Intern Perspectives: Tiffany Tran, AMCP Foundation/Pfizer Managed Care Internship

I completed the AMCP Foundation/Pfizer, Inc. Summer Managed Care Internship with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. During my time there, I worked closely with my Horizon preceptor, Hannah Jang, PharmD, RPh, Clinical Pharmacy Manager, and Pfizer preceptors, Senior Director – Anchor Payer Account Medical Leads Tyson Thompson, PharmD, MBA, and David Gross, PharmD, who provided guidance, advice, and compassion in furthering my understanding of the pharmaceutical industry. 

Throughout the internship, I gained insights into managed care, the pharmaceutical industry, and how the spaces operate together. Additionally, I enhanced my ability to communicate, problem-solve, and manage multiple projects. I corresponded with pharmacists, residents, APPE students, and other healthcare professionals from Horizon, Prime Therapeutics, and different pharmaceutical companies to improve my understanding of various therapeutic areas, formulary management, utilization management, opioid management, and medication therapy management. I participated in clinical services, projects, and presentations that helped enhance patient experience and outcomes. Through patient education in various therapeutic areas, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, I completed medication adherence calls and complete medication reviews. I was assigned projects such as policy updates, market intelligence, and opioid management. These experiences allowed me to understand the patient’s experience and how quality improvement initiatives were implemented and received. I saw how much a health plan’s decision impacted the patient and how the needs of the patient population were always the focus of the initiatives implemented. 

At AMCP Nexus 2023, I will share my capstone project on potential social determinants of health and barriers patients face when getting colorectal cancer screenings. This project helped me learn how to synthesize data for a large population to find trends in potential barriers that patients are experiencing and overlay that with existing data on social determinants of health in New Jersey. From there, I established possible initiatives to help patients overcome potential barriers they may be facing. 

Through the detailed presentations given by professionals at Pfizer, my understanding of pharmaceutical industry principles, like HEOR and drug discovery and development, has expanded. Meeting with my Pfizer preceptors allowed me to refine my capstone project and comprehend how multifaceted the pharmaceutical industry was. 

The weekly journal clubs facilitated by Kenneth Garcia, PharmD, and Mei Huang, PharmD, provided me an opportunity to refine my medical literature analysis skills by allowing me to present the study “Medical costs and associated racial/ethnic and sex disparities in erythropoiesis-stimulating agent use: anemia management under the Medicare reimbursement policy​.” 

I sincerely thank the AMCP Foundation, Pfizer, and HBCBSNJ for offering this immersive opportunity. Special thanks to Ebony Clay, PMP, Assistant Director, Programs & Development, Elene Wogedersgne, Coordinator Outreach and Development, and Paula Eichenbrenner, MBA, CAE, Executive Director with AMCP Foundation, and my AMCP Foundation mentor Bhavesh Shah, Chief Pharmacy Officer, Specialty and Hematology Oncology Pharmacy at Boston Medical Center with additional thanks to my other preceptors Hannah, Tyson, and David. The valuable experience and knowledge gained from this internship make me look forward to the future of pharmacy. 

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