Career Reconstituted: How these pharmacists turned their job into a dream job

Season one of Career Reconstituted has wrapped. I'm in the final lap of my job search as I've narrowed it down to THE WHAT and just need to figure out THE WHERE and THE HOW. Once the dream job comes to fruition, I'll pop back in with all the deets. Until then, bye friends. Stay tenacious out there.

Michelle is so thoughtful about her career path. This is what we all should do! She was a clinical pharmacist in oncology for 20-years before she became disenchanted with the US healthcare system (metrics, money, etc) and saw a chasm in the care of patients with cancer. She took a masters course and dove right in. She is now the CEO and co-founder of Kairos Therapeutic Retreat, which provides holistic, integrative care (for free!!!) to patients who are living with the aftermath of cancer. Please check out her website and consider donating: http://kairoshealth.org/ This episode will drop on Monday (2/19/24) on You Tube, Apple Music, and Spotify. Please listen, get inspired...and leave a rating and review if you'd like.

Dr. Wilson Tam started as a Medication Therapy Management intern and now works in Healthcare Technology as Director of Sales Engineering. He’s on the forefront of important sectors like specialty pharmacy, infusion companies, and information technology.  Wilson started his unique career path off with two things: 1) a professor who engaged him in important conversations and 2) an idea to answer a clinical question. In turn, those sparks created a chain of events that led him to wanting to solve the hardest problems in our field. I love this convo, please join us! This episode of Career Reconstituted will drop 2/12/24 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

I love this convo with Lola because we get deep really quick & talk about how race and racism affect healthcare outcomes. I knew I was in a safe space to go there because Lola is the founder-director of the Health Equity Research (or HER) lab. Furthermore, she and her team have worked with students to host over 100 health fairs where they administered 4,000 vaccines (and more). Lola breaks down terms, gives real life experiences, and talks about how to get into the work. Hope you join us and love this convo as much as I did. Here's the link to her paper that we discussed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8079557/

Nick figured out how to take the leap by fixing a problem he encountered in his previous role as an MSL. He made the solution into one company (PharmAccelorator) and joined forces on another one (PharmacoTalent). So now he runs a tech company, coaches pharmacists to become MSLs, and helps companies find good candidates. He has a lot of advice for pharmacists who are looking to join industry. This episode of Career Reconstituted drops 1/29/24 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please follow or subscribe and leave a comment. Here are the links to Nick's companies: http://www.pharmaccelerator.com/ http://www.pharmacotalent.com/

So excited to have a "girls who code" (!) episode with Dr. Samia Baig who works on a bunch of really cool projects by combining public health with biostatistics and software development. Coolest part? She learned it herself, and shares how she did this in our convo. Would love for you to join and let us know what you think. This episode drops Monday (1/22/24) on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please follow/subscribe and leave a rating.

I love this conversation with Dr. Alex Barker. He started out as a residency-trained ambulatory care pharmacist and became the founder and CEO of The Happy PharmD, which is a pharmacist career coaching firm (and more). We discuss workplace bullying, what burn out looks like, imposter syndrome, and pharmacy job trends. His website is here, so check it out: https://thehappypharmd.com/ This episode of Career Reconstituted will drop 1/15/2024. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and You Tube. Please follow/subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Dr. Carol Holtzman has an impressive story. She was a pharmacy prof and HIV clinician in Philly until one day, she moved with her family to Lesotho, a country in Southern Africa. While there, she knocked on doors to get a job until she got her big break making a mobile phone app for tuberculosis (where she had to code!). After this, she worked for the State Department and USAID as an public health specialist doing HIV programatic work for the world. I love her story, and you will too. This episode of Career Reconstituted will drop 1/8/2024. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and You Tube. Please follow/subscribe and leave a rating and review.

Frank Harvey started out as a community pharmacist and is now the CEO of Surescripts, which is a health information network that established electronic prescribing more than two decades ago. But don’t get me wrong, Frank is a community pharmacist at heart (the kind with a soda fountain) and a vocal advocate of the profession. Our conversation dives into his impressive career path, using data to drive policy on utilizing pharmacists in primary care deserts, artificial intelligence, and so much more. This episode drops Monday January 1st, 2024. Find us as Career Reconstituted on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and You Tube.

Anisha Patel lives and works in London, England and is our first international pharmacist. She is a hospital pharmacist working in pediatric palliative care and a university professor who pivoted into podcasting. In this episode, we debate the merits and limitations of the National Health Service compared to the US’ public/private health system (including how much pharmacists get paid in the UK). Anisha also shares her story of being an international pharmacist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a stint and why she started her podcast, The Pharmacist Diaries (which is fantastic and 3-years running).

Louis paved his own path as a public health pharmacist, and it wasn't easy. He did Peace Corps in West Africa (and got to deliver babies!) then South Africa (setting up an electronic medical record). Back stateside, we learn how all his big breaks stemmed from Career Fairs, including his current gig as an FDA branch chief. Its a fascinating story, please join us.

Mike wasn't one to say no to opportunities, so he did it all - community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, operational management, and clinical...and then oncology. Now he's a scientific director at a mid-sized biotech company and trying to create change by adding diversity to clinical trials. There are several lessons to learn from Mike's path to his dream job.

Dr. Robert Witcher doesn't consider it a pivot, but rather an evolution: from critical care to pediatrics, and now health informatics. He takes us behind the scenes to understand what he does exactly, what excites him about his field, and what he doesn't miss about being a clinical pharmacist.

Please join my conversation with Dr. Sweta Chawla, who didn't just pivot, but turned her career on its head (kind of like a yoga pose) to channel her inner voice. She's now a leadership coach and mentor; writer; and public speaker. So many inspirational nuggets here. Check out her "Name your northstar clarity tool" and website here: https://drswetachawla.com/name-your-northstar https://drswetachawla.com/

Get ready for the ultimate career pivot which will leave you spinning (and inspired). Dr. Rikin Mehta has done it all, from community and clinical pharmacy to protecting the public at the FDA and DOH, running for office (quite successfully), and starting two companies. It's a great conversation - would love for you to join!

As I embark on the search for my dream job, I want to take you with me. Stay tuned for weekly episodes, featuring pharmacists-turned life coach, politician, Epic analyst, entrepreneur, champion of drug safety, massage therapist, and more!