EXPERIENCE
Or, But I don’t have experience…
Or, But all the job descriptions ask for experience…
What experience do you, a physician, have?
4 years of undergrad
4 years of medical school … including 2 years of clinical care during your 3rd and 4th years of medical school
3+ years of residency … hours and hours of clinical care experience – diagnosing patients, prescribing medications, creating care plans
AND MAYBE…
3+ years of fellowship training … more hours of clinical care experience – diagnosing patients, honing your skills in a specific area of medical expertise
Your “experience” is your many years of evaluating patients and making diagnoses
You know the prevalence of the diseases
Your knowledge includes the clinical evaluation of diseases
If I wanted your input on a potential efficacy endpoint for a disease, could you opine? YES! Absolutely you could!
Do you know the clinical experts in the disease areas you focus on? YES! You know what academic institutions are known by their reputation. You know the physicians and researchers that are the pre-eminent names in the therapeutic area!
And,
Maybe, just maybe…
you’ve published in your area of expertise (or not)
you’ve been involved in a clinical trial in your area of expertise (or not)
you’ve been a pharma-sponsored Principal Investigator (PI) or sub-PI (or not)
Bottom line – as a physician, you HAVE experience that is transferable to the pharmaceutical industry.