Featuring: Simkho Shimonov, PharmD Candidate c/o 2025
By: Rebecca Sabzanov, PharmD Candidate c/o 2026
Simkho Shimonov, a dedicated and diligent PharmD candidate at St. John’s University, is set to graduate in 2025. With an extensive background in both retail and hospital pharmacy, he has amassed a broad understanding of the field. Recently, Simkho further diversified his experience through a prestigious internship at Pfizer.
What inspired you to apply for an internship at Pfizer?
My goal in applying for this internship was to broaden my horizons and my understanding of the pharmacy field as much as possible. After gaining experience in private, community, and hospital pharmacy, I took a step back and asked myself, what’s next?
What were your main responsibilities at Pfizer? Were there any projects you were involved in?
I was placed as an Intern in the Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) Oncology pipeline team, and I reported directly to the Senior Director of Oncology. A typical day included joining him in relevant meetings as well as completing any other tasks I was assigned. Due to my background in pharmacy, which was uncommon on the team, my first project included converting different opioid formulations and strengths from an ongoing clinical trial into a single oral morphine equivalent to compare different patients pain levels during different periods of time after treatment was initiated. Other projects included working with statisticians to create charts and graphs to better visualize the adverse effect profile of clinical trial data. In my free time, I joined other meetings set up for the summer interns and fun activities that were planned for us.
What was the application and interview process like?
The application submission process was fairly simple. I filled out an application online and wrote a 500-word paragraph as to my motivation for applying for the intern position. Afterwards, I received a call and answered questions which focused on my background, interests, and reasons for applying to Pfizer. The interview process consisted of my education level, my past experiences, skills, how well I work in a team, and real-life problem-solving examples. Then, I was emailed an offer and began onboarding shortly after.
How has this internship at Pfizer influenced your career goals and aspirations?
The internship opened my eyes to the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, this is something our core classes don’t teach us much about. It helped me understand that there is an alternative pathway besides community and hospital pharmacy. It feels like another door has opened for me in deciding on a career in the near future, one that, to me, feels more intellectually stimulating.
How did your academic knowledge prepare you for the internship? Were there any specific courses or programs that helped most?
Being a pharmacy student and having knowledge and understanding of various drugs and the effects they have on our patients came in handy during the internship. Taking the Drugs and Diseases course in Oncology definitely helped me understand many of the breast cancer drugs I was working with on the pipeline team. Being fluent in the opioid conversion was also a huge plus. I don’t want to admit this because I did not find it to be the most interesting class, but the course on Drug Literature and Design was by far the most important when it came to completing the projects I was assigned. Understanding statistical significance, P-values, and hazard ratios was critical and was utilized every day.
What advice would you give to younger PharmD students considering an internship at Pfizer?
Go for it! There is quite literally nothing to lose and everything to gain. You either fall in love with the experience, or you figure out that it isn’t for you. Every day during the internship, I got to learn something new – whether it was groundbreaking data from a clinical trial or seeing the business aspect of industry such as competitor products, appealing to different agencies, and how it affects trial design. It was also a great networking opportunity as you get to meet people from all different backgrounds, all around the world.
