felt uncomfortable sharing any personal detail at all on a board where someone I knew professionally could stumble into it.

 

[IndustryPharmD]

If memory serves me correctly, IndustryPharmD is involved on the commercial side, specifically in marketing, but I'm not 100% sure.

Commercial side, yes. Marketing, now. Though I worked particularly closely with marketing at my previous job, spending about half my time in meetings with them, the nature of my work is entirely different. Marketing requires a completely different world view... I am far too sceptical to make a good marketer. I prefer shooting ideas down to generating them.