Nontraditional Paths: My Experience in Industry

Posted by Unknown at Tuesday, December 30, 2014

I spent my second rotation block in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a specific focus in Feminine Care Product Safety. When initially received the assignment, I honestly did not know what to expect. However, I realized soon after I arrived that I had been given an invaluable opportunity to improve the knowledge base of individuals working in this area once I learned more about the project I would be working on over the next five weeks.

The main project that I was given was to look into mucosal absorption of chemical compounds. Many of the individuals that I was primarily working with had backgrounds in toxicology and regulatory affairs, so they were truly excited about gaining some perspective from someone with a different perspective. Overall, my project involved gaining an understanding of key physiological features of these physical membranes, and also revisiting the importance of physicochemical properties when trying to look at what may or may not be absorbed across mucosal tissues. These components required numerous literature searches to retrieve and compile a lot of this information. However, as I came to the end of my rotation, I was able to also apply my pharmaceutical science knowledge to my final recommendations for what to do next, and was even able to discuss my suggestions with other scientists in the area to confirm that my thoughts were valid.

Throughout this project, I met with my preceptor and others in my focus area in order to understand their needs and also ensure that my project remained on track throughout the course of my rotation. My project culminated in a thorough written summary of all of the literature that I came across as I worked on the project. In addition, I gave a 50-minute presentation at the end of my rotation to the individuals in my area so they could learn about everything I had worked on, and what the next steps were that they needed to take in order to progress my project. What was especially neat about this presentation was that they turned it into a continuing education (CE) credit for all of the PharmDs at the company. 

P&G also provided us with a list of PharmDs at the company to reach out to about their experiences at the company and the career paths that led them to where they were at that time. They specialized in numerous functional areas, and were all truly passionate about the areas and projects that they were working on. The consistent message from each of these individuals was that P&G was oriented around their personal and professional development, and many noted that they had been able to pursue projects outside of their own scope of practice in order to broaden their exposures to the many products and initiatives that the company was working on. In addition, many of the individuals that I met with pointed me to other professionals in areas that I was interested in learning about.

Overall, my rotation at P&G was an amazing experience. This rotation truly pulled on the knowledge that I had developed as a PharmD student, but also challenged me to dive into an area that I had never really considered previously. I would highly encourage anyone interested in more of a research or industry career to definitely consider this rotation as part of your fourth year experience.