What is it like working as a PharmaMedic consultant? 25 Jun 2020
Q&A with Lucy Cook – A PharmaMedic Consultant
In this new article, we sit down with Lucy, one of the PharmaMedic Consultancy network to talk about her experience in medical affairs, work-life balance, and how PharmaMedic Consultancy helps her to do more of the technical work she enjoys without the traditional headaches of self-employment.
What is your background?
I’ve held a variety of industry roles in medical affairs as well as a stint as a deputy QPPV for an AIM-listed company and interim medical director support. In 2017 I started out in medical affairs consultancy working with various clients. As well as providing services independently, I work on several projects for clients through PharmaMedic supporting medical affairs activities for OTC products and medical devices as well as ethical medicines. A lot of the work I do is providing medical sign-off for marketing activities and making sure that the copy marketers want to use is correct.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love the fact that I’m able to juggle different projects and experience a great deal of variety in my work. It’s reassuring knowing that I have Malcolm and Ana there as colleagues to support me. If I have any technical queries, Malcolm is always on hand to advise. Ana is also a fantastic help by making sure everything is in place from the contractual side. I love the technical aspects of my work, and I want to be able to focus on those. Working with PharmaMedic allows me the best of both worlds- flexibility and support- by taking care of the contractual and business operations piece. It’s a real pleasure to be able to do projects I enjoy and benefit from fantastic work-life balance without the usual headaches of self-employment.
What is it like working as part of the PharmaMedic team?
Working with PharmaMedic, I know that I have colleagues to rely on for a range of given questions. It’s also valuable for PharmaMedic clients to know there is a network of consultants behind the sciences supporting one another with real breadth and depth of experience.
If a specific technical question comes up that we perhaps can’t answer directly ourselves, we always know there are other colleagues there to call on. Similarly, we can lend our support to others in the team. For example, there was one project where Malcolm drew on my medical devices background to support a client with a piece of due diligence work. This project called on my input for a relatively short amount of time yet provided a great deal of value to the client who ultimately decided the product under review wasn’t quite the right fit for their portfolio.
How have you worked to support clients during the COVID crisis?
During the COVID-19 crisis, clients have appreciated the broader perspective of PharmaMedic consultants more than ever. We have been helping companies to navigate the ABPI Code in the context of industry trends, based on our decades of experience. We provide an invaluable sounding board for companies wanting to provide innovative solutions that are responsive to the pandemic situation, without overstepping the Code. Of course, beyond the COVID-19 situation, as consultants, we always work hard to help companies reflect on how they can improve and become more efficient.
What do you enjoy most about working with PharmaMedic?
I enjoy having the support of colleagues and being able to ‘sanity check’ tricky questions with Malcolm and others. Quite regularly, something comes up that you want to talk through with another experienced consultant. I also feel fortunate to have a fantastic work-life balance. All of my clients completely accept that I am managing several projects. I work from home, so I often work early in the morning and late in the evenings, but I can fit it around everything else I need to do in my life. My work gives me the flexibility I need to thrive.
PharmaMedic Consultancy offers medical affairs, regulatory and product development consultants the flexibility of self-employment and interesting work backed by a supportive team. To learn more about working with us, click the button below.
About Lucy Cook
Lucy is a Pharmaceutical Physician and company director. She works chiefly in Medical Affairs on prescription only medicines but has a keen interest in self-care medicines and medical devices.
Lucy is an enthusiastic home cook and loves to bake. Lucy is passionate about Zumba and refers to Zumba as her antidepressant of choice. When she’s not working, baking or doing Zumba, she can be found looking after her five chickens, dog and two daughters.