Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance career option for foreign dental graduates
The foreign dental graduates are well versed with the daunting processes and years of struggles with the NBDE exams and DDS license for the US, the ORE exams and registration with GDC in the UK and so on. In this scenario, Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance comes as a great breeze of fresh air with its list of opportunities. As I write this, it makes me reflect on what I learned about the career options in Drug Safety and Pharmacovigilance as a foreign dental graduate. After interacting with various other safety personnel who started off as dentists in this field, here are some career options for those branching out to this field of science.
It’s best to describe a particular job role on the basis of one’s purpose in the organization. A simplified hierarchy, to start with would be from a Drug Safety Associate or 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).
If you are a foreign dental graduate interested in safety roles and wanting to contribute in the health care sector, this is the platform to start your journey.
