Professional Identity and Medicines Development: An Academy Alumna Perspective

Below we continue with our series of content from graduates of the Academy Medical Affairs course. We think a deep understanding of one’s Professional Identity is essential to success in Medical Affairs and Medicines Development. Included here is the second essay written by Olga Lucia Angarita. Enjoy this student contribution and do feel free to send us your comments. Thank you, Olga, for another insightful contribution to the Academy.

“Discuss the development and status of your own Professional Identity, and what it means in terms of your job, your career, and future prospects.”

“As I conducted an attributes analysis to define myself as a professional, I concluded that I have a defined identity; I can identify, analysing, and negotiating conflicts between my professional values and the challenges of my profession in Medical Affairs. Hence, I consider being in stage four based on the R Kegan scale¹. I know who I am and what motivates me.

Since I was a kid, I desired to dedicate my life to the service of humanity, and I found in medicine the means to fulfil this dream. I have built my professional identity on a fundamental principle promised through the Hippocratic Oath at the end of my career as a physician… to ensure the patient’s benefit by performing with honour and righteousness. My parents always expected me to be fair and responsible, and as I have grown in this profession, I have abided by what I was taught as a child and what I committed to as a physician. I have integrated these values into my personal life, and they are a foundational part of my professional identity as well.

However, not everything has been easy in my profession, I have become who I am through both positive and negative experiences. During a clinical practice in my last semester of medical school, an institutional committee approved euthanasia for one of my patients. This experience made me re-evaluate my decision to practice medicine clinically and decided to work in the pharmaceutical industry for the benefit and safety of patients. This decision to work in an administrative role was questioned by my peers, and I was considered an “outsider” by some colleagues.

From the different roles I have performed (e.g., Medical Manager, Compliance Officer, and currently Medical Operations Lead), I have and continue to forge my professional identity. It has been a collaborative process between positive and negative experiences coming from stakeholders such as patients and caregivers. They have helped me comprehend the impact that diseases and treatments have on them, and to better understand their fight to ensure adequate access to healthcare and medications to control their illness and symptoms. In my life, I have worked for two large pharmaceutical companies with corporate values like quality, integrity, and collaboration that I have incorporated in my professional identity.    

Another important aspect of the dynamic process of developing my professional identity has been the presence of two great mentors who have been part of different stages in my professional life. They have helped my identity to be shaped and transformed as I grow in my career, allowing me to observe and imitate their professional practice, to learn from their experiences; thanks to their wise counsel and guided reflections this has been an enriching process.  

As a result of my professional experiences and guided by my mentors, I decided to pursue my professional development through the consolidation of my technical knowledge in two major areas: Bioethics and Medical Affairs. Through my Masters in Bioethics, I learned the bioethical criteria to face in a critical and constructive way challenges coming from the articulation of the optimal, of what is ethically and scientifically possible. Subsequently, I started the certification program of the Academy/King’s College London Medical Affairs in Medicines Development; this program allowed me to improve my technical knowledge and identify some behaviours that I would like to change in my professional practice. Both programs provided me with solid experience to reinforce my professional identity, allowing me to continue to grow and envision myself in the role of leading the next Medical Affairs Team.”

References

1. Cruess, R. L., Cruess, S. R., Boudreau, J. D., Snell, L., & Steinert, Y. (2015). A schematic representation of the professional identity formation and socialization of medical students and residents: a guide for medical educators. Academic medicine: journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 90(6), 718–725. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000700

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