How to Explain Your Job in PV Without Losing People in 30 Seconds (Part 2)

In the first part, we discussed how to explain your pharmacovigilance job to colleagues or strangers in just thirty seconds. Recently, during a practical conference organised by the DrugCard team, we explored a different question while networking – how do your children and family understand what their mom or dad does at work? One colleague shared that her children were surprised when she said she was attending a work conference. They imagined she was sitting at home with a laptop, but in reality, she was participating in a significant professional event.

This highlights why it is so important to explain your job in PV to family and friends, who may not be familiar with pharmacovigilance terminology. Doing so makes you more understandable, shows the value of your work, and even earns respect for the profession.

Start with Simple Words to Explain Your Job in PV

Imagine your child sitting next to you at dinner and asking, “Mom, Dad, what do you do at work?” Many of us might start explaining signals, ICSRs, and processes, but for a child – or an adult without a medical background – this sounds like a foreign language. To avoid confusion, approach your explanation with simple words, humour, and relatable examples.

Children and family members do not need abbreviations or complex terms. Start with the main idea:

“I make sure medicines are safe for people.”

“I help detect side effects after people take medicines so that no one gets hurt.”

This immediately communicates the purpose of your work and its value. Children may even imagine you as a “guardian of medicines,” which makes the explanation clear and tangible.

Use Analogies and Metaphors

Analogies make your work more vivid and relatable. For example, you can describe yourself as a detective investigating potential dangers with medicines, or someone who watches over medicines just like parents watch over their children. You might even tell yourself that you are a superhero protecting people from harmful side effects. Visual comparisons like these help family members better understand what you do.

Share Real-Life Stories 

Short stories from your work make it concrete and meaningful. For example:

“Once, after a new cough syrup was released, a few people experienced a strong allergic reaction. Thanks to my work, doctors were able to learn about this in time and help the patients. No one was harmed.”

Stories make your work understandable and significant. They help children and relatives see that your efforts have a real impact on people’s health.

Use Everyday Life Analogies

Children and relatives understand concepts better when you connect them to everyday life. For instance, imagine a bathtub with very hot water. If you notice it is too hot, you immediately warn others to prevent burns. My work is similar, but instead of water, I monitor medicines. If a medicine could cause harmful effects, I would alert doctors and help prevent patient harm.

Another example is building with a construction set. When a piece doesn’t fit, you adjust or replace it so the structure works correctly. In pharmacovigilance, I do the same with medicines. If a drug shows signs of potential danger, I “adjust the pieces” by reporting, analysing, and helping doctors and patients avoid problems.

Explain the Value of Your Work to Family

It is essential to explain why your work is important. You can tell family that, thanks to your efforts, they can be confident medicines are safe, or that you help doctors and patients avoid dangerous situations. This makes your work tangible, relatable, and meaningful.

Explaining your job in PV to family and friends can be done in many ways, but the key is to keep it lively, simple, and even humorous.

Conclusion

Explaining your work to children and family helps not only them but also you. It teaches you to communicate the essence of your profession clearly, recognise its value, and explain it without resorting to complex terminology. Using vivid images, real-life stories, and everyday analogies helps even people without a medical background understand what you do and why it is essential. In the end, children can proudly tell their friends that their mom or dad is a true pharmacovigilance superhero.