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Tilly Duffy

Dr. Acevedo

WRA101.079

29 March 2020

So, You Want to Be A Drug Dealer?

One of my friends once jokingly asked me, “why don’t you just drop out of school now

and move to the desert like that guy from Breaking Bad?” when I told him that I was interested

in Pharmacology, the study of usages, synthesis, and effects of drugs on the body, primarily

based in chemistry and physiology. I just stumbled upon this career path within the past few

months. Prior to this discovery, I had no idea what I wanted to do once I graduated with a degree

in chemistry, only that I wanted to work in a lab. For the longest time, I believed that it was my

destiny, per say, to become a doctor. I planned to push through my near-phobia of needles and

even get over the queasy feelings I tend to experience when I’m around blood. It wasn’t until

after taking both chemistry and forensic science in high school that I realized I could find a

better, more unique and interesting path for myself. I knew, thanks to the autopsies we watched

in forensics, that I would not be able to work in any context that involved the body itself. So, I

entered college with only a major to guide me. After just a few months at MSU, I received an

email from my academic advisor detailing a minor in pharmacology and toxicology. After just

one google search, and then lots of digging and researching, I knew that this was the right path

for me. I discovered that pharmacology would allow me to influence the medical field without

having to endure the rest of what comes with the world of doctors and surgeons, but although

this sounds like my dream job, the moral values and communication skills of the people and the
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companies in my field do not match up with my own- and I’m still left wondering what my

future will hold.

Pharmacology sounded like something I would want to do, as it involves heavy amounts

of research and experimentation in a medical light. But I knew nothing about the daily life of a

pharmacologist or how a drug was deemed useful or effective, and how the research process was

communicated among professionals. So, I looked to The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and

Allied Health and found that pharmacologists spend much of their time analyzing and sharing

data from experiments run on both animal and human subjects. All pharmacologists spend much

of their drug research and evaluation focusing on four key things: clearance, the ability of the

body to remove the drug from the system quickly; efficacy, the ability of the drug to treat the

symptoms; pharmacodynamics, how the drug impacts cells in the body; and pharmacokinetics,

the speed and path the drug takes throughout the body (Mokus). Like most scientists,

pharmacologists share their findings verbally and via formal lab reports. Since pharmacologists

are looking for four specific things in a drug, their lab reports and research are likely very clean-

cut, organized, easily read, and require little-to-no interpretation by other professionals in the

field. Using methods like this would allow for very easy communication among members in the

field and also help get data shared more quickly. This regimented and specific way of organizing

and sharing findings is something that appeals to me, as I tend to be this way in my own life as

well and need in order to stay focused and on task. So, pharmacology began to look more and

more appealing to me as I thought about the ways in which I would be writing, reading, and

interpreting information on new discoveries in the field.

As a pharmacologist’s methods of sharing and communicating within the field began to

grow on me, I also began to wonder about the companies that I may end up working for and the
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people I may be working with, and how they communicate to the world outside of the labs. I

looked first into the companies, specifically some of the largest pharmaceutical companies, or

Big Pharma. I had heard a lot about pharmaceutical companies that were ‘evil,’ but I didn’t ever

know why. According to case study orchestrators, Alexander Lyon and Mark Ricci, Big Pharma

companies are dead-set on making as much money as possible, through whatever means

necessary. This includes marketing medicine for common conditions that don’t need to be

treated, downplaying the risks of many drugs, and hiding information from the FDA. Big Pharma

companies like, Wyeth, were recently exposed for hiring ghostwriters to forge medical journals

under the names of accredited medical experts in order to give their drugs more credibility and

hide the fact that some of these drugs were incredibly harmful to those who used it (The Case of

Wyeth, DesignWrite, and Premarin: The Ethics of Ghostwriting Medical Journal Articles). This

discovery made me question a lot about the field of pharmacology and how they choose to

communicate their successes to the public. It appears that companies have tendencies to lie,

forge, and promote false advertising in order to ensure their own gain. It could be possible, that a

company I work for will lie to the public about the benefits of a drug that I discover through TV

commercials and published journals riddled with falsities. These literacy practices of deceit

through written documents and spoken word do not align with my personal values of honesty

and compassion. So, I began to wonder if I would be able to morally live with myself if I worked

for a company with the literacy tendencies of cheaters, like Wyeth.

To calm my nerves, I tried to turn to someone who worked in the field, and possibly a

Big Pharma company, for help. After unsuccessfully reaching out to four different professionals

for informational interviews, two academic researchers at MSU and two pharmacologists with

commercial companies, I was at a loss. Perhaps the lack of communication was due to the
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present issue of COVID-19. It can likely be assumed that all pharmacologists are working day

and night to find a drug suitable to fend off the virus, and don’t have time to answer my emails.

However, I still learned from their silence. It appears that pharmacologists (in times of crisis) are

not the best at communicating with those from the public who reach out to them. This realization

terrified me. I believe that everyone has a right to know what scientists are researching and I also

believe in being available to others in their times of need, whether in person or via writing or

call. If four different scientists in my field of study were unable to show me basic amounts of

response or respect, I wondered if I would be expected to turn the same cold-shoulder when I

find myself in their shoes. Additionally, I don’t want to work alongside people who are bad at

communicating and responding to others, as communication should be a key part in research and

discovery, especially with the internet so widely available to post lab reports and other findings. I

try to remind myself to take these responses with a grain of salt, as I know we are facing a global

medical crisis, but the facts remain- pharmacologists do not appear to be good at communicating

or sharing with the public.

It hurts me to think that this may not be the field for me, due to how companies and

scientists in this field treat the general public, as I instantly fell in love with the idea of

researching the effects and aspects of different drugs and the formations of formal, structured lab

reports. However, I struggle to picture myself happily working for companies with few moral

ways of sharing information and with people who may be entitled or self-oriented. As I was

reminded by my roommate at the peak of this realization, though, I can try different jobs and

different companies over the course of my lifetime. It may be simply a matter of further research

and trial-and-error until I find the company and specific career within pharmacology that is right

for me- but until then, I’m left wondering which specific path is the right fit for me?
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Works Cited

Compton, Kristin. “Big Pharma and Medical Device Manufacturers.” Edited by Emily

Miller, Drugwatch.com, 27 Feb. 2020, www.drugwatch.com/manufacturers/. Accessed

24 Mar. 2020.

Lyon, Alexander, and Mark Ricci. "The Case of Wyeth, DesignWrite, and Premarin: The Ethics

of Ghostwriting Medical Journal Articles." Case Studies in Organizational

Communication: Ethical Perspectives and Practices, edited by Steve May, 2nd ed.,

SAGE, 2013, pp. 197-206. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-

com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/apps/doc/CX3718200028/GVRL?u=msu_main&sid=GVRL&xid

=6d25fd3d. Accessed 24 Mar. 2020.

Mockus, Susan M., and Rebecca J. Frey. "Pharmacology." The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing

and Allied Health, edited by Brigham Narins, 3rd ed., vol. 5, Gale, 2013, pp. 2601-

2604. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-

com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/apps/doc/CX2760400830/GVRL?u=msu_main&sid=GVRL&xid

=0b60d1ed. Accessed 24 Mar. 2020.

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Matilda Duffy
932 Illinois Road, Wilmette, IL 60091| (224)-520-3539 | tduffy932@gmail.com

Education
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI May 2023
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with Minors in Pharmacology & Toxicology and Mathematics
• GPA, as of Fall 2019: 4.0; Dean’s List and member of the Honor’s College
Relevant Coursework
• Honor’s Chemistry I & II • Calculus II & Multivariable Calculus
• Honor’s Chemistry Laboratory • Cells and Molecules

Employment and Experiences

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI January 2020 - Present
Tour Guide
• Welcome and interact with guests of the University prior to the tour
• Lead University guests through a typical day on campus while providing detailed information
and facts

New Trier High School, Wilmette, IL August 2018 – May 2019

Student Instructional Leadership Corps
• Supported sophomore level chemistry students in class and labs
• Reviewed current materials with students to strengthen their abilities
• Prepared and taught daily lessons with emphasis on Equilibrium and Acid/Base reactions

Girls Count, Wilmette, IL June 2016 - September 2019

Math Tutor
• Tutored a third grade student in math for an hour, weekly
• Strengthened her skills in problem solving, division, multiplication, and comprehension of
word problems and other applications of math in the real world

Ravinia Park, Highland Park, IL Summers of 2018 and 2019

Gate Staff
• Welcomed patrons to the venue and scanned their tickets
• Managed questions while actively problem solving with ticketing errors and other incidences

Extracurriculars
• Chemistry Club at Michigan State University August 2019 - Present
• Euchre Club at Michigan State University (Co-Founder/ President) August 2019 - Present
• Girls Bowling Team at New Trier High School (Captain) October 2016 - February 2019
• Environmental Club at New Trier High School August 2016 – June 2019

Specialized Skills
• Language Proficiency: Literate in German (8 years of schooling)
• Computer Skills: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and MatLab
• Laboratory Skills: Complexometric Titrations; Atomic Emission, Infrared, and X-Ray
Spectroscopy; ICP-OES analysis; Gas Chromatography; Mass Spectrometry