Preceptor Profile:
Eric Racine, PharmD, MBA
Associate VP, U.S. Managed
Markets, Sanofi-Aventis

Eric Racine, PharmD, MBA, associate vice president of U.S. managed markets, Sanofi- Aventis, with second-year managed markets fellow Jennifer Kim, PharmD’05 (left) and then P-4 student Snehal Patel, PharmD’07. Patel’s classmate, Christina Chi, PharmD’07, will start a two-year U.S. managed markets fellowship at Sanofi-Aventis this summer, continuing the College’s placement cycle with the firm. Photo courtesy: Terri Yannotta.

Andrew Ko, PharmD’06, recalls the P-4 clinical rotation experience he had in the U.S. Managed Markets Division of Sanofi-Aventis, under the direction of preceptor Eric Racine. “Eric and the people who report to him always made time for me and created an accommodating learning environment,” states Ko, now a medical science liaison for Abbott Laboratories. “As Pharmacy students, we are exposed to the clinical side of practice with an emphasis on direct patient care. But my rotation with Eric at Sanofi showed me how you can achieve the same ends of improved health outcomes through different means. At first, I really had to stretch myself to make the transition, but by the end of the rotation, I discovered new abilities, new ways of assessing and solving complex problems. I’m using a lot of these same skills in my current position at Abbott.”

Racine, associate vice president of U.S. managed markets at Sanofi-Aventis and a U–M PharmD preceptor for more than 10 years, can relate to Ko’s learning curve.

“When I was in pharmacy school, we spent very little time understanding larger national and international market dynamics, yet I believe this knowledge is essential because it strengthens our capacity to make informed strategic decisions,” explains Racine, who received a PharmD from Wayne State University in 1995, a BSPharm from Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, in 1993, and an executive MBA from Rutgers University in 2007. “After I earned my PharmD, I worked in a clinical setting for seven years at Detroit Medical Center — as a clinical pharmacy specialist, and later as coordinator of inpatient and outpatient clinical programs — yet I was not fully prepared to interact at the national and international levels on matters critical to our profession.”

PharmD students rotating at Sanofi are taught to understand all the market dynamics in the U.S. healthcare system and how pharmacists can be, and should be, “passionate champions supporting value-based decision making and improving quality of patient care,” states Racine.

“At Sanofi-Aventis, students work for an organization that is engaged with the largest stakeholders in the U.S. healthcare system,” he notes. “During their four weeks with us, students will usually be assigned two projects that are complex and conceptual in nature. It’s sometimes very hard for students to make the transition from mastering proven scientific facts to making strategic assessments of situations with inherent uncertainties. In this rotation, you have to lift your mind above the details to see the big picture: that is, what am I really trying to achieve; who are the key players inside and outside my organization; what social, cultural, political, business, and scientific forces are at work, and how do the interactions of these forces affect healthcare delivery in the U.S.?”

Some students thrive on the complex challenges and conceptual thinking of the managed market business; others leave Sanofi-Aventis seeking different career paths, Racine says.

“The same could be said for students who do any type of P-4 rotation,” he remarks. “That’s the purpose of a varied P-4 rotation experience: to find out what you like and what you do not like by experiencing it firsthand. But even for those who rotate at Sanofi-Aventis and choose not to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical industry, they still have had the exceedingly rare advantage of seeing this aspect of pharmacy from the inside. Whatever career path they choose to pursue after graduation, they will carry with them a valuable experience.”

Racine says that he and Sanofi have been very impressed with the quality of the Michigan Pharmacy students they’ve hosted over the years. So impressed, in fact, that they continue to take in more Michigan PharmDs every year.

In academic year 2005-2006, Racine and Sanofi-Aventis hosted five U-M PharmD students; in 2006-2007, nine students; and in 2007-2008, will host 10 students. In addition to providing firstrate educational opportunities, Sanofi-Aventis reimbursed students up to $3,000 each for travel and living expenses in 2005- 2006 and 2006-2007, and for academic year 2007-2008, will provide up to $3,500 support for travel and living expenses.

“We do host students from other programs,” notes Racine. “This year, for example, we will precept 15 PharmD students from various pharmacy schools. But 10 of the 15 slots are reserved for U-M PharmD students. That’s how highly we think of Michigan students. Michigan does an excellent job preparing students to think creatively, and to analyze and solve demanding problems. I also credit [Experiential Training Program Director] Nancy Mason for an excellent job matching students to our work environment.”

Asked why he and Sanofi-Aventis have been so supportive of Michigan PharmD students, Racine replies:

“My wife, Alison (Tran) Racine, PharmD’97, and I are both pharmacists. Pharmacy has been good to us. Precepting and helping to support students is one way I can give back to our profession. U-M has been a real leader in the advancement of pharmacy all over the world. I consider it an honor to be associated with such a great institution.

“Besides,” Racine adds, “we like having PharmD students here. Young people bring an excitement with them: they are enthusiastic, energetic, and because of their age and intelligence, they bring a totally different perspective to everything they do.”

Another reason Sanofi-Aventis likes to precept U-M PharmD students is for the opportunity it provides to identify good candidates for the Rutgers Industrial Fellowship Program, with which Sanofi-Aventis is affiliated. (Sanofi-Aventis is the only industry partner offering a managed markets fellowship.)

“We have several fellowship applicants every year vying for just two open positions,” Racine explains. “Our fellowship lasts two years, so we need to choose our fellows very carefully to ensure a good match. With an interview, you have an hour, maybe two, to evaluate compatibility. But when students rotate with us, we have one month to see them in action.

“Michigan students rise to the top of the list, which is why, almost every year, we have a U-M graduate who is accepted into our fellowship program.”