Population health management is one of the pillars of an optimized healthcare system and pharmacists can play a critical role.

Name: Megan Brown

Position: Regulatory Affairs Specialist in public health pharmacy

 

Interview Summary

Here with us today is Megan Brown, a regulatory affairs specialist in public health pharmacy.  She is also the author of the blog Your Friendly Public Health Pharmacist.

 

1. Tell us a little bit about your background.

• Attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia for undergraduate
• Intended on a health-related career early on, but wanted to study Spanish as a major
• Discovered public health
  • Made the connection that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was a public health organization
• Exposed to pharmacy from family friends
• Completed a work study opportunity with the website www.cancerquest.org
  • Updated the drug reference database with information about cancer treating agents and exposure to those types of drugs/therapies
  • Sparked an interest to learn more about how drugs work and how they are used to treat/prevent diseases
• Knew from early on that a career in the traditional community/hospital settings was not going to fit
  • No specific path to being a “public health pharmacist”
• Attended pharmacy school at Mercer University in Atlanta, Georgia
  • School did not offer a dual degree for PharmD/MPH
• Began volunteering with the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta
  • Worked on the health education training committee
  • Posted quarterly workshops for people in the community for anyone that was interested (men and women alike)
  • Discussed various topics likes cervical exams, gynecological exams, gender-related topics, topics about sexuality, etc.
  • Felt more like grassroots work, but really enjoyed interacting with people in the community
  • Definitely would not consider the position a clinical role
• Decided to go to the CDC’s website to learn more about what they had to offer
• Discovered a fellowship program that was open to pharmacy students (the Dr. James Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program)
  • The program had a very lengthy application process, but she was eventually selected to participate in a 9-week summer fellowship program
  • Half of the fellows work on site at John’s Hopkins University at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, also co-hosts of fellowship program with the CDC
  • Megan’s site was at the CDC and was assigned a pharmacist mentor in the Division of Health Care Quality Promotion.
    • Research and work related to healthcare associated infections (hospitals, ambulatory care clinics, dialysis clinics, states during a potential outbreak, etc.)
  • Primary assignment was to research/co-author a manuscript about infectious outbreaks linked to compounding pharmacies in the United States
    • This was during the time of the New England Compounding Center outbreak of contaminated product
  • Had the opportunity to travel with an Epidemiology Team to Panama in Central America to investigate the deaths that occurred in a neonatal intensive care unit there
    • This experience highlighted the importance of a mentor and sponsor, someone who will advocate for you when you’re not in a position to advocate for yourself
    • Used Spanish-speaking skills to translate for the team
• Still needed to figure out how to get into public health permanently upon graduation
• Started exploring again during P4 year, but found that “public health pharmacist” is not a very clear-cut field
  • It is essential to be flexible when looking for a role, understanding that the title will not say “pharmacist” specifically
• Began to explore pharmaceutical industry fellowships that head a public health component at the start of P4 year
  • Was selected for the Regulatory Pharmaceutical Fellowship Drug Information track that is hosted by Purdue University, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and depending on the year, either Janssen Scientific Affairs or Eli Lilly
  • The year Megan completed the fellowship was with Janssen Scientific Affairs
    • Experience to work in academia and give back to the studentsAcademia practice site was Indiana University Methodist Hospital’s Drug Information Center
    • Opportunity to interact with clinicians, both verbally and through email, and perform research/provide drug information
• After completing the fellowship, began another fellowship program called the The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Fellowship (ORISE)
  • These fellowships are offered at various federal agencies like the FDA and CDC
  • Completed her second fellowship at CDC, returning to her previous department (but in a different capacity)
  • Practiced translating very scientific, detailed, and technical information into layman’s terms
  • Created fact sheets, brochures, infographic, and all other types of materials that would help inform the general public about issues related to antibiotic resistance and antibiotic stewardship
• Now works as a regulatory affairs specialist
  • This is much more technical, and obviously regulatory in nature

2. What is public health pharmacy?

• Very tough to define, but there are two ways to look at public health pharmacy
  • The first way is through the lens of your traditional practicing pharmacist. By nature, pharmacists help execute public health programs/public health services. By providing pharmacy services, you are in essence providing public health services because you’re providing those services for your community
  • The second way to look at public health pharmacy is when pharmacists act as public health practitioners. This would refer to pharmacists who have pharmacy background/training, but their actual roles are not necessarily in that of a dispensing or clinical pharmacist.
• When public health pharmacy is discussed in this interview, the latter definition is the intended definition

3. What type of work-life balance does your job offer you?

• As far as work-life balance, it’s pretty great
• Have opportunities to attend professional development workshops/seminars
• Able to take off time to tend to her son or go to appointments
• Very small team at Regulatory Affairs which helps with the schedule flexibility
• Able to get done at a reasonable time and still have time to spend with family
• If there is an unexpected event (outbreak/epidemic), you may have to tend to these situations
  • If you are working in disaster management/emergency care and a hurricane/tornado hits, you’ll probably end up working longer hours than expected

4. How is the role helping you to achieve your long-term goals?

• Is giving exposure to a whole new realm of public health
• This current role is more on the side of emergency preparedness
• Many of the roles involve writing
  • Enjoy writing and look for it in careers/jobs
• Overall has helped to develop expertise in a new type of writing

5. What other roles exist for pharmacists in public health pharmacy?

• You shouldn’t specifically look for roles of pharmacists
  • Rather, you should consider roles that utilize skills you would have as a pharmacist
  • Example: Health Educator
    • Great role for pharmacists because we are health educators (even though we aren’t called that)
    • You counsel patients and provide drug information to other clinicians, which is providing health information
• Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the distribution of a disease
  • Another great role for pharmacists who are interested in research and like to work with data
• CDC has pharmacists that work in chronic disease prevention
  • Stroke prevention, diabetes work, developmental disabilities in babies/neonates

6. Is it necessary to have a public health degree in addition to your pharmacy degree?

• Not completely necessary
• If you don’t have those credentials, or at least some direct public health experience , people will be a little bit confused
  • They may have a very difficult time understanding what it is exactly that you do
• The CDC has about 30 pharmacists in the entire agency
  • The CDC is not the only place where public health occurs

7. Any advice you would offer to pharmacy students or pharmacists looking to pursue a career in public health pharmacy?

• Focus on skills, not titles
• Your salary is not going to be equivalent to that of a traditional pharmacist (unless you are a senior epidemiologist/director)
• Think outside the box when it comes to extracurricular activities
  • Volunteering, internships, fellowships, shadowing, etc.
  • Do something in the public health field, it doesn’t have to be pharmacy related
  • The Board of Health in your county is a good place to start for suggestions
• Small number of pharmacists looking to go into public health may be an advantage
• Reach out to pharmacists who are in positions of interest
  • People reach out to Megan all the time
  • Networking is extremely important, especially if you want to break into public health pharmacy
• There is no harm in pursuing an additional certification or full-out degree
  • There are Master’s of Public Health Programs, Master’s of Science and Public Health Programs, and other degree programs related to public health that aren’t a traditional MPH or MSPH
  • Graduate certificates are another option to look at

Thank you all for tuning in and learning more about Megan Brown.  If you want to connect with Megan, create a profile on our Pharmacy Network and send her a friend request.  She is happy to connect with anyone that’s interested in learning more.  You can also check out her website, Your Friendly Public Health Pharmacist.