An example of how career growth shapes your future role

1) What is your current position and how long have you been working there?

“Most recently, I was working in Industry as a Neurology Rare Disease Partnership Lead.”

2) Can you summarize your curriculum and career at the point of your transition?

“At the point of transition from patient care into Industry, I was working as a Registered Nurse (RN) in Obstetrics and Gynecology.”

3) What was your major drive to do the transition?

“Career growth and a new opportunity to utilize my Nursing skills within the healthcare continuum.”

4) What were the alternatives for you at the time you were thinking of the transition?

“There were no career growth opportunities within the working environment I was in at the time of the transition.”

5) What influenced your decision the most? Was it a difficult decision? (family, relocation, etc.)

“It was a difficult decision for sure, as I loved hands on patient care, which was the reason why I wanted to be a nurse but in the end what influenced my decision most was the opportunity for career growth and development and the innovative ways that I could use my transferrable skills to bring value to a new role.”

6) What skills did you have to learn when transitioning to your new job?  Did you take any courses before the transition at the time?

“Most of the skills required to do the new job were closely tied to health teaching skills that I already had, so the learning was more related to the specifics of a given product or a disease state. Some additional learning was required as it relates to business acumen. I did not take any courses specific to Industry readiness before the transition.”

7) Have you ever considered going back to your previous position in academia? What do you miss from your previous position?
8) What do you love the most in your current position/field?

“There are certainly times when I miss the hands-on patient care but feel that the way I do my job in Industry is reflective of a truly patient centric approach. I have always looked at my role as supportive to that of the Physician and the healthcare team, working together to find solutions to challenges and where solutions don’t currently exist using innovation to create solutions from the ground up alongside the healthcare practitioners who best know the needs of their patients. I love bringing value to each of my engagements and the feeling that I am doing my part to make a difference in the life of a patient.”

9) What is something unique that you have learned in your current position/field?

“Something unique that I have learned in my current position is that providing optimal solutions for patient care often comes from a multidisciplinary team model, where individual expertise lends clarity to different areas of patient need and a more holistic approach to integrated patient care.”

10) What do you think the role of networking is when switching from academia to industry?

“I think that networking can be very valuable in all career pursuits, as long as it is done ethically and responsibly. In my experience, moving from hands on patient care in the healthcare environment into Industry, networking can often connect two dots faster and more efficiently, meaning patient solutions are reached sooner.”

11) Three pieces of advice for your younger self before doing the transition.

Be a visionary - Where opportunities don’t exist, look at ways that you can create them.
Stay curious - Seek insights from those around you, those who are highly experienced and those that are less so, their vantage points may be very different, but both can provide immense value.
Be collaborative - it takes a village...be open and lean in to exploring solutions for patients through both the individual and collective lens.”