Pharmacy schools don’t focus enough on pharmaceutical industry jobs. Read about how one PharmD is pursuing this ‘less-traditional’ path.

By Greg Sitter, PharmD, BCMAS

A pharmaceutical industry job may not have been my dream in kindergarten, but I fear my window for being a pro athlete has closed. With most pharmacy programs focusing on hospital and, to a lesser extent, retail, the pharmaceutical industry wasn’t even on my radar for most of pharmacy school. It took a few years in the ‘real world’ and a couple of life-altering adventures before I set my sights on this slightly less traditional path.

As many pharmacists know, the days in a retail pharmacy can blend together. Sometimes it may seem the only real difference between Wednesday and Thursday is script count. I needed to reset so I fulfilled a promise to my 13-year-old self and set off on a backpacking adventure across the Eastern Hemisphere. After a year where every day was its own memorable adventure, I came back excited for a new challenge. I wanted projects instead of tasks. I wanted to extend my positive impact beyond a single community. 

Using their company career pages, I knocked on the virtual doors of insurance companies, managed care organizations, and pharmaceutical companies. “Thank you for your interest but after careful consideration…” was the chorus of replies for the pharmaceutical industry jobs I applied for. It became a bit disheartening as it seemed HR departments saw “retail pharmacist” and slipped my resume in the trash.

With funds eventually running a little low, I returned to a retail pharmacist career, rejuvenated from my time off and ready to tackle any challenge that came my way. The highlight of my new role was working on and presenting data for the local Opioid Task Force as well as a study on compliance packaging.

Bit by bit, I found myself reverting back. My days blurring together as, oftentimes, the reward for hard work was more busy work. I’m not going to spin you a yarn about bootstraps and limitless motivation. With a bit of luck, I found a resource, spotted an opportunity, and drummed up the courage to start a conversation with a stranger.

I first stumbled upon The Nontraditional Pharmacist; a website designed to highlight the opportunities pharmacists have outside the retail/hospital dichotomy, such as pharmaceutical industry jobs. I reached out to the website founders who were a wealth of information.

Through a bit of networking, I was put in touch with Amanda DeMarzo, who works for ACMA. She laid out exactly what the Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist program would entail and what those new ‘BCMAS’ letters after my name would mean to companies. This was it. This was my key to unlock that ‘retail’ box that hiring personnel seemed to have left me in.

After enrolling in the BCMAS (Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist) course, I intended to just poke around a little to get a feel for the material. Instead, I found myself completing the first module that night and the whole course in about a week.

The confidence that this field is a fit for me and me for it has never been higher. With a fuller understanding of industry, I can proudly add BCMAS to my resume. Now to see how it makes the impossible possible and unlocks the door for a whole new adventure in a pharmaceutical industry job.