Allen Lat, PharmD

Allen Lat, PharmD graduated pharmacy school from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Prior to pharmacy school, Allen achieved a B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside in 2015. He spent 3 years doing various extra-curriculum activities and preparing for pharmacy school. In 2022, Allen joined the Fellowship in Industry Program with the University of the Pacific patterned with Gilead Sciences as a Clinical Pharmacology fellow.

During his free time, Allen likes cook various foods and experiment with different spice combinations. Additionally, he is a ‘foodie’ and loves to try new foods/restaurants.

We caught up with Allen to provide insight on Clinical Pharmacology as a fellow and to provide insight for prospective pharmacy students interested in a fellowship in Industry.

Can you briefly describe your functional area and what kind of roles/responsibilities are expected?

“Clinical Pharmacology focuses on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drugs and their metabolites. We are really interested in what the body does to the drug and what the drug does to the body.

As a Clinical Pharmacologist, I am constantly examining the concentration-time profile and how that relates to exposure-response. That is to say, ‘What kind of exposure results in what kind of effect’. If you imagine Tylenol and the package recommendation, you may see ‘Take 2 tablets by mouth every 4-6 hours as needed for pain and fever’. Well, why does it have to be 2 tablets? Why by mouth? Why every 4-6 hours for pain and fever…? My role as a Clinical Pharmacologist seeks out those answers through clinical trials and analysis of the data.”

What are some strengths that you feel are needed for your functional area and why?

“I think that having some background with R (software) would really help. There are folks who are exposures to other programs that are used in Clin Pharm (clinical pharmacology). But, I do not think that it is necessary to have. I feel that folks interested in this feed need to have strong curiosity. That is to say, if you see a result, can you trust the result and can it be explained. It is not about just achieving the result. Communication skills - This plays a huge factor in everyday Clin Pharm activities. How you communicate verbally, how you communicate in your writing or slide deck, etc. This is a huge skill to have for Clin Pharm. Lastly, I think having basic grasps of Clin Pharm is necessary. While technical skills like software use can be trained, folks will need the right mindset to do the work and integrate the data. “

What are some skillsets that are needed to work in your functional area?

“To do my work, I need to have basic Clin Pharm concepts down. I do use various softwares to help visualize and interrogate my data such as R and Phoenix. But those are skills that can be trained on the job. It certainly helps to have exposure in those technical skills. Advance use of Microsoft (Power Point, Excel and Word) is very important skillset. For example, how to use the review function in Word or filtering out data in Excel, etc…”

What are some things pharmacy students can do now to prepare for an industry role?

“If you are early in your pharmacy school career, I recommend connecting with folks in Clin Pharm (fellows or full time employees through LinkedIn) to get an understanding of the role and responsibilities. If you are able to connect with a professor who is doing research in pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics with some modeling component, that would help you even achieve a full time entry-level position.

For those who are later in their pharmacy school (APPE rotations), I recommend creating your own Clin Pharm experience by taking a patient case as an example and examining the pharmacokinetics of their key medications and the impact it has on the patients. This way, you don’t need a formal Clin Pharm rotation/ internship. You create your own experience in whatever rotation you have.”

What interview preparation, skills, advice do you recommend for fellowship interview process?

“My interview preparation was going over common behavior questions and having 1-3 examples ready to talk about. I also recommend really knowing your CV. Whatever is in your CV, know that in and out and be able to speak about it as a moments notice. If you cannot speak highly of certain points in your CV, do not include them.

Additionally, really pace yourself when you talk in interview. Try not to talk at the speed of light and really focus on specific examples to questions that are asked. If you don’t know the answer, don’t try to BS your way through it as the interviewers can tell. Remember to be humble and prepared to talk about yourself confidently.”

For students that say, I don't have experience in industry, no internship, no APPE or etc., what advice can you recommend to current APPE students starting their rotations? And to non-APPE students (what can they do to make themselves competitive)?

“When I hear folks say that I didn’t have X experience in this functional area but I am genuinely interested in the field, I seriously question if the prospective person is what he/she says he/she is. You don’t need an internship or APPE in the functional area to get a fellowship in that functional area. Crete your own experience. For Clin Pharm, look into the drug PK/PD (pharmacokinetics/ pharmacodynamics) and see if your observations can be exampled by them. Then present it to you preceptor. With this, you can create your own Clin Pharm experience in a clinical rotation in (for example) ambulatory care or gen med (general medicine) rotations. Being creative and innovative is a key aspect that is sought after in prospective fellows.

For those still early in your pharmacy school career, start asking questions and seek out opportunities to gain direct experience in the functional area you are looking into. If it doesn’t work out, see it through so that you can say with confidence that ‘I tried X, but didn’t like it. I saw it through and it lead me to pursue Y functional area…’. “