Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on October 4, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Vet Record Careers vetrecordcareers.com
My move to the pharmaceutical industry What do you do when you realise practice isn’t for you after all? After a few years in practice, that was just the situation that Russell Roan found himself in. He joined the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in a variety of roles. Here, he shares the reality of life working as an industry vet I HAD been a mixed practitioner and worked in Australia for a while; once I was back in the UK I focused on companion animals, but I wasn’t getting the fulfilment I wanted. Speaking with veterinary surgeons who were no longer in practice, I discovered that there were a number of paths available to me and I chose the industry route or, rather, I chose to make myself available to the industry and thankfully they chose me. That was in 2004 and, despite a promise to myself to keep my hand in with the occasional Saturday morning locum, I haven’t been on that side of the consulting table since then, although I have been in a very large number of consulting rooms, staff rooms, partner’s offices, operating theatres and the odd kitchen in the course of my job. Being away from the practice environment, I wondered what would happen to my CPD; however, this was a needless concern as I have far exceeded the minimum every year and have been able to spend time with certificate/diploma holders and specialists in one-to-one situations, enabling me to access some of the best CPD possible. Industry vet roles, by which I mean working for a pharmaceutical company, are few and far between. There are not a great number of employers out there and many are based in the south east (Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are very popular). This can
Russell waits to rack his bike before Ironman 70.3 in Canada in July this year. Training is easier when your working hours are more predictable
make things seem difficult when looking at where you and your nearest and dearest live and where the companies are based, but the role of the vet in industry does not have to be in the office all the time. In fact, most of the roles in the UK will be field-based with required visits to the company’s head office. I started as a technical or veterinary services adviser, providing training to the sales teams and support for the marketing team. As a field-based role, I spent a lot of time on the road (and in airports and hotels worldwide) getting to where the sales team needed me. Sometimes this was general support and ‘in-field’ training, sometimes it was to see a particularly demanding or, dare I say it, difficult customer, sometimes to visit the key opinion leaders and other times to participate in CPD and even provide it. I have been lucky enough to see large amounts of the UK, as well as Europe and Asia – and the inside of many different practices and universities – sometimes having to provide training through interpreters. I have even given lectures at midnight in Taiwan. The technical services role has the same basic structure in most companies. Support is provided for the internal customers in the sales and marketing teams, but there’s also a lot of
‘It is great to be able to help answer colleagues’ questions and receive the gratitude for doing so – it is a very rewarding part of the profession’ support provided for external customers. This support may be technical calls, looking for advice on use of products and dosages, or use of a product outside its authorisation; recording, following up and reporting of pharmacovigilance cases and, in my current company, Vétoquinol, helping vets with seizure cases. I thought my knowledge of seizuring cases and their management was okay in practice, but after nearly 10 years of speaking with customers and specialists, I would now relish the opportunity to manage a case in practice as I have learnt so much. This is a fantastic part of being in industry. When new products are launched you have to focus on the disease and management in such great detail that your thirst for learning – that as a vet has always been high – is definitely catered for. It is also great to be able to answer colleagues’ questions and receive the gratitude for doing so – it is still a very rewarding part of the profession. September 30, 2017 | Vet Record Careers | i
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on October 4, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Careers The regulatory aspects of product licensing are now more familiar to me, but the Brexit-shaped elephant in the room means that we don’t know what is on the horizon. (By working closely with the National Office of Animal Health [NOAH] the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and other companies, we are making sure that veterinary surgeons have the best possible portfolio of products to ensure their customers and patients are able to receive the best possible products now and in the future). Once you’ve worked in veterinary industry, opportunities arise to work with organisations outside of the direct company. I have worked closely with NOAH on a number of topics including antimicrobial resistance, sales team education/examination and correct use of advertising and promotion – I am not sure in my final year in vet school I could have foreseen me reviewing and passing comment on the advertising of a major pharmaceutical company for NOAH in relation to another company’s complaint. The management aspect is something that I have learned a lot about from e x p e r i e n c e, b u t a l s o t h ro u g h C P D . Education on how to establish other people’s personality types, how to work with them and develop the individuals is also a
satisfying part of the role of managing the team. Not all aspects of management are easy and there will always be the case for which you need some support. I have been lucky enough to have received this. Like veterinary knowledge, I know it will not be possible to know everything, but also like veterinary work, it will not be long after you learn something new that you will get the opportunity to put it into practice, hopefully with great results. Is the life of an industry vet easier than in practice? I would say it is different, being faced with challenges that you won’t have encountered in clinical work. There are some aspects that are nice to have (I haven’t worked on Christmas day for a long time), the benefit packages are often more extensive than in practice and it is uncommon to go home at the end of the day with the aroma of tom cat on your clothing, but pressures do exist and for a field-based vet, the motorway service stations become very familiar. If any veterinary surgeon is looking for another way to use their knowledge, learning skills and ability to support clients, it is an excellent use of the veterinary degree – I don’t regret my change at all and never did. doi: 10.1136/vr.j4459
The British Small Animal Veterinary Association has appointed a new head of policy and scientific communication Adrienne Conroy has previously worked in practice, industry, government and the charity sector. Her roles have included evidence-based strategy, policy and operations through to communications and PR as well as reputation and crises management at UK, European and international level.
Two veterinary surgeons have been awarded the RCVS Diploma in small animal orthopaedic surgery Gordon Brown (top right), is referrals director at Grove Referrals in Fakenham, Norfolk, and Mark Morton (below right), is orthopaedic surgeon at ChesterGates Veterinary Referrals in Chester.
Highcroft Veterinary Referrals has appointed three new referral clinicians Sabela Atencia holds the European Diploma in small animal internal medicine. She is particularly interested in endoscopy, endocrinology and genetics.
New independent practice in Sussex Alastair Ball is opening a veterinary practice in Lancing, Sussex, on October 7. Adur Valley vets will be a small animal practice treating cats, dogs, rabbits and other small mammals. Anna Cook RVN, will work alongside him, with Rikki Backstrom on reception.
Burgess Pet Care has announced the appointment of three new staff Andrew Cressey is the company’s new export manager, having worked in international sales for over 20 years. Trish Parker is the company’s technical manager, concentrating on advancements in new technology. Becky Scholey is the new quality coordinator, having previously been a senior scientist in the blood sciences haematology and serology department at a veterinary diagnostics laboratory.
No regrets When supporting the sales team in the field or working on presentations with key opinion leaders, you do face a few comments, such as, ‘Didn’t you used to be a proper vet?’, ‘I didn’t know you were a sales rep’, being two of the more common ones. Initially I wasn’t sure how to take these questions. Had I devalued my qualification? Was I seen as a salesman? I took a good look at what I was giving back to my colleagues and their customers and realised I was still very valuable to both areas of the market. I have been in industry for a few more years now and have progressed along a couple of career paths. Having focused purely on the regulatory sector of product authorisation, such as development of products with the international parent company and license maintenance (a lot goes on behind the scenes to keep the products the UK veterinary profession knows and loves up to date). Now I am working in the regulatory sector alongside managing the veterinary team in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. With a focus on neurology and cardiology, the veterinary side of things is massively rewarding and being back in the frontline of product presentation and training means I have lots of contact with veterinary customers.
People
Owen Davies is a clinician in veterinary medical oncology; he is especially interested in haematopoietic malignancies and targeted therapy for cancer and paraneoplastic disease. Elisabetta Mancinelli is a European Veterinary Specialist in zoological medicine (small mammal medicine and surgery) and a RCVS Recognised Specialist in zoo and wildlife medicine.
ii | Vet Record Careers | September 30, 2017
i-ii_VR careers 300917IW.indd 2
27/09/2017 15:07
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on October 4, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
My move to the pharmaceutical industry
Veterinary Record 2017 181: i-ii
doi: 10.1136/vr.j4459 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/181/13/i
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
Vet Record Careers vetrecordcareers.com
My move to the pharmaceutical industry What do you do when you realise practice isn’t for you after all? After a few years in practice, that was just the situation that Russell Roan found himself in. He joined the pharmaceutical industry and has worked in a variety of roles. Here, he shares the reality of life working as an industry vet I HAD been a mixed practitioner and worked in Australia for a while; once I was back in the UK I focused on companion animals, but I wasn’t getting the fulfilment I wanted. Speaking with veterinary surgeons who were no longer in practice, I discovered that there were a number of paths available to me and I chose the industry route or, rather, I chose to make myself available to the industry and thankfully they chose me. That was in 2004 and, despite a promise to myself to keep my hand in with the occasional Saturday morning locum, I haven’t been on that side of the consulting table since then, although I have been in a very large number of consulting rooms, staff rooms, partner’s offices, operating theatres and the odd kitchen in the course of my job. Being away from the practice environment, I wondered what would happen to my CPD; however, this was a needless concern as I have far exceeded the minimum every year and have been able to spend time with certificate/diploma holders and specialists in one-to-one situations, enabling me to access some of the best CPD possible. Industry vet roles, by which I mean working for a pharmaceutical company, are few and far between. There are not a great number of employers out there and many are based in the south east (Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are very popular). This can
Russell waits to rack his bike before Ironman 70.3 in Canada in July this year. Training is easier when your working hours are more predictable
make things seem difficult when looking at where you and your nearest and dearest live and where the companies are based, but the role of the vet in industry does not have to be in the office all the time. In fact, most of the roles in the UK will be field-based with required visits to the company’s head office. I started as a technical or veterinary services adviser, providing training to the sales teams and support for the marketing team. As a field-based role, I spent a lot of time on the road (and in airports and hotels worldwide) getting to where the sales team needed me. Sometimes this was general support and ‘in-field’ training, sometimes it was to see a particularly demanding or, dare I say it, difficult customer, sometimes to visit the key opinion leaders and other times to participate in CPD and even provide it. I have been lucky enough to see large amounts of the UK, as well as Europe and Asia – and the inside of many different practices and universities – sometimes having to provide training through interpreters. I have even given lectures at midnight in Taiwan. The technical services role has the same basic structure in most companies. Support is provided for the internal customers in the sales and marketing teams, but there’s also a lot of
‘It is great to be able to help answer colleagues’ questions and receive the gratitude for doing so – it is a very rewarding part of the profession’ support provided for external customers. This support may be technical calls, looking for advice on use of products and dosages, or use of a product outside its authorisation; recording, following up and reporting of pharmacovigilance cases and, in my current company, Vétoquinol, helping vets with seizure cases. I thought my knowledge of seizuring cases and their management was okay in practice, but after nearly 10 years of speaking with customers and specialists, I would now relish the opportunity to manage a case in practice as I have learnt so much. This is a fantastic part of being in industry. When new products are launched you have to focus on the disease and management in such great detail that your thirst for learning – that as a vet has always been high – is definitely catered for. It is also great to be able to answer colleagues’ questions and receive the gratitude for doing so – it is still a very rewarding part of the profession. September 30, 2017 | Vet Record Careers | i
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on October 4, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Careers The regulatory aspects of product licensing are now more familiar to me, but the Brexit-shaped elephant in the room means that we don’t know what is on the horizon. (By working closely with the National Office of Animal Health [NOAH] the Veterinary Medicines Directorate and other companies, we are making sure that veterinary surgeons have the best possible portfolio of products to ensure their customers and patients are able to receive the best possible products now and in the future). Once you’ve worked in veterinary industry, opportunities arise to work with organisations outside of the direct company. I have worked closely with NOAH on a number of topics including antimicrobial resistance, sales team education/examination and correct use of advertising and promotion – I am not sure in my final year in vet school I could have foreseen me reviewing and passing comment on the advertising of a major pharmaceutical company for NOAH in relation to another company’s complaint. The management aspect is something that I have learned a lot about from e x p e r i e n c e, b u t a l s o t h ro u g h C P D . Education on how to establish other people’s personality types, how to work with them and develop the individuals is also a
satisfying part of the role of managing the team. Not all aspects of management are easy and there will always be the case for which you need some support. I have been lucky enough to have received this. Like veterinary knowledge, I know it will not be possible to know everything, but also like veterinary work, it will not be long after you learn something new that you will get the opportunity to put it into practice, hopefully with great results. Is the life of an industry vet easier than in practice? I would say it is different, being faced with challenges that you won’t have encountered in clinical work. There are some aspects that are nice to have (I haven’t worked on Christmas day for a long time), the benefit packages are often more extensive than in practice and it is uncommon to go home at the end of the day with the aroma of tom cat on your clothing, but pressures do exist and for a field-based vet, the motorway service stations become very familiar. If any veterinary surgeon is looking for another way to use their knowledge, learning skills and ability to support clients, it is an excellent use of the veterinary degree – I don’t regret my change at all and never did. doi: 10.1136/vr.j4459
The British Small Animal Veterinary Association has appointed a new head of policy and scientific communication Adrienne Conroy has previously worked in practice, industry, government and the charity sector. Her roles have included evidence-based strategy, policy and operations through to communications and PR as well as reputation and crises management at UK, European and international level.
Two veterinary surgeons have been awarded the RCVS Diploma in small animal orthopaedic surgery Gordon Brown (top right), is referrals director at Grove Referrals in Fakenham, Norfolk, and Mark Morton (below right), is orthopaedic surgeon at ChesterGates Veterinary Referrals in Chester.
Highcroft Veterinary Referrals has appointed three new referral clinicians Sabela Atencia holds the European Diploma in small animal internal medicine. She is particularly interested in endoscopy, endocrinology and genetics.
New independent practice in Sussex Alastair Ball is opening a veterinary practice in Lancing, Sussex, on October 7. Adur Valley vets will be a small animal practice treating cats, dogs, rabbits and other small mammals. Anna Cook RVN, will work alongside him, with Rikki Backstrom on reception.
Burgess Pet Care has announced the appointment of three new staff Andrew Cressey is the company’s new export manager, having worked in international sales for over 20 years. Trish Parker is the company’s technical manager, concentrating on advancements in new technology. Becky Scholey is the new quality coordinator, having previously been a senior scientist in the blood sciences haematology and serology department at a veterinary diagnostics laboratory.
No regrets When supporting the sales team in the field or working on presentations with key opinion leaders, you do face a few comments, such as, ‘Didn’t you used to be a proper vet?’, ‘I didn’t know you were a sales rep’, being two of the more common ones. Initially I wasn’t sure how to take these questions. Had I devalued my qualification? Was I seen as a salesman? I took a good look at what I was giving back to my colleagues and their customers and realised I was still very valuable to both areas of the market. I have been in industry for a few more years now and have progressed along a couple of career paths. Having focused purely on the regulatory sector of product authorisation, such as development of products with the international parent company and license maintenance (a lot goes on behind the scenes to keep the products the UK veterinary profession knows and loves up to date). Now I am working in the regulatory sector alongside managing the veterinary team in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. With a focus on neurology and cardiology, the veterinary side of things is massively rewarding and being back in the frontline of product presentation and training means I have lots of contact with veterinary customers.
People
Owen Davies is a clinician in veterinary medical oncology; he is especially interested in haematopoietic malignancies and targeted therapy for cancer and paraneoplastic disease. Elisabetta Mancinelli is a European Veterinary Specialist in zoological medicine (small mammal medicine and surgery) and a RCVS Recognised Specialist in zoo and wildlife medicine.
ii | Vet Record Careers | September 30, 2017
i-ii_VR careers 300917IW.indd 2
27/09/2017 15:07
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on October 4, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
My move to the pharmaceutical industry
Veterinary Record 2017 181: i-ii
doi: 10.1136/vr.j4459 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/181/13/i
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
