Oftentimes the important questions when deciding one’s career circle around- “What’s my future in this field?” or “What’s my 5-year or 10-year plan at this company?”, etc.
The career paths in Pharmacovigilance or Drug Safety is both - knowledge and skill-based.
One’s educational background in the field of medicine, be it - a physician, a dentist, a pharmacology student (and so on) - along with the skill sets acquired while working in the Department of Drug Safety would determine one’s career path.
There are multiple careers in pharmacovigilance right from the first time a case is booked in to it’s submission. It’s best to describe the particular job role based on one’s purpose in the organization. A simplified hierarchy, to start with would be from a Drug Safety Associate to a Drug Safety Physician and then to the role of a Medical Director. However, the graph isn't necessarily this linear for everyone.
- Case reception, Triage, and Case Processing -
Drug Safety Associate/Drug Safety Specialist, Triage Manager, Case Processor, Quality Reviewer, Submission Specialist, Medical Coder, Senior Safety Specialist, Manager
- Case Processing and Case Review -
Clinical Safety Scientist, Medical reviewer, Drug Safety Physician, Senior Manager
- Submissions and Analytics -
Clinical Safety Scientist, Drug Safety Physician, Senior Manager, Safety lead, Associate Director
- Medical Director, Senior medical Director,
- V.P, CMO
What’s important to note is that the above mentioned career roles are often overlapping. On the basis of one’s job description in the Pharmacovigilance department - one many need to play specific or multiple roles. Many other factors like the number of employees in the workforce, the number of ongoing clinical trials, the intake of daily ICSRs at the organization also determines your role and eventually your career path (growth).
The unique aspect of Drug Safety is that the skill set can be acquired and learnt through earnest training and experience over a period of time.
For more information on our certificate programs, please call us at 848 377 9100
No Comments