Powerful partners Internships are a win-win for pharmacy students and companies
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arina SzymulanskaRamamurthy was pretty sure she wanted to work in the pharmaceutical industry after finishing her PharmD degree at UIC. But the student still had some lingering questions about whether it was the right fit for her. She found her answer at an internship with Fresenius Kabi, a leading international healthcare company that develops, produces, and markets pharmaceuticals and medical devices for critically and chronically ill patients. The internship, which was coordinated through the UIC College of Pharmacy, “gave me a feel for what it’s like to be in this setting…while offering a good opportunity to learn a lot of new things, meet new people, and see different perspectives,” she says. “It definitely reassured me that [working in this industry] is the right decision.” Thanks to recent partnerships between UIC and several leading pharmaceutical companies, an increasing number of pharmacy students are participating in internships. And these experiences are proving to be incredibly valuable—not only for the student interns, but for the companies that host them. Patrick Costello, a PharmD student from the Rockford campus, completed an internship over the summer at Sagent Pharmaceuticals, a Schaumburg-based company that develops and distributes injectable generic drugs and has grown almost 200,000 percent in the past five years. (Such remarkable sales led Crain’s Chicago Business to name the company no. 1 on its 2013 list of Chicago’s fastest-growing companies.) There, he supported Sagent’s regulatory manager in activities that included promotional
submissions to the FDA, updating the product catalog, and generating and reviewing documentation in support of FDA submissions. “Before the internship, I was going to go clinical,” Costello recalls. “I had it all figured out.” Working for Sagent, however, “clouded everything up—in a good way. It helped me see other [professional] avenues.” Jeff Wojtynek, pharmd ’88, senior manager of medical affairs at Sagent, affirms that this is why internships are so important: They help pharmacists figure out what careers are right—or completely wrong—for them. What’s more, internships are great resumebuilders that “set you a part from other pharmacists” when you’re applying for jobs, he says. At the same time, Wojtynek says that companies have a lot to gain from offering internships. “Students can be good resources,” he explains, extending praise to UIC students in particular. “The caliber of UIC students is high. They can hit the ground running.” Kathryn Patterson, a senior manager at Sagent, agrees. “Patrick was a whip cracker,” she says. “We’d give him work and he’d crank it out. He was very motivated and needed very little direction. I was very impressed by the level of intelligence and drive that he brought here.” For PharmD student Yu Zhang, an internship at Fresenius Kabi—which she completed alongside SzymulanskaRamamurthy—helped round out her academic experience. Hailing from China, Zhang came to UIC in 2010 with a master’s in botanical pharmaceuticals and a desire to beef up her research skills. Through
Yu Zhang (left) and Karina Szymulanska-Ramamurthy recently completed internships with Fresenius Kabi, a leading international healthcare company.
her program, she learned research methodologies in the classroom and worked on several studies with Associate Professor Richard Gemeinhart, such as a study about the shared markers between differentiated mesenchymal stem cells. At Fresenius Kabi, Zhang was able to put her research knowledge to the test while also gaining hands-on experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Through that process, she found clarity in her professional journey. “This experience confirmed for me that I want to work in pharma,” she says. “It was a stepping stone for my career.”
PHARMACIST