174 - Finding Your Mount Rushmore: The Journey of an Industry Pharmacist

In this episode, we interview Scott Glosner, PharmD, MPH, BCPS about his extensive experience working at Pfizer in medical outcomes and as a field medical director. Dr. Glosner will share his career journey from a clinical pharmacist transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry in the late 1990s and what current pharmacists and students should know about a job in a pharmaceutical company.

Key Concepts

1. Pharmacists are playing an increasingly important role within the pharmaceutical industry. Prior clinical experience is a significant advantage to applicants for these positions.
2. Key characteristics of a competitive pharmacist applicant for an industry position include strong communication skills, being perseverant (“tough skin”), being extremely persistent, and having real-world clinical experience.
3. Different companies and job positions within industry often require differing amounts of prior experience. Applicants with more than several years of experience (or equivalent fellowship experience) may be more competitive for positions. Standing out in any way, whether board certification, doing research, networking, etc. is important for any applicant.
4. In the future, pharmacists in industry may be playing a greater role in the oncology space, social determinants of health, emerging topics (such as gene therapy), and being capable of analyzing and interpreting “real world” clinical trial data.

Questions for Dr. Scott Glosner? He can be reached at [e-mail] or on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-glosner-b743234).