Candy Tse, MBiotech
Study Manager
Candy has a long-standing passion for educational design and she completed her MBiotech degree at the University of Toronto in 2019. During the MBiotech program, she completed an internship in medical affairs where she discovered the intersection between education and the pharmaceutical industry.
A lot of organizations
are undergoing transformations to make themselves more agile in order to adapt quickly to rapid changes. As a result, teams are placing an emphasis on bringing a diverse skill set to the table.
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*The views and opinions expressed in this profile are those of the professional and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of their employer.
Describe your mindset as you were looking to transition from academia to industry
I did my BSc in Biochemistry and I also did a concurrent education degree and I always loved teaching because I enjoyed helping people. Furthermore, I went on an exchange in France which was my introduction to lab work.
I had always had an interest in the pharmaceutical industry and it was at this point that I started to look into more applied Master’s programs such as the MBiotech program at the University of Toronto.
I loved that the program also included a 12 month internship where I knew I could get valuable pharmaceutical industry experience. I ended up going into a medical affairs internship and I really enjoyed it because it touched on my educational background.
In particular, I learned a lot about developing educational materials for doctors about emerging products.
What skills from grad school would you recommend applicants highlight on a resume?
Agility, adaptability, and open-mindedness are really important skills to highlight. However, these skills tend to be difficult to highlight textually on a resume as they’re easier to demonstrate in an interview.
Furthermore, project management and coachability are skills that are increasingly important to highlight. For example, a thesis is great to highlight your project management skills and is also a testament to your commitment.
Also, any way you can highlight strategic thinking will be helpful, whether it be competing in business case competitions or developing and executing project plans.
How is your current job different from being a grad student
and how is it the same?
I feel like my Master’s program was unique in the sense that it was more of a professional program which is different from a lot of specialized programs where you’re conducting research in a lab and writing a thesis.
In the working environment, you have a clearer idea of how your work will directly impact the world. In school, a lot of my assignments were theoretical based where it can be difficult to identify how various concepts can be applied.
What is the biggest challenge and reward working in your position?
On the clinical side, you’re really at the forefront of the process when it comes to getting a drug to market. You get to see all of the products in the pipeline with the potential to be therapies for various diseases.
For example, my area of focus is Alzheimer’s disease, which doesn’t have a cure, so it’s really interesting to follow drugs through the pipeline that have the potential to have a significant impact. Throughout the pandemic, we have had some team restructuring, leading to my involvement in more studies.
As a result, time management and critical thinking have become more of a challenge but it has forced our team to be exceptional at prioritizing and putting energy towards the right work.
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