aLPHA zETA oMEGA
Epsilon chapter- New Jersey
FRATER SPOTLIGHT
Shelly pezzella, Pharm, BCPS
Clinical MTM Pharmacist at Healthy Hardorf/Healthy Cecil
Since graduation, my pharmacy career has been a whirlwind of excitement. After my residency at Capital Health in Trenton New Jersey, I returned to my home town and began working as a staff pharmacist for University of Maryland. After a few months, I was promoted to a brand new position: a clinical pharmacist specializing in medication therapy management (MTM). I am currently working for a nonprofit called Healthy Harford/ Healthy Cecil as a part of the Wellness Action Team of Cecil and Harford (WATCH). I provide MTM services to patients in the community and in the home. We are revitalizing that old school thought of bringing the doctor to the patient, and this is having amazing results for community wellness. As the only pharmacist for two comprehensive care centers and four WATCH teams, I am quite a busy pharmacist. Luckily, I have my AZO friends to help me distress. I am currently living in Canton, a section of Baltimore home to many alumni fraters. They help me de-stress during my time off. Whether it be playing skee ball or going to brunch or dining at Nacho Mama’s, having AZO in my life will be a never-ending blessing. For the future, I hope to become a preceptor to University of Maryland students and teach our fellow
Kappa undergraduates all the joys of ambulatory care pharmacy.
What organizations did you join at EMSOP?
I became involved with Alpha Zeta Omega during my freshman year of college. Joining this prestigious organization was the best decision for my academic, social and professional life. I was honored with accepting the position of co-philanthropy chair during my junior year and became very involved in Dance Marathon. Eventually, I served as the 2013-2014 Sub-
directorum and 2014-2015 Directorum of Alpha Zeta Omega. I also was president of the class of 2015 and treasurer of Phi Lambda Sigma during my time in college. These positions and experiences taught me essential leadership skills for creating my clinical career path.
What jobs/internships did you have during your undergraduate years?
Luckily, I knew I wanted to do pharmacy before going to pharmacy school- shocker, but I am sure that is not always the case. I began my pharmacy career in 9th grade when I began volunteering at the local hospital. After spending some time in the pharmacy, I decided to get a retail position during my senior year of high school at a local ShopRite. About a week
before leaving for college, the hospital hired me as a pharmacy technician and I had gained that perpetual "foot-in- the-door." Becoming employed early in your pharmacy years is a pivotal move towards excelling in pharmacy and possibly having a fall-back if other job opportunities are not present at graduation. I luckily kept my hospital job all through college and became a PRN pharmacist on graduation. It has now been 7 years since I have been at University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake and I have moved from volunteer to tech to staff pharmacist and now a clinical pharmacist.
Are there any professors who helped you along the way?
During residency at Capital Health in Trenton, New Jersey, I was lucky enough to meet my professional mentor, Dr. Abazia. His passion for teaching, palliative care, and clinical programming was evident throughout my residency. He taught me to always persevere, even if you meet resistance along the way. To this day, I am still able to reach out to him with questions and advice. I would highly suggest requesting him as a preceptor and taking his elective classes.
How has AZO impacted you personally?
Having a network of dedicated AZO brothers has been a blessing. Moving to Baltimore from New Jersey was a little nerve-racking. Luckily, there are 5 Epsilon brothers or so within walking distance and a whole chapter down the road. Now that I do not have to study anymore (just wait, it's amazing), I have really enjoyed spending my free time socializing with the "Canton Crew."
What advice would you give to EMSOP students?
From personal experience, I think it is important to never give up on your dreams, even if the path you take to get there may wander. When I did not match for residency, I was devastated. All I could think was, "I am never going to be a clinical pharmacist." Luckily, I had connections at Capital Health because I was a student there during rotations. As everyone in
pharmacy says, "never burn bridges" because my Capital connection landed me a residency in the scramble. A residency focused on critical care, but hey, beggers cannot be choosers. My heart was set on ambulatory care, so that is what I pursued post-residency and in the end it
all worked out. Just because you do not match, or do not nail your dream fellowship, does not mean your career is ruined. You will graduate with a degree from Rutgers, you will be a doctor of pharmacy, and you will find a great job if you never give up.
Jaanai Babb, pharmd
Postdoctoral Fellow at Biogen
What is it like after graduating from Pharmacy School?
Bad. Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good. Personally it’s been very rewarding. I’m learning more every day in a field I love, traveling to new places, and along the way meeting some great friends and mentors and connecting with old ones. So I’m very grateful to have had this experience so far. At the same time I definitely do miss being able to stay in on a Wednesday morning when it starts rainingand being within a one mile radius of everyone at RU. But overall after graduation nothing really stops. You’re still learning, still having fun, but with some added responsibilities and expectations.
What Career path have you taken after graduating?
Going into my last year of Pharmacy school I was pretty sure that I wanted to work within an industry setting, and specifically in managed markets. So after going through the Annual 2015 Pharmacy Hunger Games [otherwise known as] Midyear, I was fortunate enough to end up in a fellowship position at Biogen. While at Biogen I currently work across their commercial and medical teams in evidence generation strategy primarily focused on payers.
What steps did you take to get to your current path?
Talking to the right people and networking, in my opinion, were the most important steps to getting to where I am today. Those connections enabled me to choose the right electives and organizations to be a part of, and subsequently opened the door to a couple of internships and full-time positions that helped me figure out what I truly wanted to do when all was said and done.
What are you next steps?
After my fellowship I would like to pursue additional education whether that ends up being an MPH or an MBA, I’m not 100% sure as yet, but I know I have a little bit more school on the horizon. Outside of that I hope to still be working in some capacity within the managed markets space in an impactful manner.
When and why did you pledge AZO?
The people. Whether they were older brothers, alumni, or my pledge class, ultimately for me it came down to the people there and those that went through the process with me. So when I pledged in the spring of 2011 it was a relatively easy decision. I meet people that I could laugh with, people that I could learn from, people that I may not have seen eye to eye with initially but came to respect, people who opened my eyes to new experiences, people who told you things you didn’t want to hear but should,people that took a chance on you, essentially just people that would become lifelong friends with. While I may not have seen all of that initially, I caught a glimpse and went with it.
How has AZO impacted you in your career?
I think I may need a stronger word than impacted to describe the effect AZO has had on where I amnow. From working at CVS during my 1 st couple years of pharmacy school under Stephen Imperato and with David Augustin, Adrianna Pieta, Chris Thesing, and Anna Zdulska- where I would like to think Stephen taught me the importance of working smarter, not harder and taking responsibility for my actions professionally. Simple things like calling when you might be running late did not seem that pertinent to me back then. Then to my first internship at Perrigo and working with Kevin Yu who opened my eyes to industry and the fellowship role. Then subsequently moving from there to Horizon BCBS and later Payer Sciences thanks largely in part to conversations and help from Anna Guo and Malay Naik – there hasn’t been a step in my career that wasn’t in some way shaped through my involvement with
AZO.
How has AZO impacted you personally?
I think the number one way AZO has impacted me on a personally basis can be summed up in onesimple word: selflessness. Looking back on it, coming into college I was a pretty self-serving individual. I would rarely do things if I didn’t get something out of it in one way or another. But gradually semester after semester, I came into contact with individuals in AZO that had a completely opposite way of operating, and that slowly began to rub off on me. From the passion behind the individuals fundraising for dance marathon to something as simple as dropping someone off when they weren’t necessarily in the way of your destination- those are the things that stuck with me. I will be the first one to tell you I
still have some work to do, but overall I enjoy doing those things now, and helping in any way I can especially in those instances where there is nothing necessarily in it for me.
What hobbies do you have? Two-stepping to One Dance, staying active, riding in uberPOOLs, trying new foods and experiences with cool people, FIFA, traveling and experiencing new cultures, Jaden Smith quotes, and does TV count as a hobby?
What advice would you give to EMSOP students?
“Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and I don’t even know where it’s going I just hope I find it along the way”- Micheal Scott
I think this quote sums up my experiences in college. It’s not going to be the only time, but college is probably the best time to immerse yourself in new experiences, unfamiliar organizations, or meet new people without necessarily understanding where that path will eventually take you. Outside of the day to day classes and assignments, really take this opportunity to learn more about yourself and the world around you-and I think the best way to do that is by keeping an open mind.
Gaby Ghobrial, pharmd
Medical Student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
What career path have you taken after graduating?
I took a bit of an untraditional route and returned to school [after getting my Pharm D.] to get my medical degree. So currently I am a 3 rd year medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. What steps did you take to get to your current position/career path?
I started seriously considering pursuing a medical degree during my PP2 year of pharmacy school. By that point I was already in two organizations: AZO and AED (a pre-health honor society). I did some research about prerequisite classes and took them during my PP2 year. In the summer after my P1 year, I took the MCAT. In my P2 year, I strengthened my application by shadowing multiple physicians around the area. My applications went out to different programs around the country during my P3 year. In the late spring of my P4 year, I had accepted an admissions invitation from RWJ medical school.
What are your next steps?
At this point, from here on out, my steps are to go through another exciting round of applications, this time for residency. I will be taking USMLE Step 2 this upcoming summer and submitting applications in the fall of my final year. I hope to be submitting applications for a surgical residency, but I am keeping my options open until I make a final decision later in the year.
When and why did you pledge AZO?
I pledged AZO in the spring of 2010 (my PP2 year). A lot of my close pharmacy friends were
already a part of this organization by that time. Watching them grow through AZO made me realize that AZO is truly your family away from home in every sense of the word. These were college students who would bend over backwards and do anything and everything for each other; they had a stronger bond than anyone else I knew. I wanted in.
How has AZO impacted you in your career?
AZO is a pharmaceutical fraternity. Some of you may be wondering how in the world that can help me in my career as an MD. Some of you may not be wondering, but I’m going to tell you anyways. AZO is everywhere. Even though we are a pharmaceutical fraternity, we have fraters who chose many different career paths. One of them, Karan Grover, took a similar path before me and became somewhat of a mentor for me. I consulted with him numerous times for application and interviewing advice, which he was always willing to give me.
How has AZO impacted you personally?
AZO strengthens you academically and personally. If I had to pick one thing that AZO really
helped me improve it would be my leadership abilities. I was a relatively shy person when I first joined. I took up leadership positions in AZO and by the end of my time in undergrad, I was very confident in my skills as a leader. This came in really handy during medical school. One of the things a lot of students struggle with is how to be a team leader and be confident in making appropriate medical decisions. My experiences at AZO really helped me excel in this area over my peers.
What’s your favorite body part?
I love this question. My favorite body part is the heart. It’s the only organ that is programmed to constantly move, even outside the body. To me there are two sides of the heart that make it so unique, one being the physical heart itself. The anatomy and physiology of the heart are pretty cool and very well understood. Then there is the psychosocial side of the heart, which is very poorly understood. Like the feeling of getting your heart “broken”, or why recent widows are more likely to pass away from sudden cardiac death.
Shivam Patel, PharmD
Postdoctoral Regulatory Affairs Fellow at UNC/GlaxoSmithKline
What is it like after graduating from Pharmacy school?
It's exciting to start practicing what you learn in school and develop upon the experiences you get on rotations. I believe Rutgers Pharmacy prepared me for the real world, however, I do miss being in college with my friends and brothers.
What career path have you taken after graduating?
I took a path in the pharmaceutical industry. I am currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in Regulatory Affairs which features a collaboration between UNC at Chapel Hill and GlaxoSmithKline. Regulatory affair professionals liaise between pharmaceutical companies and the Food and Drug Administration to assist in drug development. My fellowship helps provide a broad overview of the regulatory field with experiences with ethics committees
(IRBs), global drug approvals, and federal agencies. At UNC I work on infectious disease clinical trials and their approval process with ethics committees (IRBs); at GSK I am given a broad experience in the development of early and late phase drug products in various therapeutic and functional areas.
What steps did you take to get to where are you today?
At the beginning of pharmacy school, I knew that building my network was important, so I looked at the professional pharmaceutical fraternities. As I continued in school, I began to look at various organizations.
What organizations did you join at EMSOP?
During my time at Ernest Mario I was a part of AZO, DIA, ACCP, and PGC Public Relations.
What jobs/internships did you have during your undergraduate years?
I was a Drug Regulatory Affairs Intern at Novartis and a Global Regulatory Affairs Intern in the Oncology Therapeutic Area of Janssen of Johnson and Johnson.
Are there any professors who helped you along the way?
I worked a lot with Dr. Toscani and Dr. Volino during my time on the honors research program. Both were great mentors who helped me develop many skills I use to this day.
What have you learned/what skills have you gained?
I learned various skills from the organizations that I was involved with including leadership, multitasking, delegations/teamwork, and interpersonal relationships.
How did you prepare yourself for this career path?
After talking to older Fraters in AZO and other pharmacy contacts, I knew that I had an interest in the pharmaceutical industry. I started pursuing organizations that would help expand my network, cater to my interest, and support me in my pursuit of a fellowship.
What are your next steps? Do you see yourself in the same position/career path?
I hope to continue working in a regulatory role in the pharmaceutical industry or regulatory agency after my fellowship. Because it takes time to experience the breadth of regulatory affairs, I plan to continue in this field to become an expert in this area.
When and why did you pledge AZO?
I pledged AZO in the spring of 2011 during my freshmen year. I was interested in getting to know pharmacy students prior/early on into the professional years. When I came to the AZO rush events, I felt that Fraters encompassed what I hoped to accomplish while in school and after graduation. They were well spoken, well rounded, and, overall, caring toward one another. After being welcomed by the fraternity, I was very happy that I sought to be apart of such a diverse and accomplished group.
How has AZO impacted you in your career?
AZO introduced me to a lot of the practical and professional skills that help pharmacists in their careers. With so many older Fraters, I gained numerous mentors that guided me and provided advice to pursue a career in the industry. Additionally, I gained a strongly knit family within Rutgers and all the other chapters of AZO.
How has AZO impacted you personally?
Before AZO, I was more of an independent person, however, as I progressed through AZO, I learned to trust and rely on the other members. Since AZO cares about the personal development of its younger members, I knew that reaching out to others within and outside the organization was a great decision.
What hobbies do you have?
One hobby that I was able to work on throughout pharmacy school was film directing and editing. AZO provided outlets for me to prepare various projects including a rush video, national advocacy awareness presentation, and alcohol awareness programs. Other hobbies include traveling, which AZO conventions allow me to do. I have had the chance to meet several other people in and out of this country because of the various AZO conventions.
What advice would you give to EMSOP students?
I advise EMSOP students to not be afraid to try something new and different. This is the time to do such a thing and with high risk comes high reward. It's also important to find your family in pharmacy school. Pharmacy students tend to excel when they work together to continue their educational and professional development.