Now that I have worked in the Value Demonstration Practice at Oxford PharmaGenesis for more than 5 years, it’s probably safe for me to admit that I joined the company as an Associate Consultant with very little idea of what value demonstration actually entailed! I had done a certain amount of reading about the medical communications industry, and felt confident that I had some of the right skills for the role, but I was not sure what to expect from a job in market access. For someone coming from a career in academia, there was a lot to take on board at first – getting to grips with health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) and consultancy, as well as new therapy areas – but I can look back now and say that I am delighted I was offered a job that has enabled me to keep learning and to develop my expertise in a new and evolving field.
My expectations of HEOR were perhaps skewed towards the health economics side, but I have since found that an awareness of patients’ experiences and needs is inherent to much of our work, with many opportunities to understand and to communicate the impact of disease on people’s quality of life. Also, contrary to my expectations, only part of the work that we do is product specific or has a direct focus on market access, and some of the most rewarding projects that I have worked on have involved developing internal training and guidance for our clients. It has been fascinating to learn about the nuances of the markets in different countries and to interview our clients to find out what challenges they face. As with all our work, the breadth of our interactions has been amazing: over the past 4 years, the materials produced by our team have been used across nearly 50 countries.
From the very beginning of my time at Oxford PharmaGenesis, I have been lucky enough to work on a huge variety of projects, including congress publications, manuscripts, training workshops and evidence dossiers, among many other deliverables. These projects have spanned multiple therapy areas and clients, so there is always the opportunity to take my existing knowledge and to apply it to something new. I feel especially fortunate to have found a role that lets me work in-depth with data and contributes to the scientific literature, but that also requires adaptability and creativity.
Everyone in the team gets the chance to work closely with our clients and to contribute to discussions, and there is a great commitment to allowing everyone to continue building on their experience and move to the next stage of their career. The past 5 years have been a really exciting time to be at Oxford PharmaGenesis: the company has almost doubled in size, we have opened several new offices, including Oxford Central where I am now based, and we recently received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise and the Great Place to Work award. I am so pleased to have found a career with so much scope and opportunity for growth, and I am excited to see what the future holds.
