As if completing one's research projects, writing a thesis, submitting articles, making sure that you finish in the allotted time and, most importantly, that you do not run out of funding are not stressful enough activities... The ever-present question in the mind of the majority of my psychology graduate school colleagues was: “What will I do when I graduate?” Students in the clinical psychology track foresaw a clinical psychologist career, away from academia, while those in the experimental track anticipated continuing their education with a post-doc or two before pursuing an academic position. Few, very few were attracted to a different path, that of the pharmaceutical industry. Why so few? For a moment, I will set aside the question of why so few and answer a different one: “Why would a psychology graduate consider a career path in the pharmaceutical industry?”

Research in the field of psychology has led to establishing animal models of neurological and psychiatric disorders currently used in drug development to understand the effects of pharmacological agents on brain activity. In the field of drug addiction, animal models developed by experimental psychologists such as Dr Richard G Morris (Morris water maze,1981) and Dr Harriet de Wit and Dr Jane Stewart (drug reinstatement model, 1981) are considered to be among the best available models of neuropsychiatric disease. These models are deemed relevant to the understanding and prediction of drug addiction in humans, and are now part of the gold standard of preclinical research trials examining the therapeutic modulation of habit forming circuitry. 

Thus, the psychology academic environment represents an invaluable 'playground' for generating and validating new methods to test neurosubstrates of human behaviour with a direct application to drugs acting on the central nervous system (CNS). In North America, pharmaceutical industry regulatory bodies including the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Canadian Healthcare Agency (HC) require that the effects of novel CNS-acting drugs be first studied in animals using proven scientific methods like the Morris water maze and the drug reinstatement models. Given the importance of human safety, the approval of new medications relies heavily on the rigorous application of validated investigational models. Therefore, whereas the academic climate encourages the application of new ideas, the industry depends on a conservative, well-controlled, heavily regulated approach to the development of novel pharmacological agents.

It is easy to see how a graduate of pharmacology would pursue a career as a research scientist in either an academic or industry environment. It is also easy to see how a graduate of experimental or clinical neuropsychology would choose a career in the academic or healthcare environment. At a glance, what seems more difficult to grasp is why a neuropsychologist would also be a best-fit for the industry. On second thought, students training in psychology and pharmacology alike are trained to apply scientific methods to gain a deeper understanding of the brain from either a behavioural or biological perspective, which makes them both a best-fit for a research career in the pharmaceutical industry.

So, “Why do so few psychology graduates choose to pursue a career in the industry?” As a clinical neuropsychology graduate and a scientist who chose an industry career path, I can still offer little insight into this question. Training in psychology at best discourages and at most excludes career discussions of the real-world application of the knowledge acquired at a graduate level to study drug development. Few students are encouraged to explore the interface between behaviour and biochemistry and the manner in which pharmacological agents impact brain activity to treat neuropsychiatric conditions.

I believe that a career in the pharmacological industry can represent a best-fit option for psychology graduate students who want to combine their knowledge of animal and human behaviour to elucidate the biological substrates of neurological and psychiatric conditions and contribute to the discovery of pharmacological treatment of disorders.