A ‘How To’ Guide to Working in the Private Sector
摘要
Health psychology can add value to pharmaceutical companies throughout the drug development process and the launch of new treatments; for example, through patient research, selection of clinical outcomes assessments, disease awareness campaigns, and development of patient services. In essence, we can support the pharmaceutical industry to keep the patient at the heart of drug development and facilitate the application of academic evidence in real-world settings. However, pharmaceutical companies are typically global corporations; making the right connections and navigating contracts and project requirements can be complex. We will provide guidance on establishing yourself as an expert, considerations for business development, and how to respond to requests for proposals within the pharmaceutical industry. We will briefly walk you through how to deliver a successful project from kick off to evaluation, including the strict legal and regulatory compliance requirements in this sector, as well as describing methods for overcoming typical project challenges such as delays, scope creep, and budget cuts. The chapter encourages reflection on differences between running projects in academic versus industry settings. Although this chapter focuses on working with pharmaceutical clients, much applies to other private sector clients that engage health psychology consultants.