Have You Forgotten the Difference That You Make?

A few days ago I had a conversation with a good friend who is no longer in the pharma industry. When we were comparing our experiences, one of the things that they said, and it really struck me at the time, was that they felt that they were not making a difference in the worldduring their time in pharma.

That set me back. I believe, and perhaps a little too passionately, that working in pharma we make a real difference in people’s lives. Pharma companies develop and market medications that change and sometimes even save those lives.

It is easy to forget with the never-ending meetings, reports and PowerPoint presentations, but at the heart of it all, what we do in our day-to-day work makes a real difference in people’s lives.

I remember wanting to make this point to my sales team. Being a big believer in the power of stories, I spoke to them about my ex brother-in-law.

Now, my sister and brother-in-law are both little people, which is the term that you use to refer to someone who suffers from dwarfism. If you know anything about little people, you know that they have very hard lives. There are many physical ailments to overcome.

My brother-in-law and sister are no exceptions with both having major challenges relating to joint problems amongst many others.

My brother-in-law was pretty typical and by the time he was in his 40s, was experiencing major pain from these problems and was prescribed one of the original non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs by his doctor. A few years later, he passed away because of an NSAID related GI bleed.

Now, at the time, there were other pain medications that were availablewhich were much less likely to cause a GI bleed. I can’t tell you how much I wish, that some pharma rep had been successful in convincing my brother-in-law’s physician to use one of those medications for him.

I don’t know for sure if it would have made a difference, but I like to think that it would.

I told this story to my team because no matter how many statistics you cite about how many patients get treated and what their results are, there is nothing more powerful than a real story to make a point.

The point is this and I make it to you now. Whether you are a marketer, sales rep or working in the finance department, playing a role in getting the right medication to the right patient means that you are helping, and sometimes even saving lives.

It makes what we do and how we do it incredibly important.

If you are sitting at work right now and have forgotten the difference that you are making out there, think again.