Residency may not be your best option.

Name: Frank Ascione

Position: Former Dean of the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and current Director of the University of Michigan Center for Interprofessional Education

 

 

Interview Summary with Dr. Frank Ascione

1. How would you assess the current state of the pharmacy profession?

• Expanded tremendously in the last 50 years
  • Traditional roles = community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, and academia
• Types of roles have expanded over the last 40 years. Examples:
  • Administrative roles with Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Specialty Pharmacy roles
  • Consulting roles
• PharmD’s graduating right now are being exposed to a rapid change of how we are providing care to people

 

2. How do you see the role of residency training and clinical training changing?

• A lot of pressure on students to do the residency programs
• Only about 30% of students who graduate each year apply to a residency program  (see our Pharmacy Times post)
• Traditionally those who don’t pursue residency mainly go into retail pharmacy, and a small number would go into pharmaceutical industry or other nontraditional areas
• Is a clinical residency program a necessary condition for job success?
  • Dr. Ascione says NO
  • It is very important for certain roles (acute care, institutional settings, academia, etc.)
  • Less evidence to show that residency is good for any other innovative area
  • It may even be a negative because you are narrowing your choices
• A residency program is an advanced practice experience, so you learn to practice in that environment (which may not be the area you’re interested in)
• Residencies have helped to advance our practice in certain settings, but it probably has discouraged students (particularly if they really don’t want to be in a residency program)
• People may feel unsuccessful if they choose not to do a residency or are not chosen for a position in a residency
• This is not the case!

 

3. What are some of those key, emerging areas for growth potential that may be considered nontraditional pharmacy?

• It is important to think beyond your specific roles (in pharmacy, we identify with medications but we are also healthcare providers)
• Pharmacists in the community are very accessible and have helped to improve areas such as vaccinations, family planning, medication administration techniques
• Anywhere you are dealing with a health product (not just a drug product), pharmacists could be there to act as a very important role
  • Example: A device that monitors blood pressure
• Getting exposure to more health products is a great opportunity

 

4. Could you highlight some of the key contacts and key people you know that hold nontraditional roles?

• Institutional setting
• Directors of hospitals
• Managed Care
  • James Lang (LinkedIn), Vice President for Pharmacy Affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
    • Started as a clinical pharmacist in the VA System, moved into managed care, and is now managing millions of dollars
    • He has hired many pharmacy graduates to come in and deal with the drug benefits
  • Alexandra Tongul Lin (LinkedIn), Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • These individuals understand not only the drug benefit, but also the distribution system that exists for these drugs
  • People are becoming more sophisticated in these areas and understand the economic part and the practice part
• Pharmacy Consulting
  • Ruth Opdycke (LinkedIn)  
    • Consultant on designing managed care plans (benefit design)
    • Started as a clinically trained pharmacist
• Pharmaceutical Industry
  • Joan Bradley (LinkedIn) Head of a medical communications firm (JB Ashtin)
    • Designs some of the communications structures that go out and promote drug products
  • Peter Labadie (LinkedIn)
    • Advertising Firm
    • Started working for an advertising firm, then eventually created his own
    • Knowing the science of the product was able to help him design a process
  • Donald Therrasse (LinkedIn)
    • Started with BS in pharmacy, went onto become a practicing physician, moved onto Eli Lilly, and retired as Vice President of Global Medical Affairs
• Community Pharmacy
  • Grant Brown (LinkedIn)
    • 2nd generation pharmacist
    • Took his family community pharmacy business and expanded into things such as contracting, mental health, IV additive services, etc.

 

5. What advice would you give to people if they were interested in connecting with those people or pursuing similar roles?

• Networking is essential
• Selling your skill set
• Working outside the realm (look outside the traditional roles)
• Actively look and see out these roles
• Various organizations help to create interactions for people
  • ISPOR
• Pharmacists are very comfortable in their traditional ways which is why residency is popular
  • Residency is a very convenient process
  • Very easy to attend meetings and plug yourself into the process
• Other nontraditional roles take a lot more work to setup/discover
• Connect with connectors
• When you find someone who has something of value to you, work hard to find them and talk to them and learn about them
• Do some research
• Look into the fields you are interested in and dig for more information

 

If you have any interest in these roles or individuals, please comment on the post below or visit our Contact Page.  These people can help you move into a new career and are willing to help. We will be glad to help connect you.