PerspectivesAre you interested in submitting a Perspective Article? Be sure to read The Science Advisory Board's Editorial Guides for Perspective Articles. Click here. How I Achieved My Dream of Working in Big Pharma by Following an Unconventional Career Path by Donald Rossi It's my senior year in high school and I'm in Spanish class. The teacher's discussion moves from Spanish to what type of career we were deciding upon. Her reason for doing this was that not too many of us were paying attention to her Spanish lesson. Her tactic worked -- we were all listening now. Only a few students knew exactly what career path they were going to follow. I knew I wanted to be in the science field but not what particular area of science. I was staring out the window and listening to what the other students were saying. I was trying to decide what areas of science I thought I'd like best. I happened to look down at a pile of science journals sitting on the windowsill. The front cover of the top journal read something like "Marine Biology and the Search for New Drugs." I picked up the journal and started reading the article. By the time the teacher got to me, my career was path set! I was going to pursue a career in marine science with an emphasis on discovering and developing drugs from the marine environment. At least that's what my initial goal was. Unfortunately, I discovered that this specific marine science aspect of my career goal was unattainable. After I graduated from high school I worked a full time job in an industry bakery for more than a year to get funding for college. That job taught me some real life lessons. It reinforced my desire to go to college and obtain a college degree. At the time, only a few colleges offered a degree program in marine science. Most of the better-known colleges or universities were well over what I could afford. I choose an in-state college that had a dual degree program in biology and marine science. While in college (1979 -1983) I was able to explore more fully my chosen career path. I became a laboratory teaching assistant and supervised the aquatic science and histological labs. I assisted students with laboratory experiments and was responsible for laboratory operations and equipment purchases in the aquatic science laboratories. I also conducted tests and identified, maintained and preserved samples collected in the field. Through my TA experience, I learned very quickly that I had no desire to work in the academic realm and started exploring an industry career path. The message that I took away from investigating a possible career in the pharmaceutical industry was plain and simple: industry experience was absolutely required! But how does one acquire experience if one is not given the opportunity to work directly in one's desired field because one is lacking the necessary experience? For me, it meant that I'd have to work a series of jobs each successively more oriented towards biology and/or marine science in order to pursue my goal of pharmaceutical R&D. My first job was with a small zoo and botanical garden in Florida where I took care of exotic animals, was a tram-driver/tour guide and did a lot of horticultural work. Simultaneously, I tried to get into the marine science area by applying for jobs in various organizations that were involved in marine biology. Regrettably, I was unsuccessful. My second job was with a fairly large private veterinary clinic in Northeast Pennsylvania. I helped the veterinarians in providing medical, surgical and dental care for all animals at the hospital. I also assisted in surgical procedures by readying surgical packs, preparing the animals and administering anesthesia and fluids. In addition, I worked with the animal recovery team and also on post?mortem procedures and in sample collection for pathological examination, including conducting tests using diagnostic laboratory equipment involving hematology, urinalysis, serology, parasitology, microbiology and radiology. My third job was with a private contracting lab that did outsourcing work for pharmaceutical companies. I performed technical and surgical procedures on laboratory animals in the evaluation of novel pharmacological agents. I was responsible for operating complex laboratory equipment used in animal testing. I monitored, recorded and analyzed data and assisted in the preparation of final reports sent to clients. This experience finally provided me with what was needed to get into the pharmaceutical industry, and I landed a job with Johnson & Johnson. I was hired to do CNS research on antipsychotics, pain and migraines. I was in the position for nine months when my boss took an opportunity to head up a CNS department at Rorer Pharmaceutical. He asked me to join him, which I did. While at Rorer I went through a merger with Rhône-Poulenc forming Rhône-Poulenc Rorer. My work experience at Rhône-Poulenc Rorer was both profoundly satisfying but very turbulent. I was shifted into five different therapeutic areas of research within a nine-year period of employment. This reorganization was all due to company restructuring. The succession of therapeutic areas/departments that I worked in included: CNS, GI Pharmacology, Pulmonary, Inflammation and finally, Cardiovascular Biology. Trust me when I say it's not easy to get up to speed in any one area of research when one is continuously shifted around. I worked in the Cardiovascular Biology Department the longest -- for approximately four years. While working in the Cardiovascular Biology Department I was asked to also take on information technology (IT) related functions because of the IT-related experience I had gained over the years. The IT-related work was in addition to the research work I was already involved in. My work week was split into two days of IT-related work and three days of research. I looked at it as an excellent opportunity to broaden my skill sets. Then it started again...rumors and indications of yet another pending merger were on the horizon. I knew I just was not up for yet another change in the research work I might be doing. I decided it was time to make my own choice in directing what career path I would follow. I decided to make a complete change and looked for a career in IT work specific to pharmaceutical research. I succeeded in landing a job at SmithKline-Beecham (now known as GlaxoSmithKline) doing laboratory automation. I was absolutely ecstatic with my new job for about the first month. That's when I had to start to learn a whole new set of skills -- IT Business Skills. It would take pages upon pages to explain the complexity of the IT organization and its business practices. So I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, the IT business practices mandated by my new job were, in my view, totally against what I knew and felt that researchers needed in order to assist them in their work. Just trying to understand the company's complex organization and business practices were the hardest things I have had to learn and accept. I was seriously contemplating quitting at the end of my first year. Ultimately, I choose to stay and in so doing, not only learned why those business practices were put into place, but also to appreciate them. For me, using my previous science experience and current knowledge of IT technologies to provide solutions to scientist is a perfect blend of my skills and talents and is therefore, personally very satisfying. ### Donald Rossi Senior Lab Programmer/Analyst GlaxoSmithKline ### << Previous Next >> [ View All Perspectives ] |
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