Preparing PharmD Students for Pharmaceutical Industry Careers
There are a wide variety of roles in the pharmaceutical industry available to Doctor of Pharmacy graduates.
“There’s the pre-marketing side of regulatory affairs and the post-marketing side with pharmacovigilance teams looking for adverse events and updating safety databases,” explained Kristin Busse, PharmD, BCPS, assistant professor and research oversight program director. “Another popular role is the medical science liaison, which is well suited for PharmD graduates who are educated on how medications work.”
Medical science liaisons speak with other healthcare professionals about the drugs that they cover, educating them about how to use products effectively and advising them on upcoming research or treatments. “There are openings in the pharmaceutical industry at multiple levels,” added Abhay Chauhan, PhD, MPharm, BPharm, associate professor. “PharmD graduates could work in formulation development, manufacturing, quality control, marketing and even writing patents for medications – that requires a chemistry background.”
Opportunities for pharmacy students to build skills in the pharmaceutical industry can be hard to come by, especially in Wisconsin, as most pharmaceutical companies are headquartered in the Northeast region. Pharmacy students who want to pursue industry must be driven, working to build their CV by conducting research, writing papers and seeking out experiential education opportunities (often called “rotations”). They also work closely with MCW professors who have connections in the industry and can help build the student’s professional network. Dr. Chauhan is one of the pioneers of dendrimers for drug delivery applications and has created a cosmetic anti-aging cream called Amruth. Dr. Busse has contacts at NIH and FDA through her fellowship training at NIH’s Clinical Center and NIAID.
In MCW’s Class of 2025, three pharmacy students have accepted postdoctoral positions in the pharmaceutical industry.
Michael Quaranta – Medical Affairs / Scientific Communications
Michael Quaranta, a 2025 PharmD candidate, accepted a post-doctoral fellowship position in medical affairs / scientific communications with TerSera Therapeutics, an Illinois pharmaceutical company. In this role, he will take on a variety of responsibilities – from answering provider questions about products, to writing manuscripts, creating product guidelines, conducting market research or reviewing commercials and pamphlets for medical accuracy.
When narrowing down the choices for which pharmacy career path to choose, Quaranta was inspired by the long-term impact he could make in industry. “Long after I’m gone, I hope the work I do and what I accomplish with my team will make an impact forever,” said Quaranta.
During his third and final year of the PharmD curriculum, Quaranta participated in an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) at Nexus Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures specialty injectable medications. During his rotation, one of his preceptors was Alex Sperry, PharmD, an alumnus of the MCW School of Pharmacy Class of 2021.
“Dr. Sperry provided unyielding support to me, guiding me through the fellowship application process, and we still stay in touch to this day,” said Quaranta.
He also mentioned the strong support of Dr. Chauhan through his advanced drug delivery lab, where he and Quaranta conducted research on advanced drug delivery through topical systems.
Priya Patel – Medical Information / Medical Affairs
Priya Patel, a 2025 PharmD candidate, also accepted a medical affairs fellowship. She will be moving to the East Coast for the position with Kenvue, a leading global consumer health company that was formerly part of Johnson & Johnson.
Patel explains the position deals with evidence-based information and how to communicate it to healthcare professionals so they can make informed treatment decisions. “As someone who really enjoys translating complex clinical data to strategies that benefit patients and healthcare providers, I think it was the perfect role for me,” explained Patel.
The position allows her to combine her pharmaceutical clinical knowledge with the business side of healthcare. Her strengths include teamwork, collaboration and problem solving. Finding an industry-based role that would allow her to utilize these skills was important. She values that she will be working cross-functionally with various teams ranging from clinical marketing, to regulatory or commercial.
Patel completed an APPE rotation with Eli Lilly, working with the global labeling and regulatory affairs teams. Later in the academic year, she will have another industry-focused APPE rotation at Nexus Pharmaceuticals. She said MCW’s Experiential Education team listened to her career goals and did a great job aligning her rotations to help her gain valuable industry experience.
Dr. Chauhan was Patel’s instructor in various courses, including pharmaceutics lab, sterile compounding and a drug development elective course. “Without his insights and learning in more detail what drug development looks like, I don’t think I would have realized the existing gaps in healthcare, or how to analyze data and apply it,” explained Patel.
Sophia Schulte – Development Operations and Portfolio Management
Sophia Schulte, a 2025 PharmD candidate, accepted a post-doctoral position in Regeneron’s PharmD Biologics Program as a development operations and portfolio management associate. She was interested in working at Regeneron due to its focus on rare disease therapeutics – producing the first FDA-approved treatment for Ebola and also specializing in cardiovascular support.
Schulte is moving to New York City for the position. She will be coordinating clinical trials, conducting site visits, assisting sites in preparing for trials and optimizing products following trials.
“I want to be at the forefront of scientific innovation pursuing novel therapeutics so that I can help people on a much larger scale,” said Schulte.
To prepare her for the pharmaceutical industry, MCW connected Schulte with two APPEs during her third year of the PharmD program. She completed a rotation with Eli Lilly, focused on asset and value aspects of various products and another rotation with Amgen, working as a medical science liaison rotating between cardiometabolic, neuroscience and rare diseases.
After applying and being accepted to that rotation, Schulte says Dr. Busse reached out to help her prepare. “She helped me better understand the industry lingo, etiquette and some of the unspoken rules to get me ready to work at a large pharmaceutical company,” said Schulte.
Schulte also participated in benchtop research as an MCW student, working with Dr. Chauhan on targeted drug delivery systems for oncology and anti-inflammatory medications and therapies. “I conducted this research with him for over two years and gained an understanding of how we take a drug from research on market success, from concept to clinical development and post-market success. It also allowed me to understand clinical trial methodologies and the process of modifying existing molecules to become targeted, removing some of the adverse effects seen in oncology therapeutics,” explained Schulte.
Under Dr. Chauhan’s guidance, Schulte was able to co-author several papers.