PSI Webinar: Surrogacy
This webinar will provide an overview of surrogacy for licensing and reimbursement. In turn, the need of extensions of the SPIRIT and CONSORT statement will be defined and outlined, with case studies to support.
I am Mathematics student at Cardiff University. Currently I have completed the first two years of my degree and this year I have been out on a statistics placement at AstraZeneca in the Early Oncology Statistics group.
Having spent much of my teenage life knowing I wanted to pursue maths but unsure on what career I wanted to have, I was keen to see what a maths degree could open doors to. When it came to applying for placements all I knew was that I wanted to do something that I felt would be helping others and a job that I would find fulfilling. Some research helped me identify medical statistics in the pharmaceutical industry as ticking both of these boxes.
My time at AstraZeneca has presented me with a wealth of opportunities such that no day looks the same. As a learner that loves a fast paced environment, this aligned well with what I wanted to gain from my placement and for my personal development. I have been fortunate to work with teams on various studies that are all in different stages of development. Some of the work I have been involved with has included benchmarking for a new module to be added to an existing study, a study that has been put on hold for safety concerns, and a study that is closing. I have also had the opportunity to engage with some simulation work to support research into emerging industry trends. Throughout the tasks involved in these studies I have had varying levels of independence depending on my experience with similar tasks and confidence as I have developed throughout the year.
Working in this industry comes with a lot of cross-functional team work, this has meant that my communication skills have developed massively. I have also had the chance to present work, which is a skill that I haven’t had many opportunities to develop before now.
My placement year has also developed my technical skills. Before this year the only coding language that I had been exposed to was Python, I can now confidently use R for data manipulation and plotting various visualisations and, I have been fortunate to receive formal SAS training that was intended for graduates. Before my placement year my knowledge of survival statistics was minimal, now I have a good understanding of this topic and use it frequently throughout my role.
I would absolutely recommend a placement year. It is a fantastic opportunity to see how the modules you study in your degree can be applied to the real world, all while giving you the chance to develop a variety of soft and technical skills. Throughout my placement year I have always felt well supported and part of the team. I have been fortunate to have met some great friends on placement and work with some incredibly talented and friendly individuals who were always happy to help with anything I may have needed.
If you are considering submitting an application for a placement but don’t feel as though you tick all of the boxes, submit the application and show a keenness to learn the skills you don’t feel as though you have. There were certainly many skills that I didn’t have before, that I have now because of my placement!
My time at AstraZeneca has given me a new found love for statistics and I have a much clearer direction of where I am headed for after my degree compared to this time last year.