moldspawn

Wow! What a nice surprise seeing all the happy birthdays. Thanks so much for the b-day wishes! I usually keep it on the downlow and don't tell people but 3-0 is a big one.

I haven't been online in the last week because of my trip to Anaheim for the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting. I woke up super early on Friday morning and left for the airport at 5 a.m. for a 6:30 a.m. flight. There was a connecting flight in Phoenix and from there to LGB. The flight was amazingly boring and I wanted to run around and stretch my legs but that's not possible nor could I comfortably sleep on the plane.

Friday in Anaheim was okay. I was exhausted from being up at 3:30 a.m. eastern time but couldn't fall asleep and then I ended up meeting up with my friend who had moved from NY to San Diego. We met up with 2 of my classmates and went to Cholo in LA for dinner. Not much else for that day of the trip.

Saturday was meeting registration, personnel placement services registration, and getting my mailbox on site ready for communicating with potential fellowship positions. I also managed to get to the gym Saturday night at 24-hour fitness (what a weird setup - talk about dim lighting). This was followed by dinner with classmates. There were a surprising number of LIU students there - maybe 30-40 of us altogether. I didn't think there would be that many. Most of the students were interested in pursuing residencies in clinical hospital settings while 3 of us were intensively searching for fellowship positions.

Sunday was my b-day but I started out my day with eight 30-minute informational interivews. Rutgers University has a monopoly on the pharmaceutical industry fellowships so I spent a fair bit of time in their section. I was busy from 8-5 pretty much and then met up with classmates to go to dinner at House of Blues. I had cake and bbq ribs as my birthday treat. I passed out by about 10 p.m. and then got up at 6 a.m. Monday because I had 8 interviews set up but by the end of the day, it turned into 11 with second round interviews at some companies. I was also invited to 2 receptions - one for Pfizer and one for Schering-Plough. Of course I had to go schmooze with them so I didn't get back to my room until 9:30 p.m.

I was also scheduled to leave on Tuesday but I was invited to 2 more receptions and I needed to go to them so I had to shell out extra money for the hotel room, car, and flight change (ouch to my wallet). I woke up at 5 a.m. and had 8 interviews or 9, I don't remember, and then 2 more receptions. One for Forest Research Institute and one for the Rutgers Fellowship program. I didn't get back to my room until about 9:30 p.m. again.

I finished off my trip with getting up at 5 a.m. Wednesday, going to the gym for a quick workout, having an 8 a.m. interview with Bristol-Myers Squibb and then meeting informally with 2 FDA drug information people. I had to wait for my classmate then off to the airport and back to NY near midnight only to get up at 7 a.m. to get ready for my school rotation at the retail pharmacy. I've also spent most of my spare time today writing thank you letters to the people I interviewed with.

After all this footwork my main leads are:
1) Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (through Rutgers' fellowship program) which was bought by Johnson and Johnson in their Clinical Development 2 year fellowship. I really really loved the group of people I met there. They were super nice and one fellow introduced me to her peers as "muay thai fighter." She was so funny. And the preceptor was awesome - she had a really similar background as me so we chit-chatted about our lab life before our career changes.
2) Forest Research Institute for their Clinical Development through St. John's University. I really liked the people, the interviews were pleasant, they were laid back and friendly, and it sounds interesting as well. I love the location (Jersey City = no moving for me). It's also a 2 year program.
3) Ortho Biotech (through Rutgers) in their marketing research fellowship. It's a 1-year program and I made it through 3 rounds of interviews with them.
4) Purdue/FDA/Johnson&Johnson - this one sounds really cool because of the large FDA component. Pharmaceutical companies have a hard time deciphering what the FDA wants them to do and of course, it is common to hear the FDA be called "the enemy" because their job is to tightly regulate pharma. To get the inside scoop on what they do and how could be valuable in industry because it could make the whole process of getting a drug to market easier, optimally. It's a 2-year program but it requires 9 months in MD, 9 months at J&J, and 6 months at Purdue University.
5) ExcelleRx and Thomas Jefferson University - this one also sounds fucking amazing because it's a pharmacoeconomics and health outcomes fellowship and you also end up with a masters of public health which is apparently a hot area. Health policy is being added to the curriculum at pharmacy schools and outcomes is being increasingly used in health care decision making to reduce waste, reduce cost, and optimize care. This is a 2-year program and it's in Philly.

There are a few other choices so now I just have to send out a definite 5 applications and I think I will send out applications to at least 4 other companies to cover my bases:
1) Bristol Myers Squibb in their Strategic Analysis and Intelligence 1-year fellowship. Basically this group helps research and create decisions that affect R&D decisions at the company.
2) DesignWrite and PharmaWrite
3) Schering Plough in clinical research and development for phase II and III projects
4) Proctor and Gamble out in Ohio
5) Eli Lilly

My backup plan (I got this question 3 times during interviews)
1) I could go into nuclear pharmacy - great pay but weird hours but it's not retail or hospital

Ok, enough of that, gotta get back to writing thank you letters (I wrote 30 today, another 20 to go)