ISAAC HONG
IRONWOOD PHARMACEUTICALS
Q: Can you provide a short intro of who you are?
A: My name is Isaac Hong and I am a P2 Pharmacy Student at Northeastern University. I immigrated to the United States from South Korea when I was just 8 years old and went to High School in Princeton, New Jersey.
Q: What co-ops have you done in the past/What are you doing for your next one?
A: For my first co-op I worked at the Outpatient Pharmacy in Massachusetts General Hospital and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge for my second co-op. For my last and next co-op, I will be at the pediatric satellite in Boston Medical Center.
Q: Why did you choose to do an industrial co-op like Ironwood Pharmaceuticals?
A: I chose Ironwood Pharmaceuticals because I always wanted to experience working at a Pharmaceutical Company, especially a small-mid sized one. I wanted to know what roles a Pharmacist could have in a Pharmaceutical Company as well as get to know people from various other professions.
Q: Can you walk me through what a day looks like for you?
A: There really is no specific day to day procedure when I am working at Ironwood, as everyday is new and the tasks are unpredictable. In general, I can find myself working on various different projects, participating in different meetings, and attending corporate sponsored events.
Q: What did you like the most about working at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals?
A: I loved the fact that I was able to meet so many different people from various departments and network with them. In the industry, everyone was so welcoming even to the interns and was happy to help me out with whatever I needed. I also felt like I was very appreciated for the work I was doing, and every project had its own unique challenges in which I could learn something new from.
Q: What are some obstacles you had to overcome when you first started working?
A: The first obstacle I had to overcome at Ironwood was learning the Pharmacology of the different drugs in our company as well as mastering the Physiology behind our therapeutic areas and concentrations. It helped that I took Physiology and Pharmacology prior to being at Ironwood but there was a lot of reading that was required of me especially as a Medical Scientific Affairs intern in which I was expected to be able to be familiar with the science behind everything for my projects. Afterwards, there were some minor obstacles I had to overcome like learning the different Pharmaceutical company operations and getting used to the different jargons/languages utilized in the industry.
Q: Do you see yourself working in a setting like Ironwood after graduation?
A: Absolutely. Ironwood has almost solidified my interests for the Pharmaceutical industry and the culture here is definitely something I would want to be resembled at my work setting in the future.
Q: Any final remarks?
A: I definitely recommend anyone considering applying for a elective co-op in the industry to apply for Ironwood Pharmaceuticals. It was an amazing experience I would not exchange for any other co-op experience I’ve had and it definitely shaped mine and many other’s future career plans.
HUILING ZHAO
BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL INPATIENT PHARMACY
Q: Can you provide a short intro of who you are?
A: Hey! My name is Huiling and I’m from Anchorage, Alaska. Currently a third year, P3 student who just finished my first co-op. I lived in China for 3 years from third till end of sixth grade, then came back to the US, so moved around often.
Q: What co-ops have you done in the past/What are you doing for your next one? (in your case, what co-op did you just complete)
A: I just completed my institutional co-op at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Inpatient Pharmacy.
Q: Why did you choose to work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital?
A: It’s one of the top hospitals in the US in addition to having many positions and opportunities to expand and grow at the pharmacy department.
Q: Can you walk me through what a day looks like for you?
A: In my case, I was the evening central scanner. I come in at 2:30pm, help the pharmacist check the batch, validate barcodes, check to make sure that the dosage, strength and patient label matches the dispensed medication, and triage phone calls efficiently. However, one can definitely expand on that position by using downtime to help others out and by doing so learn the other positions job. In my case I learned how to use the carousel, help with the batch, assist the pharmacist in suggestions on how to adjust the label so it would scan in epic etc.
Q: What did you like the most about working at Brigham?
A: I really liked how free I was to multitask. I mean multitask in I could help pick medications off the carousel, help prep medications, and organize the warehouse once I checked all the medications and had time during down time.
Q: What are some obstacles you had to overcome when you first started working?
A: Personalities. I was pretty hard adjusting to various peoples’ working styles and often strong personalities. However, it was also really cool learning how to match up my working style to whoever was working to ensure best efficiency.
Q: Do you see yourself working in a setting like Brigham after graduation?
A: I do. I think actually working in a hospital setting like Brigham made this path more appealing.
Q: Any final remarks?
A: Just do your best to learn as much as you can. I honestly believe a person can always learn new things, it’s just sometimes it may take more time and effort.