Kristen Fetchko, PharBE ’20, says the degree helped her land a job with more responsibilities. Photo courtesy Kristen Fetchko.
When Kristen Fetchko was interviewing for a new job last summer, her UW Master’s in Pharmaceutical Bioengineering (PharBE) degree caught the attention of prospective employers.
“Companies seemed excited to learn that because I know the full process of drug development, I can ask the right questions and be efficient and effective in my role,” says Kristen, PharBE ’20.
She credits her degree with helping her land a new job with greater responsibilities. The UW PharBE program offered her a breadth and a depth of knowledge that she couldn’t have gotten through industry experience alone, she says. “As with many people early in their career, I was siloed into one small part of the process, without a true understanding of the process as a whole or how I really fit into it.”
Now Kristen works as a clinical study manager overseeing a clinical trial at New Jersey-based CytoSorbents, which develops technologies to purify blood. “The PharBE program is a modern, applicable, interesting and efficient approach to learning the ins and outs of drug development from start to finish,” she says.
“The courses were detailed, organized, efficient, and thought-provoking. Everything that I learned really is relevant, and there wasn’t a lot of fluff.” – Kristen Fetchko