MCPHS has the 2nd-Largest Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program in the Nation

With more than 2,300 applications competing for 58 coveted spots, the MCPHS Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program is very competitive.

Founded in 2003, the MCPHS Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program is a two-year program designed to provide Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) graduates with in-depth, specialized training within the biopharmaceutical industry. "We open up our application portal, which usually opens beginning of October. It's open for about six weeks, and we invite students and recent graduates from any pharmacy school across the country to apply for the program," explains Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director, Biopharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program at MCPHS Amee Mistry, PharmD.

The program has grown to include partnerships with 11 companies including Agios, Alexion, Novartis, Pfizer, BD, Sanofi Genzyme, Biogen, Gelesis, Sunovion, Takeda, and Moderna. It is the second-largest pharmaceutical industry fellowship program in the nation, behind Rutgers University.

The fellowship positions encompass different areas of interests including but not limited to clinical development, clinical supply management, commercial, drug safety, health outcomes & economics, medical affairs, quality affairs, and regulatory affairs. "The companies love having the fellows. They are in extremely high demand because of the quality of candidates that we attract and the training and skills that they obtain during their fellowship," Dr. Mistry says. She explains that the fellows are in extremely high demand because fellows are able to transverse both the clinical and business aspects of the job. With so much competition in the pharmaceutical industry, post-fellowship candidates have an advantage. "Not one of my fellows leaves the program without a job," Dr. Mistry says. "The program has a 100% job placement rate. It's a pretty impressive metric and we are very proud of our fellowship program."

The program aims to foster professional development by providing hands-on training and exposing fellows to a variety of industry and academia-based opportunities. "I take into account what the fellows have already done but also what would be valuable to them in their current workplaces. So, in the past, we've done training on personal branding and financial planning along with diversity, equity, and inclusion training," Dr. Mistry says.

In addition to hard skills, Dr. Mistry also likes to focus on soft-skill development and training that the fellows might not get on the job but need to know, such as project management. Fellows also gain unique teaching and scholarship opportunities under the mentorship of MCPHS faculty. "The fellows are required to teach on one of our three campuses--Boston, Worcester, or Manchester--as well as conduct scholarship, whether it's [by] helping to write an article, a poster, or working on a grant," Dr. Mistry says. "There's a lot of research that can be done."

Pharmaceutical companies have reached out to Dr. Mistry on an annual basis to start new fellowship programs and expand partnerships by adding programs in different departments within their companies or accommodating more fellows. "We have the opportunity to grow and expand our reach within the pharmaceutical industry in the Boston/Cambridge area," she says. "I look forward to exploring new partnerships."