The Scope of Practice Podcast

New Year, New Career? Physician opportunities in Pharma & Biotech - Dr. Nerissa Kreher

• Brent Lacey • Episode 92

Share episode

Episode 92 - Is it time for a change? Considering your next career in pharma?  Today’s guest is Dr. Nerissa Kreher. Dr. Kreher is the Chief Medical Officer of a biotech company and a pediatric endocrinologist. She transitioned into the biotech/pharma industry early in her career and brings 15 years of experience working in biotech/pharma. Her career in pharma/biotech started in Medical Affairs as a Medical Director. She then strategically moved to another company to gain Clinical Development experience and expertise. She has worked in small to large biotech/pharma organizations including both private and public companies. She is passionate about her work and wants to help other physicians understand the possibilities for physicians in industry. 

Click here to download your free CME credits for listening to the show!

 It's time to Residency-Proof Your Marriage!

I'm excited to tell you about a new online course I'm launching called “Residency-Proof Your Marriage.”  I’ve seen way too many couples get divorced or see their relationships go sour during their medical career.  Medical training is an inherently divisive time, so you have to work to combat that!  

This online video course will coach you through setting expectations, communicating effectively, getting on the same page with finances, and keeping your relationship thriving during a difficult time.  Whether you’re in medical school, residency, or out in clinical practice, Residency-Proof Your Marriage is going to help you build a thriving medical marriage.   

The course is also eligible for CME credits, so you can use your employer's CME funds to sign up.

Registration for the course is open NOW! 

Free Resource: Writing Your Professional Résumé

Most people write their résumé wrong, and they end up not getting the job they want.  Learn the best way to write your CV that gets you interviews and job offers so that you can have the career of your dreams!

Check out the additional free resources available at The Scope of Practice!

Meet Dr. Nerissa Kreher
Nerissa is the Chief Medical Officer of a biotech company and a pediatric endocrinologist. She transitioned into the biotech/pharma industry early in her career and brings 15 years of experience working in biotech/pharma. Her career in pharma/biotech started in Medical Affairs as a Medical Director.  She also holds an MBA from Northeastern University. She wants to help other physicians understand the possibilities for physicians in industry.
Connect to Dr. Nerissa Kreher

New Year, New Career? Physician Opportunities In Pharma & Biotech

2022, Brent Lacey And The Scope Of Practice Podcast
The Scope of Practice Podcast


Transcript

[0:00] You're a sellout all you care about is money you don't represent with Physicians or supposed to be.

[0:06] You know I've heard Physicians say those kinds of things about their fellow doctors and most of the time they don't know what they're talking about one reason that people say that kind of thing I think is
when they see that a physician stops working in a traditional medical career and starts Consulting for other companies especially the pharmaceutical industry I mean have you ever attended a dinner or a presentation given by a
physician that was hired by a drug company and maybe you kind of look sideways out of our you just thought hmm you know what is the real motivation here you know you just you just kind of.
Have a natural suspicion.

[0:39] But maybe just maybe those Physicians aren't the sellouts that some people think them to be today's guest certainly thinks so and she is going to take us on an in-depth look at the pharmaceutical industry and Physicians involvement in it.
I think you'll find a few surprises in this episode so stay tuned let's kick it.

[0:57] Music.

[1:03] Welcome to the scope of practice podcast where we help busy Healthcare professionals learn to manage their businesses successfully in master their personal finances.
Now here's your host dr. Brent Lacey.

[1:16] Hey y'all thanks so much for joining me for the scope of practice podcast where you can get the knowledge and resources you need to grow your leadership skills your business and your personal finances.
Welcome to episode 92.

[1:27] If you haven't already subscribe to the podcast make sure to hit that subscribe button right now and also there's a button at the top of your podcast player that will turn on automatic downloads make sure you hit that
otherwise you won't be able to have these episodes on demand any time that you want you'll have to rely on streaming and if you're in a place like me where you don't get cell phone reception.
You're going to miss out so make sure you hit that button also don't forget this podcast is now eligible for category 1 CME credits and it's totally free
just click the link in the podcast description or go to www.desktoplearn.com / podcasts eme
to download your CME credits for free today's guest is dr. nerissa crear.
Dr. Kramer is the chief medical officer of a biotech company and a pediatric endocrinologist she transitioned to the biotech Pharma industry early in her career and brings 15 years of experience working in the industry.

[2:20] Her career in Pharma started in medical Affairs as a medical director she then strategically moved to another company to gain clinical development experience and expertise.
And she has worked in small and large biotech and Pharma organizations including private and public companies.
She's passionate about her work and she wants to help her fellow Physicians understand the possibilities for physicians in the industry.

[2:41] Marissa will transparently share the pros and cons ups and downs benefits and trade-offs of working in biotech and Pharma
and she'll help you evaluate if pursuing a role in the industry is right for you this conversation definitely dispelled a few myths for me and I hope it is enlightening to you too.

[2:57] So without further Ado here is my conversation with dr. nerissa.

[3:08] Hey y'all I am excited to welcome my guests today to the scope of practice podcast she is the founder of Industry MD coach.
And she is Doctor nerissa crear dr. Cryer thank you so much for joining us on the scope of practice podcast today thanks for having me Brad.

[3:24] Yeah this is this is fun I'm really looking forward to learning something from you today because we are really starting to explore world I know
very little about so we're talking about the the pharmaceutical industry and I guess the
the oh the non-clinical world a little bit more broadly but but specifically your Niche being Pharma.
And this is an area that I think a lot of people.
Either have misconceptions about or maybe just don't know very much about and it's there's a lot of great work being done.
In the pharmaceutical industry the covid vaccine this year just to name one example but lots and lots of great medications I know for me personally
you know I feel like I first got introduced to the idea that big Pharma isn't the boogeyman when I was a fellow and the hepatitis C medications started coming out and it was this.
Transformative revolutionary thing I mean there's
it was like nothing we've seen in g.i. since the invention of Remicade back in the 90s or the invention of Prilosec back in the 80s it was absolutely phenomenal so
so I think there's a lot of great great stuff to explore so I'm super excited to be talking to you about it to get
you know an Insider's look if you will at this industry but maybe you could talk to us a little bit about your journey because you started out and full-time medical practice and then eventually made this transition over to the pharmaceutical industry can you kind of tell us what that transition was like for you.

[4:43] Sure so I'm a pediatric endocrinologist and I trained at an academic center I stayed on there as Junior faculty for a year
and then was moving to the Boston area with my family
I thought I had an academic clinical career lined up in the Boston area at one of the academic hospitals and unfortunately that role fell through so budget cuts I was offered a clinical role but I knew going in that I really wanted to focus on
clinical research
and so I made the decision to not accept that job and look around see what else I could find I looked at some other children's hospitals in the area
and actually had one of my sales representatives of one of the growth hormone companies asked if I would give her my resume so she could send it to the company just to see what might happen and
that turned into a job for me so it's an important point about networking of course but
that's how I got my entry into Pharma it was a connection I had and.

[5:54] The company took a risk on me and I guess I took a risk on going to a Pharma company because I really didn't know what to expect
that was about 16 years ago now
I've been at a number of different companies started at a larger company and now have really nice tin two more biotech startup companies building companies taking private companies public but yeah it's been a great career path and like you said I don't think a lot of
people understand that it's an option for Physicians well that is all a very interesting journey I love hearing people's stories because I feel like every time.

[6:32] We're diving into someone's story it's really uncovering an interesting layer of what is possible out there so as we start to think about this.
Whole world as a career option let's address the elephant in the room real quick for.
Maybe the Skeptics the the non-believers out there I think a lot of Physicians.

[6:53] See the pharmaceutical industry as this sort of evil corporate Empire you know it's referred to as like the dark side as though
you're selling out or something if you join big Pharma but I will tell you in general with.

[7:07] With One Singular exception that I can immediately think of and no I won't say the name but you know I'm thinking them very loudly in my head.
Overall I've had very very good experiences with people in the pharmaceutical industry I found them to be extremely confident extremely knowledgeable.

[7:23] Extremely helpful but I know a lot of people there's this really the stigma out there.
Miss seeing this as a just this evil empire but what do you think about that as a one of the Insiders.
Sure so you know I think just like any industry the generally the vast majority of people are there to do good
and that's definitely been my experience you always have the one percent that maybe are Bad actors or bad players but generally speaking the people that I'm surrounded by my colleagues every day.

[7:58] Are people who are really trying to do good things for patients you know I think as a physician it's really important to understand that
the physicians in pharmaceutical companies play an important role
to be the voice of patients as well as the voice of prescribing Physicians and so yeah I think your experience you know generally the people are good they're there to do good
obviously there's a lot of media hype and
stats about pricing and a lot of different things but I would just encourage your listeners if you really do your research you know I think what you'll find is
generally speaking Pharma is there to do good yeah and I think that's true I think I think it's like any other industry that.
A few bad apples can spoil the barrel I mean certainly there's plenty of Physicians I can point to that are quacks and charlatans and I don't want them to be representing my entire industry.

[8:54] I should say our entire industry and so yeah I certainly can appreciate that.
So you have coached a lot of people you started this this company this coaching Consulting business industry MD coach to help people make that transition so
when people are coming to you and talking about making that transition from Clinical medicine over to Big Pharma so what's that transition like for folks what are some of the.
Some of the UPS the Downs maybe some of the stumbling blocks that people have to go through in order to make that transition.

[9:25] Yeah so when I first time speaking with a client about making the transition one of the very first things I tried to explain is its
a different world from the standpoint of the kinds of people you're interacting with every day
and so the way I explain it is in medicine if you're in a hospital or in a medical practice you're typically surrounded by people who speak the same language as you the medicine language right
and so nurses Tech's the Physicians the Radiology techs everyone kind of understands that same language in Pharma and biotech all of the sudden you're surrounded by people who speak these different languages and it might be marketing language or sales language or regulatory language legal language and so you really have to understand that you're coming in as a team member
to work with all of these people
the hierarchy in medicine Where The Physician is kind of the ultimate decision maker actually goes away and Pharma typically and so you're much more of
a general team player so I talk to my clients about the ability to make that transition of you really aren't.

[10:42] The only decision maker any longer you really have to come at it from a very much team approach not that Physicians don't on a day-to-day basis but it is a different kind of
teamwork approach so that's one of the big transitions I think people have to make
sometimes people ask me about not seeing patients anymore that's another transition people want to know about.
And you know they are for me it has really been.

[11:11] Not that hard because I focus on rare disease and so I still have a very close touch point to Patient populations but even in Pharma
there are opportunities for people to keep
their practices keep a half-day practice and such so that doesn't have to completely go away in the transition.
Well that's really interesting and I wouldn't have thought about the idea that a physician is transitioning out and it's becoming more of a.
18 player I could see that being a really.
Rough re-entry for folks that they go from being sort of the top dog you know everybody's coming to them for you know for advice everyone's coming to them for Action everyone looking to them for the game plan.
And then you're just kind of showing up in yeah you have significant expertise but.
You're not necessarily the leader anymore you're not the person at the top making the decisions is that kind of a rough transition for a lot of folks.
Or is it something that actually people are it maybe is it a feature instead of a bug maybe people like that they don't have to be the one making the.
Making all the decisions all the time yeah I mean I can speak for myself and initially if I reflect back 15 16 years ago I think there were some learnings of.

[12:27] Especially listening really sitting back listening try to understand where the team member is coming from try to understand what's driving their decision-making whereas
as a physician I think we're trained we and we need to react quickly make decisions quickly and so it was really a lesson in listening for me and I've heard that from other clients who I've coached through the transition as well that that's one of
the biggest things but then I think what you realize is that.
That pressure of all the responsibilities and the world being on your shoulders for every decision that you make as a physician it actually is nice that you realize oh I'm sharing this responsibility with a team
that is making it based on a lot of different informations so I think a lot of learnings but also that
ability to sort of take the pressure off and some of that can be a really nice release from the standpoint of the pressure that Physicians have on them.

[13:35] Yeah I can certainly understand that and that could be either a good thing or a bad thing but it's one that's something is one thing that people would just have to adapt to I guess.
Well if people are starting to think about maybe this idea of transitioning over to a pharmaceutical career is potentially attractive
there's one big thing that I think people are going to be asking right now what do I do you know like what do I do when I get there it's easy to say I'm going to be a doctor.
Right but then you go to med school and you realize oh my gosh there is 96 possibilities of things that I could do.
And then you multiply that by am I going to do academic versus clinical and then you multiply that by am I going to do locums vs. full-time and then you multiply that by.
Private Practice versus right there's all these different possibilities so joining the pharmaceutical industry.

[14:22] I'm using mean research does it mean does it mean speaking does it mean what does it so what are some of the opportunities that people have to seek jobs in the pharmaceutical industry.
Sir so I think about three major possibilities for Physicians that are making that transition the first is called clinical development
so that's where you think about clinical trials developing clinical protocols monitoring clinical trials looking for safety events
that sort of thing reviewing data and such the other is medical affairs.

[14:56] Medical Affairs is the more external facing position that Physicians can have
and there they are doing more Publications congress's going out and speaking to thought leaders gaining information and then finally drug safety also called pharmacovigilance in some companies
and pretty self-explanatory but there The Physician is looking at safety data that comes in and of course in Pharma we have a lot of safety data and that might be from a marketed product it might be from a
that is not yet marketed it
and is in clinical trials so the drug safety physician is really just focused on safety not really looking at anything else those are the three major areas where people can transition
however it's important I think to know once you're in there are all kinds of other opportunities I know Physicians who have moved into business development roles
Physicians that have moved more towards the non clinical research area so there are lots of opportunities but those three that I mentioned are the major areas that people would typically work in as a physician.

[16:12] Okay so it's kind of interesting I wouldn't have thought about the idea of people going into something like Business Development or more of a management thing when I'm thinking about I'm thinking of.

[16:21] You know more about like speaking at conferences or.
Or doing you know dinner talks for physicians in local Regional areas that kind of thing or we're doing research either clinical or bench research never thought about the idea of Business Development or other kind of.

[16:36] More leadership management kind of things is that a common thing or is that a fairly small subset of the overall industry would you say
I would say it's a smaller subset for the business development and such however you know there are a number of Physicians who
do you have business interest maybe get an MBA I've actually gotten my MBA during my
career in Pharma you know there are physicians in the Pharma Biotech Industry that are CEOs of companies as well so certainly an opportunity if it's something that people are interested in.
Well and we had Lance Black on the podcast not too long ago so he was the former head of innovation at the Texas Medical Center and now he's
with Thrive labs and doing a lot of startups a lot of different Innovations thing but it's all it's all physician-led so that's really great to hear that there's some real opportunities for leadership and for.
You know business minded people to go that direction as well kind of scratch that itch are there opportunities for any for someone who's a budding entrepreneur maybe are there opportunities along those lines to start
developing new devices developing new technologies things like that or is it or is it challenging because it's so there's so much top-down control that it's hard for you to get.

[17:53] Any creative traction because it's all hierarchical and that sort of thing.
So certainly in large Pharma companies there are lots and lots of layers things move a lot more slowly because of the decision-making that has to be done but
in large Pharma and in small biotechs so
thinking more about a startup company that's maybe private hasn't gone public yet there is a lot of ability to innovate
so I do if I think about the current company I'm at you know we've really lean on our scientists to present new ideas to us every day
and they will come to me and say hey we have this opportunity can you help us think about what diseases that could.
We could use that that opportunity or that Innovation and so the
going back to the teamwork part really that ability as a physician to sit and think creatively about oh okay the scientists have this idea how could I apply it to all of the disease's I know
you get to go and do your research so there really is a lot of opportunity to be creative and think creatively in Pharma and biotech.

[19:08] So one of the things that that I've coached a lot of residents and students on is how to select.
The right practice to join how to find you know where do you want to live where do you want to work I don't have any idea what that would look like for you for the pharmaceutical industry.

[19:26] How do you figure out which company is the one to join is it just based on.
Name recognition it's a company you know is it based on conditions that they're treating or is it medications that you recognize.
I mean is it something that you're you just kind of fall into it you have to get headhunted you know you go to a convention just.
Find someone is like hey I'm looking for a job and you know or is it a combination of those what's the normal process for that
yeah I would say all of the above so when I'm working with a client one of the exercises that I have them go through is.

[20:00] If they have a specific specialty or even ask
specific area of interest for a generalist like a pediatrician or internist maybe they have a specific interest in infectious disease so that's a niche area that I think we should explore so we make a list.

[20:18] Of typical drugs that they would utilize so for you as a gastroenterologist I would have you make a list of the drugs you're utilizing and we match those to the companies that would Market those products
or if the product is still in development of course that would still apply and so that's a way to get a quick Target company list to go after
now that of course is going to give you a much more narrow list than if you go after the whole world of every farmer or biotech company out there but it really gives people
a place to Anchor to and start that job search the other thing that I have people think about is.
Big company or a small company and that's a really important decision especially as you're making that first transition there are pros and cons of both I think I typically.
Direct people more to establish Pharma companies that are publicly traded you can get much more information about those companies you understand the risks and also those companies because of those extra layers that they have
there are great training grounds because you're supervised by people almost like
residency and fellowship right and that kind of supervision you're going to have a manager who has been there who knows what they're doing and so the ability to learn and big Pharma.

[21:44] Probably.
And easier pathway for that first roll and then you have the opportunity to move into smaller companies if you would choose to do that.
Yeah I can see the smaller companies being potentially higher upside in order to at least in terms of you know having
a new product or a developing product and maybe being able to get in kind of on the ground floor but also higher risk because there's no guarantee that's going to pan out versus a company that's been around for 50 years that has 27 products that are all.
Mainstream Everyday Use medications by 100 million people of peace
very very different story is it possible to work with big Pharma part-time or as a side hustle so it could someone do.
Some stuff with that as sort of a side thing to their main income or if someone's trying to transition out a full-time clinical medicine and they just want to work.

[22:38] Part-time they're not looking to go into a full-time career is that even possible or is it pretty much you know you're all in or you're not in
so I typically Council folks that a part-time role in Pharma is going to be difficult to come by especially
as a first transition so you know if you've already been working in Pharma you might negotiate a part-time role but as a first role that's going to be pretty tough
as a side gig we might call it there are opportunities for certain kinds of Physicians to work as consultants to the pharmaceutical industry so oftentimes those are thought leaders in a space
so you mentioned hepatitis C right
so if you think about who are the top 5 or 10 hepatitis C experts in the US or in the world those Physicians.
Are likely to be Consulting with Pharma and providing insight and information so there are certainly that opportunity to be a paid consultant but I would say that.
Typically those are going to be people with a specific area of expertise and really thought leaders in the field that's going to be the typical kind of consultant we're looking for.

[23:53] For Physicians who are nervous about the idea of giving up their full-time clinical practice is it common for people to maintain.
At least a part-time clinical practice like a couple days a week or something or is that generally considered either not possible or generally discouraged.

[24:10] Right so certainly that is a possibility and what I've typically seen not a couple of days a week that probably would be more than most companies would want people to do
but a half day a week very much something that actually a lot of companies like Physicians to do because it keeps them up-to-date
and so there are opportunities to keep your own practice
as a fellow actually I trained in Indiana and so Lilly Eli Lilly is in our backyard
and the Eli Lilly Physicians actually proctored our fellowship clinics so there are multiple opportunities to keep up your clinical skills and still work in Pharma certainly.

[24:54] Well it sounds like even if people wanted to do some teaching or kind of stay involved in the education game there's some opportunities along those lines as well.
Definitely is it kind of a pain in the neck that you have to spend so much time working with the government as a.
As a member of the pharmaceutical industry because I mean it's there's a lot of direct communication with the FDA and speaking of someone who is in the military for 15 years
much as I love serving it was a pain in the neck sometimes working for the government because there's three ways to do things there's the right way the wrong way and the government way
and a lot of times the government way would just be tremendously frustrating and slow and redundant I mean is that a common frustration seen in pharmaceutical industry.

[25:37] So actually you know we interact with a number of regulatory agencies both FDA and then outside of the United States other Regulatory Agencies
the FDA actually is regulated and has
turn around times that they have to respond and that's through different regulations Paducah is the most commonly.
Known one and and so the way I like to think about Regulatory Agencies yes you know there's a lot of bureaucracy
yes the turnaround time and you might not get the answers that you want
but at the same time if you really work to think of these as people
right there people trying to do their job and their they really are trying to do their job and so trying to build a relationship with them
and see it as you know again a collegial type thing so actually I think if you come at it from the standpoint of they're there to do a job they're there to protect patient safety and look for efficacy for patients then it's a little easier to get past some of
the bureaucracy well that's good to hear I mean that would be.

[26:55] Honestly that could be a deal-breaker for me if it was if it was a tremendously frustrating thing is it common for Physicians to go into pharmaceutical industry.
And then experience burnout or disillusionment and then decide okay no I made a mistake here I'm going back into clinical medicine do you see that much or do people tend to.
Go into the industry and pretty much stay.
Yeah so I actually have not seen that much and right off the top of my head I can't think of anyone who I've spoken with or interacted with on different Facebook groups or through other industry contacts that have
have gone back into clinical medicine
I think it working in Pharma and biotech is incredibly intellectually stimulating and so it's
to me it's hard to get burnt out because I get to do different things every day and so that challenge of you know doing the same thing the same kinds of frustrations
that doesn't happen as much in Pharma because we're being challenged with different things each day and I think that really helps to keep me on my toes and
keep me interested in what I'm doing is it a particularly competitive hiring process I mean Are there 25 applicants for every job or is the industry hurting for people and their.

[28:16] Looking for as many people as they can get yeah so one of the reasons I started the industry MD coach was.
That I actually saw from the Pharma side that we need more physicians in Pharma and so
when I go to higher medical directors for my team I don't have 25 applicants it's really hard to
find good Physicians to fill these roles so it's certainly an opportunity and again I think it's just something that people aren't aware of.

[28:47] Is the pay generally considered a competitive or are people going to be taking a huge financial step back if they decide to go in the pharmaceutical injury industry because I can see someone
saddle with 350,000 dollars in debt coming out of medical school and out of residency
you know being very sensitive to that particular issue so what would you say is the level of competitiveness for compensation.

[29:10] Sure so I think generally very competitive now one of the things people should know is that in Pharma and biotech.
Your specialty doesn't really weigh into your salary
which is very different of course than in clinical medicine where you know if you're a specialist that does a lot of procedures you might get compensated very differently than a specialist who doesn't do a lot of procedures or a more generalist so
for the generalist and for those people who are in some of the high paid Specialties in fact.
Pharma may be paying more than they're making in clinical medicine whereas for.
I don't know I don't want to pick on any of our colleagues but maybe an orthopedic surgeon you know their pay might come in higher than where Pharma is going to be
the other thing people should know too though is you know I don't work a 40-hour work week for sure I probably average around.
Somewhere between 50 and 60 hours a week right so if you think about it from the standpoint of your hourly pay.

[30:19] It might be very different from that perspective as well in favor of Pharma we don't have overnight call we don't have weekends typically
and so it depends on how you said the magic words right there you're going to have 25 people call you in about 5 minutes one where do I sign up.
Right yeah so it's just very different right and it's hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison the other thing in Pharma
what I was talking about was the base salary right so there's a whole bonus program on top of base salary which can very much change the dynamic there and I'm talking like
twenty twenty-five thirty percent of your annual salary as a bonus
and then we can get all into things like stock and stock options and those can really change you know from just your base salary to really different Financial package than what we're used to seeing in clinical medicine.

[31:18] One of the things that I could see people being
a little bit worried about is that the pharmaceutical industry exists in very discrete locations around the country right so if you're let's say you're in an academic Medical Center in Dallas
and you decide you don't think I want to go into private practice well you can move 10 minutes away from your academic Medical Center.
And open up a private practice and you haven't really left your town and your still plugged into all your.
Your friends and your family and your church and you know anything else is there whereas.

[31:53] These companies exist in various cities around the country and see if you're going to go work for a particular company.

[31:59] It may require a pretty big move is that going to be a pretty typical transition or is there an increasing
Trend towards working remotely and people being able to stay put where they are and then just continue to work remotely maybe do some
some commuting to the home office periodically yeah great question and so first of all covid has really changed the dynamic
my aunt's are used to be people should always proposed remote if they really need to stay in a certain geography with covid I think that that is absolutely the case
you know I've been working from home for
like 15 months and I very rarely been into an office and so I think we've proven to ourselves that we can do a lot of remote work and that opens up the opportunity for
the person in Boise Idaho right to land a Pharma job and work from Boise
so my advice to people when they're going through this process is never limit yourself to rolls that's a remote you should always try to negotiate it so
get your foot in the door get the interview and then ask the question about remote.
Interesting okay no that's a good tip I don't think I would have necessarily thought of that if someone's interested in the pharmaceutical industry do they need to be.

[33:24] Good at research or interested in research or are there opportunities to participate in ways that you know for people like me who.
Absolutely loathe research with every fiber of their being can avoid that and do something completely different
definitely so it's one of the key questions I get and actually I think this would be a tip for your listeners is.
Physicians generally we're such perfectionist we've had to have a zahl through you know every level of training and so we think that we have to be.
The best researcher to land a job in farm and that's just not the case so the drug safety physician is a great example in fact they really don't need any research
background because what they need is to be able to come in with their clinical knowledge all the learning they've had from medical school and training and be able to apply that clinical knowledge
to evaluating safety signals that they're seeing.

[34:28] So really no requirement the medical Affairs Physicians another great example really does it help if you can understand
absolutely but you really don't have to have research experience to be able to
take in information and translate it externally to your physician colleagues so there are actually a lot of opportunities that don't require research.
Wow that's really cool well it sounds like just a cornucopia of opportunities for folks that are interested in something new or something different and I know plenty of Physicians that are going into
industry jobs whether pharmaceutical or medical device or the are other medical related industry jobs straight out of residency and straight out of Fellowship so I hope that this.
Conversation has helped for listeners to kind of destigmatize the pharmaceutical industry generally I know for me when I was a resident I.

[35:27] Was very mistrustful of the pharmaceutical injury industry more broadly.
And any time someone was coming in the only thing I knew about them immediately as they were definitely trying to sell me something that's the only thing I knew about them.
And it's you know I just I tend to have my guard rails up when it comes to letting people in the door and and people influencing me in ways that are going to
change how I take care of my patients but I found them by and large the people.
Both Physicians and the the industry Reps for the various companies almost universally just want to help and the ones that are the salesman.
We kick him out of our office or we coach them and say listen you need to chill out or you're not coming back.
And you know if you're if you're in a big enough company if you're in big enough practice.
They're going to have to listen to that because it's going to affect their bottom line it's going to affect their quotas and so you know these are definitely folks that are worth working with and certainly the.

[36:25] The Innovations and the the patient care items that have come out of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry in the last.
50 years pin just absolutely revolutionary I mean we're all the beneficiaries of them every single day and so I
I hope that people even if they're not inspired to necessarily go into it that at least we'll start to consider you know as or a different way of looking at the industry at least well and if people do want to make that transition or they or their at least interested in exploring some options
what are some ways that people can get connected to you to learn more about how to do that sir
so I have a website www.and astrium D coach.com and there are a lot of you know information that's just available generally I do a weekly blog
where I interview Physicians who have made the transition so it's not just my story that people get to hear they get to hear stories of lots of other doctors.
I've done the same so that's a great resource for people to get a little more insight than what we've been able to chat about tonight
and then I have one on one coaching that I take people through the transition we can do resumes we can do interview prep we can do negotiating prep
and also have an online course opportunity for folks as well that
is more self-directed if people want to work more on their own.

[37:52] Awesome will make sure to have the links to all that stuff in the show notes for folks everyone can go check that out this is dr. nerissa crear she's the founder of Industry MD coach so definitely make sure to go check out those links that are in the show notes
connect with her you can continue the conversation there's lots and lots of great content I mean even just start with her blog
is there some amazing amazing stories in there definitely to go check that out Doctor Clara thank you so much for joining us today on the scope of practice podcast we really appreciate you coming on thanks so much for having me.

[38:22] Music.

[38:27] I hope this conversation gave you some things to think about with regards to your career options there are highly qualified Physicians working in the pharmaceutical industry making a real difference in people's lives.
There are some incredible opportunities that are worth taking advantage of even if it's not something you want to do full-time there are ways to get involved they can be incredibly beneficial to both you and your patients and to the industry in general.
And hopefully this conversation is going to give you some New Perspectives about ways to think about your long-term options.
I hope this conversation doesn't make you fear for your career or think that you have to start updating your resume to look for a new job but if you're looking for a new career anyway I've got a free resource to give you it's called writing your CV.

[39:09] If you've got a CV or resume and it probably needs some work your resume is your opportunity to put your best foot forward and tell an interviewer why you'd be such a big asset to their organization.

[39:20] Let's face it most of us have a CV that is woefully out of date or disorganized and yet you probably have to send it out at least a few times per year for job interviews professional.
Opportunities promotions applying for positions with national medical societies Awards but how do you make a resume that really stands out.

[39:40] Well that's what this free guide is all about it'll help you convert your CV from a document that no one reads to one that generates real leads for job prospects for other opportunities.
So what's different about this guy from other resume writing guides well this one will completely flip the traditional resume on its head.
Trust me this is worth doing and it's totally free to download just go to the link in the podcast description and you can click on that to download it for free.

[40:05] Also if you're still looking for a late Christmas or maybe at this point early Valentine's Day gift ideas for your spouse you should really start thinking about registering for the new online course residency proof your marriage.
This online course is a self-directed six-week course that will help you build a strong relationship that thrives despite the stress and strain of a medical career.
It'll coach you through setting expectations communicating effectively getting on the same page with finances and keeping your relationship thriving during difficult times.

[40:33] Whether you're a medical school residency or out in clinical practice residency proof your marriage is going to help you build a thriving medical marriage.
This is a very inexpensive investment in your marriage.
You know weekend marriage Retreat is going to cost you upwards of a thousand dollars between food registration lodging and vacation time and for this course you'll get all the great content in the course for a fraction of that cost and you complete it on your own time as your schedule allows.
Just click the link in the podcast description or go to www.desktoplearn.com / marriage course to sign up today.

[41:07] This course is also eligible for CME credits so you can use your employer's CME funds to buy it just click the link in the podcast description you can sign up today.

[41:16] The podcast description will also have all the links to the other resources we mentioned during the show thanks so much for joining me on the scope of practice podcast today I'll see you next.

[41:25] Thanks for listening to the scope of practice podcast at www.viki scope of practice.com.