Celebrating 5 years with us, Bedrock Healthcare Communications spoke to Senior Account Executive, Victoria McAnerney about what took her into medical communications, her career highlights and passions both inside and outside of work. And much more…
How did you get into medical communications?
I studied psychology at university, and then I did a one year Master’s in health psychology. I always knew that I wanted to go into the area of healthcare. When I graduated, I originally went into healthcare PR, and gravitated towards the medical communications and education side of things.
What was the journey that took you to Bedrock?
I was looking into MedComms companies and found Bedrock. It sounded like something that I’d really like to be involved in. There wasn’t a vacancy open, but I approached them and that’s how I got in and started out as an account executive.
What do you enjoy most about working at Bedrock?
For me it’s getting key messages across about how to improve patients’ lives and the variety within the role. I work across a number of accounts, with different Pharma companies and you’re doing lots of different activities within that. So, for example, I’ve just got back from Vienna, working on an event and supporting the client with the project management of that. Another project that I’m working on is a lupus advisory board. I’m also working on a consensus programme in the area of multiple sclerosis.
What career highlights are you most proud of?
It was something quite recent, a webinar on pain management. We had just under a thousand people attending, and about 700 of those were doctors. I was the lead, and it was my first project managing something of that scale on my own. It involved creating awareness about it to physicians, working with the clients and country contacts to send out communications and working on the content with the medical writer and team. It was great being part of a team and having that sense of accomplishment afterwards.
How would you describe the Bedrock culture?
There’s a strong sense of team about Bedrock, we look after each other. I’m part of our social committee, we have gatherings, away days and we really get to know each other, as well as the other companies in the Resonant Group. It’s also a very open environment, ideas are encouraged. It’s our freethinking value, you can say what you want and not feel worried about speaking out. If you’ve got questions, you can always ask somebody, and everybody’s always really open and helpful.
What gets you up in the morning?
Good question! For me, I’d say having a good variety of things to do in my day and work, because you’re working on different therapy areas, and it’s just broadening my understanding, it opens up so many doors. I just think to myself, “Well, what am I going to learn today?” Because you’re always learning something new every day about the different therapy areas and disease awareness. That’s certainly enough to be getting me up!
What advice would you give anyone that wanted to get into medical communications?
If improving patients’ lives is something that really makes you feel passionate, then definitely this is the thing for you. That’s what this industry does. I would say to a graduate who was considering going in, look for any internships or anything where you can get some experience. It’ll give you a flavour of agency life and culture, and also a stepping stone into working full-time and a role in a medical communications agency.
What are your passions outside work?
I’m quite musical. I learned to play the clarinet when I was eight years old and a few years ago I took up the saxophone. So I bought an alto saxophone and taught myself how to play it. I like to play a variety of styles. I do like a bit of jazz and classical as well as a little rag time music. I’ve always had a passion for creative writing too and I got into writing poetry, and I entered competitions where my poems were published. It all started just for fun really but I still write when I can.
