Halfway through my first rotation at Eli Lilly!

It literally feels like yesterday that we started pharmacy school. Now, I'm finished with the didactic portion of school, and have one year left (full of ten rotations in different practice areas). Time flies!!!! How am I feeling? Well... it's a mixed bag I guess. One, I am so, so, so relieved that I never have to sit through another lecture (well... still have to finish those last few MBA classes, but you know what I mean). Two, I am absolutely terrified of going through rotations. Yes, I've received a great education from one of the best colleges of pharmacy in the nation, but I still feel nervous now that I know I'll be faced with actual patients, instead of just cases in class. Three, I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, and that also makes me a little nervy. I know that I want to utilize both my PharmD and my MBA... but how? Hopefully my rotations will help me find the area where I am happiest and can do the most good. I've signed up for a variety of different practice areas (industry, clinical, community, retail management, hospital management, etc.), so we'll see where I'm led!


This month I'm in industry... here I sit, nine days into the first of ten rotations (wow!). I'm in Indianapolis this month, spending my four weeks with Eli Lilly. It's been a crash course, that I can tell you. We're taught a lot about clinical or hospital pharmacy while we're in pharmacy school, a little about community pharmacy, but almost nothing about a pharmacist's role in Pharma or in insurance/managed care. Walking through the doors at Lilly Corporate Center two weeks ago, I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect; I knew that my rotation was in "B2B/Strategic Marketing," but other than that... clueless.

I know that there is a lot that I have yet to learn about industry... and I mean that... a lot. However, it's been so interesting to see just how many places pharmacists have found a niche at Lilly. There are pharmacists in research, manufacturing, quality assurance, marketing, B2B, medical and outcome liaisons, sales, global strategic pricing, disease state management, regulatory affairs, medical information, hospital groups, and so much more! Something I've found particularly interesting is the number of pharmacists with whom I've spoken that still continue to practice their patient care skills by working occasional shifts at a hospital or community pharmacy on the weekend. Although I definitely have to say that I miss actually seeing that patients that I'm impacting, my experiences here thus far have been really enlightening and have changed my opinion of the pharmaceutical industry in some ways. I'm not sure if industry is right for me, but I'm still keeping an open mind as I finish my rotation (I'm really enjoying it thus far). My final project is a little overwhelming, but I'm sure I can handle it, especially with God's help and support from Jonathan and my family.