Sanjeev K. Bhanot, Pharm.D., Drug Information Fellow
Graduated: The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Class of 2005

Personal Overview:

Through all phases of this fellowship, I gained valuable experiences in a variety of pharmacy and pharmacy-related roles. During the academia and institutional practice phase of the fellowship, I worked with physicians and nurses to make informed evidence-based decisions that affected both patients and administrators. Two of the projects I worked on were implementing and managing a pharmacy student led medication reconciliation program and developing a drug information service. I was also given the opportunity to develop my teaching skills both as a lecturer and as a preceptor. Having recently graduated, working with students provided for both a challenging and rewarding experience.

While at Ortho Women's Health and Urology, a Division of Ortho-McNeil, my primary responsibility was responding to medical information requests escalated from the call center. I also interacted with professionals from both our medical affairs and marketing departments on various projects and initiatives including promotional review and department training.

With this fellowship I received the training needed for positions requiring strong communication skills, application of scientific analysis, strategic thinking and creativity. The preceptors worked with me to shape the fellowship around my needs while at the same time providing solid mentorship. I have had the chance to meet, work with, and learn from many individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences whom have positively influenced both my personal and professional attitudes. While each rotation brought new responsibilities and challenges, more importantly it brought new perspectives. I feel that this experience has helped strengthen my professional skills and provide me with the opportunities and further training needed to be successful in any area of pharmacy be it academia, government, institutional practice or within the pharmaceutical industry.

Samuel Skariah, Pharm.D., Drug Advertising and Promotion Fellow
Graduated: University of Illinois, Class of 2005

Personal Overview:

This fellowship experience has offered me the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally. From the moment I stepped into the doors at Lilly on my first day, I knew that this experience was going to be special. This fellowship program is very unique in the sense that the fellow gains a learning perspective that is unlike any other fellowship that is out there. The fellow has the opportunity to participate and learn in the regulatory promotional review process, both from the perspective of industry as well as the government. The learning experience is incredibly valuable!

Furthermore, there is a great deal of focus on professional and personal development! In a sense, you are provided with at least 3 mentors in 3 different functional areas (academia, industry, government). Their ultimate goal was to help me develop and define what my interests were. Once I was able to that, it was much easier to sit down and create objectives and goals tailored to my interests. Working with people who were committed to my development made this whole process worthwhile.

Lastly, the academic component is something that is very unique to this fellowship. After spending 9 months in industry as a regulator, then spending another 9 months in government, the academic component real helps tie everything together nicely. Spending my last 6 months teaching students about my experiences over the past 18 months, will help put everything in perspective. Plus the ability to learn from some of the top educators in our field, is an added bonus!

Having said all this, I feel the most important thing I learned from this fellowship was personal development. Over these 2 years, I have really been able to assess my real strengths and weaknesses as well as my likes and dislikes. Having had the opportunity to essentially work in 3 different functional areas that are all inter-related in some way, has given me a good idea of what area of interest I would like to pursue. Furthermore, the relationships I have built and the people I have met will last with me a lifetime. This was definitely 2 years well spent.