Why I Started Medical Affairs Weekly

Why I Started Medical Affairs Weekly

Anytime I hear about something new, I typically want to know two things. Who’s behind it? And why did they create it?

I will answer both questions in the inaugural edition of Medical Affairs Weekly.

Who am I?

I’m a pharmacist by training, and I live in Kentucky with my wife, Kaylae, and our three young children.

Most people associate Kentucky with bourbon and horses. Since I don’t drink, I make up for it with my love for horse racing.

My professional career started at Eli Lilly, where I completed the Visiting Scientist Industry Fellowship Program. Despite a top-notch experience, I turned down an opportunity to stay with Lilly and returned to Kentucky after the fellowship.

The exact details of how I ended up in managed care at Humana (a topic I’ll write about soon) are a bit fuzzy at this point, but I still insist I was very underqualified for my initial position. It didn’t matter; I thrived in that environment, and things clicked almost immediately.

While at Humana I learned so much. Over time, the technical skillset I developed - managed care and oncology - was unique and has been a tremendous personal asset. I also developed a pretty solid network in the pharmaceutical industry.

As an engaged customer, I was recruited by several companies while at Humana. Finally, I was convinced to join the Field Medical team at Novartis in 2014. Nearly ten years later, I’m still here.

I’ll go ahead and state the obvious: what I write in this Newsletter reflects my opinion and is not tied to my employer.

In 2018, I transitioned into people leadership. I’m still developing my skills and realize I have a long way to go when it comes to leading teams.

Which is a nice transition, Why did I create Medical Affairs Weekly?

The short answer is that I am repeatedly asked some variation of the same question. How do I break into the pharmaceutical industry? My answer, while tailored to the individual and their experiences, is pretty consistent. So why not answer the question at scale?

In order to fully explain why I started Medical Affairs Weekly, I need to explain what I hope to create.

My vision is that this will be valuable to those looking to get into medical affairs or those who are already in a medical affairs role and are looking to advance their career.

I’ll admit that it took courage to follow through and launch Medical Affairs Weekly. Despite having nearly a decade of experience in medical affairs, I’m not the most experienced or qualified to write on these topics. But I am willing to share my experiences, and I enjoy the process of writing. And that might be the only thing that makes me uniquely qualified.

If you haven’t done so, please consider subscribing to the newsletter. As of now, I have a long list of things I’d like to address. And subscribers will be the metric that determines whether this is ultimately worth my time. Which of course, means I’d also be grateful if you shared this with friends, peers, etc.

Feel free to reach out with topics you’d like me to cover, and thank you so much for your time and support!