Merck, the multinational pharmaceutical giant with over 10,000 employees in Montgomery County, and La Salle University have teamed up with Pathway for Patient Health to prepare students for careers in the rapidly expanding Life Science Industry, writes Queen Muse for the Philadelphia Magazine.

The partnership offers undergraduate students the chance to enroll in a suite of new courses specific to careers in life science industries. These are usually reserved for graduate students or early-career professionals.

The courses are part of the Quality Science Education Program that is offered free of charge to universities worldwide.

However, La Salle’s implementation of the QSE program is unique as the courses are taught by a team of 12 industry experts from Merck.

According to Anil Sawant, Merck’s vice president of global quality management systems and external affairs, finding volunteers who would teach the classes for free was easy.

“Typically we volunteer our time with nonprofits, but we saw this as a tremendous opportunity to give back to the community and volunteer our time doing what we love doing,” said Sawant.

Read more about the partnership at the Philadelphia Magazine by clicking here.