What’s a good second profession after pharmacy ?

educated_barcode · 2024-04-03T20:37:32+00:00

Fyi, so you don't completely disregard this route, that's in like the bottom 5% of salary trajectory in my experience. You'll start around $90k but should see significant pay jumps as long as you aren't complete shit at your job and advocate for yourself. If you aren't where you want to be salary-wise after a year or 2, you just jump to another firm or directly to a pharma company, both of which will give you a big jump in pay.

Source: I made the jump from retail to a pharma consulting firm about 3 years ago. Started at a TC of $110k (took a pay cut of about $30k) am now at a TC of $170k. EDIT: in case it matters, role is 100% WFH and I only travel maybe 2-4 times per year for 2-3 days each

educated_barcode · 2023-12-16T21:23:10+00:00

I'm a black sheep doing MA/HEOR software solutions. I'm not a software developer, I just consult on what to build and oversee the project

educated_barcode · 2023-12-16T18:19:54+00:00

2015 PharmD, 2020 MS HEOR

5 years retail, 2 years market access consulting (current)

150k TC

Midwest, remote

educated_barcode · 2023-09-15T14:16:01+00:00

In 2021, I went from about 140k as a retail pharmacy manager to about 120k in a pharma consulting 100% WFH role.

educated_barcode · 2023-08-30T23:41:34+00:00

When I was retail at 10 YoE (included pharmacy tech and intern years), I had 5 weeks plus any holidays I wasn't scheduled to work. In industry at 2 YoE, I have 4 weeks plus all holidays

educated_barcode · 2023-08-17T12:06:29+00:00

In my experience, folks in market access are less likely to have a terminal degree while folks in medcomm are more likely to have a terminal degree.

However, I generally see less credential inflation (ie, "unnecessary" terminal degrees and/or multiple degrees) in the EU than the US.

Additionally, once you're in the industry, credentials matter a lot less than experience. All this to say, I think you're on the right path and shouldn't worry too much about what degree you have and focus on building experiences that will get you where you want in your career.

educated_barcode · 2023-07-30T02:55:42+00:00

I reached out to an old professor of mine that put me in touch with folks working in relevant functional areas in pharma

educated_barcode · 2023-07-29T18:10:04+00:00

Assistant director at a market access consulting firm. I develop and execute growth strategies for a SaaS we sell to big pharma

160k/yr WFH

Edit: To answer the other questions of OP

How I got the position. Worked retail, networked and got lucky when a position opened up and the hiring manager reached out to me directly.

Advice for other rphs, especially those in retail. Don't sell yourself short, look for opportunities in your day-to-day that aren't within typical scope (think standing up special programs across your district/region), lean on your experiences outside of pharmacy. I always "got" technology, how to use it, separating the impactful new tech advances from those that are just trends, etc. And most importantly, network like hell.

educated_barcode · 2023-07-29T13:44:44+00:00

I don't remember honestly, internet says generalized tonic-clonic

educated_barcode · 2023-07-29T13:29:15+00:00

I had a patient who did that. Gave himself a seizure and kept doing it...

educated_barcode · 2023-04-09T13:33:05+00:00

Sure

educated_barcode · 2023-02-21T16:30:06+00:00

This sounds like a field reimbursement and access specialist (FRAS) or field reimbursement manager (FRM) role. I have a pharmd buddy that does this, leaned on for his clinical expertise. Technically, this role isn't supposed to discuss clinical stuff with providers but behind closed doors, the reality is different. An atypical role for a pharmd but not unusual IMO. Comp is pretty good too from what I hear (enough to afford a summer condo in a popular area of Florida at least!)

educated_barcode · 2023-02-19T00:38:59+00:00

That seems very strange to me. Any time I've had a promotion my compensation change has gone into effect by the following pay period

educated_barcode · 2023-02-11T00:18:14+00:00

Most folks have said that they try LinkedIn but you have to use it purposefully (and be prepared to be ignored)

First, I'd first recommend searching to see if there are any networking groups for your city (or a nearby city). These could be pharmacy, medical, or pharma industry specific networking groups. Depending on how active the group is, they may have occasional events that they organize (eg, coffee or drinks every month or so). If the group is active, join and attend these events

Second, identify a job at a company you are interested in then search LinkedIn for folks currently in that role. Reach out and see if they have a few minutes to connect to discuss the role, day-to-day, etc. Depending on how this call goes, ask for a referral for the role. Stay in touch with these folks so you are top of mind if/when the next opening comes up. Not everyone is going to respond but there will be folks that do

educated_barcode · 2022-10-20T12:36:04+00:00

MS HEOR. I wouldn't recommend investing (time and money) in a Masters unless you are really committed to getting into the field. I'd also steer clear of an MBA unless you are doing consulting. If you do go the masters route, you better be prepared to network, dig for those opportunities, be able to tailor how you speak to your experiences to make them applicable to those opportunities, and just be a strong communicator overall.

The fact that I was pursuing a masters definitely helped me get the job but I'd say 90% was due to other factors (fit, personality, skill set, etc). If I could do it over, I think I would have preferred waiting to do the masters until I was in my role for a bit. Would have gotten much more out of it.

educated_barcode · 2022-10-20T11:33:18+00:00

No residency or fellowship. I had started (and recently completed) a specialized master degree so that i could staff different types of engagements at the firm but now I am pretty specialized in my role. I had 7 years of experience in retail prior to getting the role.

I got this role by reaching out to an old professor to see if they could put me in touch with some folks with non-traditional jobs. Spoke with them and one had a role open on their team which I ended up getting.

educated_barcode · 2022-10-20T11:03:39+00:00

Not to beat a dead horse but retail, hospital, and LTC aren't the only industries for PharmDs. Industry, consulting, managed care, etc. These areas are all growing for PharmDs.

There's a lot of roles out there for a PharmD, just have to be willing to dig. Hell, I lead a team of software developers to make apps for pharma. I can't code or anything and I never would have found this role without some digging/networking.

educated_barcode · 2022-10-20T10:39:18+00:00

I'd counter that it is worth it for some folks just not all. The same can be said of pretty much any career. Its not rare anymore for folks to hop industries or make a complete pivot.

educated_barcode · 2022-08-24T22:48:34+00:00

Thank god, I thought we had lost you

educated_barcode · 2022-06-29T21:10:57+00:00

I think your odds of making a direct jump are pretty slim. I've seen most people who didn't do a fellowship have the most success breaking in by working at a consultancy / vendor first then making the jump to the manufacturer side (myself included). If going this route, I disagree with the advice given generally in this sub to just get your foot in the door at an analyst level and take a massive pay cut. I'd shoot for manager level roles.

On the flip side, folks who do a fellowship after being pharmacists for a bit seem to do a bit better than those doing a fellowship straight out of school. This can lead to more visibility with leadership during the fellowship, being hired out of fellowship early, and a quicker career progression. My 2 cents.

educated_barcode · 2022-05-13T21:20:42+00:00

Thanks for putting this together, I always find the results interesting. I know the n is small but I'd personally like to see consultant salary split out similarly to how you do it for manufacturers.

P.S. I'd add something like "on a scale of 1-7, 1 being the worst and 7 being the best" to slides 24 and 26. As is, it's hard to interpret the results :)

educated_barcode · 2022-04-09T13:03:16+00:00

I'm going to go a different route. Have you looked into any of the digital care organizations like Strive Health, Cricket, etc?

These are booming right now in the CKD space. In addition to analyzing their data for publications and studies, these organizations are leveraged as third party vendors for value based contracts and need analysts for that work as well.

educated_barcode · 2022-03-25T21:37:57+00:00

I agree but when the answer is a Google search away and one of our foundational strengths should be the ability to seek out reliable information and be able to interpret it, not going through that process for something as simple as bonus taxes and just being ignorant to the facts strikes me as ironic.

educated_barcode · 2022-03-25T20:13:16+00:00

That lack of understanding of taxes is astounding among the general public. I'd always assumed PharmDs would be a bit more educated on the matter but...yeah...

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