Carmen Valderrama studied Degreeat Biochemistry at the Autonomous University of Madrid. When it became clear to her that the scientific researchwas not her thing, she decided to direct her future towards the world of the pharmaceutical industry. It was then that he opted for the Master's Degreein managementof Pharma-Biotech Companies. "I was struck by the values it upholds, the educationalmethod it offers, the personalisation, the team spirit and the prestige of the University. And that it was different from other master's degrees because it didn't seem like a programme that acted only as a 'lever' to gain access to the pharmaceutical industry," she confesses.

Once she had completed the theoretical trainingof Master's Degree, she did her professional internship at Ascendo Sanidad&Farma, a strategic consultancy firm specialising in the health and life sciences sector, which operates in four main areas: health, pharma and health technologies, research and developmentand innovation. "From the very first moment, I was integrated as a consultant, participating in projects of all kinds subject, with public and private entities".

During this time, he carried out functions such as the analysis of the current statusof different pathologies at national and regional level (clinical management, care pathway, burden and cost, healthcare organisation, research, etc.), the definition of actions to optimise the patient care pathway, the analysis of the current statusand market access process for different drugs, the developmentof communication and dissemination strategies, the strategic planning of research institutesHealth, the study of the environment of research and development+i at European, national and regional level or the analysis of the resources, processes and results of organisations at research. "All this, in partnershipwith the main stakeholders in the health sector and based, among other things, on the review of information availablepublicly and interviews and workshops workcarried out with the main agents involved," he explains.

After finishing her internship, Carmen joined the consultancy team. "I am passionate about what I do, as it allows me to get to know the reality of the sector from a 360° vision, to learn from many different fields and from different agents in the sector. Each projectis like a 'TFM'. It also requires me to work with rigour and to be very clear about my objectives, because workrepresents the whole team".

In this sense, he points out that Master's Degreehas meant a change for him on a professional level, with a knowledgemultidisciplinary and integral view of the industry and the health sector, but also on a more personal level staff: "It has helped me, as a person, to work with firm values and with a sense of purpose, listening to those around me and without losing sight of the real concept of 'team' and the reason for what I do".