| Fellowship Description: Horizon Therapeutics, in partnership with the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, School of Pharmacy is offering a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in medical affairs. The fellow will play an active role in the art of communicating with healthcare practitioners and consumers, as well as learn how to respond to unsolicited scientific inquiries. The fellow will also learn how to create and develop standard response documents and other communication materials, as well as play an active role in the management of the medical information contact center. Furthermore, the fellow will participate in external advisory boards, publication planning and data analysis, medical education, and clinical trial data analysis. Additionally, the fellow will receive an appointment at Rosalind Franklin as an adjunct faculty member and participate in both didactic teaching and experiential course work with pharmacy students. This dual-setting fellowship is organized to provide experiences leading to advanced professional skills in medical and scientific information for pharmacists. Objective: The Medical Affairs Fellowship is a one-year program, during which the fellow spends the majority of his/her time gaining experience and understanding of the various functions of a medical affairs department within the pharmaceutical industry, with opportunities to teach in an academic setting. The Fellowship Program will focus on the following functional areas at Horizon: Medical Information and Promotional Review Committee (PRC): - Gain in-depth knowledge of Horizon’s medicines, as well as a thorough understanding of the clinical and medical environments in which Horizon’s products are used
- Develop the necessary skills to serve as an information liaison with external clinicians and other Horizon colleagues
- Maintain current and accurate reference materials for medical affairs staff
- Serve as a medical communications specialist and closely collaborate with the medical information contact center
- Learn how to develop and update standard and individual response letters as needed and ensure responses to inquiries are provided in an accurate, balanced, and timely manner in accordance with all Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and regulatory guidelines
- Gain an understanding of how to conduct interpretive literature searches and become adept at locating resources to address specific questions on Horizon’s medicines
- Oversee the weekly departmental newsletter
- Gain understanding of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidances regarding prescription drug communications
- Review created content from the medical perspective under the guidance of a preceptor
Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) - Gain HEOR exposure and skills through practical experiences (e.g., assisting in project management)
- Learn how to generate real-world evidence to support strategic business objectives across the life cycle of Horizon’s portfolio
Field Medical - Understand the medical strategies and initiatives that support interactions with external healthcare professionals
- Complete scientific training pertinent for a field-based medical role with a designated mentor
- Shadow a field-based regional medical director to meet Local/Regional/National key opinion leaders (KOL) and healthcare professionals
- Participate in cross-functional meetings relevant to the therapeutic area
Medical Affairs Operations - Gain experience in providing operational support for medical affairs activities across multiple functions, such as development of new processes, technology support, advisory board support, and training/content development
- Support the Director and Senior Director of Operations with the planning and operational support of a major medical congress
Global Medical Publications - Gain an understanding of publication planning and its impact on the overall business
- Identify data gaps within an assigned therapeutic area and ultimately develop an abstract and poster for presentation at a medical conference to address the gaps
Medical Education and External Research: - Learn how Investigator Initiated Research/Trials (IIRs/IITs) enhance medical and scientific knowledge of Horizon’s medicines and related therapeutic areas
- Gain exposure to externally developed proposals and study protocols, attend review meetings for IIR/IIT submissions and learn to assess the potential impact of active IIR/IITs during study conduct
The fellowship program will also focus on having the fellow acquire teaching skills specifically focusing on teaching Drug Information (DI) in an institutional setting (duration TBD). This will include: - Developing effective teaching skills via application of pedagogical theory. The fellow will participate in the College’s Teaching Certificate Program.
- Developing methods utilized to educate and evaluate students as well as most effective teaching/learning strategies
- Building a lecture on an assigned DI topic to be presented to student pharmacists
- Facilitate a recitation exercise using small/large group teaching methodologies
- Assess student’s drug information knowledge and skills using grading rubrics, exams, questions, etc.
- Apply skills obtained in the program to educate students on their Introductory and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences
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