Two summer interns learn the ropes

Learning about specific drugs in the classroom is imperative to becoming a pharmacist, but the classroom experience can be very different than learning on the job from the companies that develop and market them. Alicia Letizio and Tahsin Imam, both third-year students in the PharmD program at Binghamton University’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, learned just how different during their summer internships with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) in the Medical Affairs department (Princeton office), as well as with the field based medical team (Field Medical Affairs) in various parts of New York and New Jersey.

Both students were selected for the eight-week internships — two of only four the company awards — and found themselves working out of the company’s Princeton location, convenient to their homes in Staten Island and Queens, respectively.

The internship application process mirrored what students can expect when applying for full-time positions following graduation.

“Before the interview, I had to write a 500-word essay on why I was interested and also sent them my CV. Then I was selected for the interview and had an in-person interview on campus with Carolyn Tyler [my Otsuka business lead] and two Skype interviews,” Letizio said. “It was about a two-day interview process.”

“I had been looking for jobs in Binghamton but nothing worked out and when I saw this, it was perfect,” she added. “I had always wanted to get experience in industry and it’s only an hour’s drive from my home.”

The student-pharmacists were matched with medical science liaisons (MSLs), who are doctorate-level scientists or clinicians and whose job it is to educate doctors and healthcare professionals about the drugs Otsuka markets.

Each workday was different for the interns. “Some days I would go on field rides with MSLs, observing formal promotional presentations (products in the CNS portfolio) and meeting with healthcare providers to answer questions and provide information,” said Letizio, who was assigned to MSLs working with two drugs approved to treat mental health conditions.

“We also had teleconferences every week with the interns (from University of Southern California who were participating in a simultaneous, but slightly different internship program) and the MSLs. We had to read an article and learn about it and be ready to discuss it,” Iman said. “It was an update on the status of our projects. The MSLs asked questions and we asked questions. It was always a very good discussion and this research we were doing really did help the MSLs in their roles as educators.”

The face-to-face meetings with healthcare professionals were part of the position that Imam particularly enjoyed.

”Our role was to help educate healthcare providers on the safety and efficacy of the drugs,” he said. “That’s one aspect of what we did, tagged along with the MSLs and went to clinics and responded to questions from doctors, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, and others to educate them about the drugs and even about the disease state.

“We might not have been able to answer the question right then, so I would do the research and help draft a response to the practitioner by generating what’s called a Medical Information letter, including the published research and prescribing information.

“There are legal and regulatory requirements to be followed when answering the clinicians’ questions,” he said.

Imam learned not just about field of psychiatry through his internship, but about other issues while helping the MSLs. “I used my knowledge,” he said. “I sometimes answered questions and shared what I’d found in my research and was able to present some of the slides.

“I’ve always really liked teaching,” Imam said. “Teaching is what I’m really passionate about and MSLs are really educators, explaining the efficacy and safety data.”

Both Letizio and Imam had responsibility for their own research projects with Otsuka as well.

“We were learning the ropes but also are in charge of two research projects,” Letizio said. “I was reading to find how the literature defines treatment-resistant depression, and also doing a project on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There are many guidelines that indicate treatment for PTSD.”

Letizio was assigned the project on treatment resistant depression because she had presented a poster with two other students in April 2019 at a College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Imam’s two research projects were focused differently; one was on drug development and another on a platform called PsychU, a free, unbranded community and online resource library for mental health. “[For the first project,] I researched possible indications of a drug to see what treatment guidelines are available and came up with recommendations on where antipsychotics would be used for treatment and I presented information on it to Otsuka’s commercialization committee,” he said. “For the PsychU project, we actually had someone who came to Binghamton during my first year and gave us a presentation.

“This internship opened my eyes to what I truly want to do and aspire to become,” Imam said. “I’m thinking about being an MSL so will try for a fellowship where you are a fellow for a pharmaceutical company for a year or two and then become an MSL for them. It’s like a residency in that regard.

“In school we learn about the hospital and retail settings, but we don’t really get to learn about the industry settings and all of the opportunities available there. Through this internship, I was able to learn a lot more and I really enjoyed it and liked what I did. I can see myself doing this in the future,” he said.

Letizio echoed Imam’s appreciation for the internship opportunity. “The people I worked with were so supportive and some of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “They asked for extra feedback all the time, wanted to make sure we were happy and feeling fulfilled in our internships and were great at communication.

“There’s so much more you can be doing in the pharmacy industry besides working in a hospital or retail,” she added. “We hear that the market is saturated, but seeing this industry, we’ve realized there are opportunities for us out there.”