To make a product, you need to understand the market that you are working in; marketing affairs brings together the product, the science and the products impact on the market place.
Career Tracks
Medical Affairs Clinical Research and Operations- Design and manage Phase IIIB and IV clinical trials; safety, regulatory, assess risk, benefits and new therapeutic applications.
Medical Communications and Information- Researches, analyzes, aggregates and communicates scientific and medical data to customers and the company.
- Medical Information- provide technical support for doctors and other health care professionals and well as patients and caregivers.
- Competitive Intelligence- gathers and analyzes data about comparable products in other companies.
- Scientific Publications- Reports clinical trial results; for publications, meetings, continuing medical education (CME) events through abstracts, posters, booklets and reprints.
- Library Sciences- manage medical libraries.
Continuing Medical Education, Medical Education or Medical Marketing- As part of marketing, educate doctors about product.
Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs)- Working closely with sales reps, providing expertise about products and diseases.
Drug Safety, Pharmacovigilance- monitoring drugs for adverse effects during clinical trials and after drug approvals.
Data Management and Biostatistics- handle and analyze large volumes of information generated from clinical trials.
Are you a good Candidate?
People who flourish tend to have:
- Competency and knowledge- solid understanding of technical material, serve as expert resource and well prepared
- Outstanding communication skills- speaking, writing and reading are a must; in small and large groups
- Flexibility with prioritizations and scheduling- need to be adaptable, able to quickly re-prioritize and willing to drop current task for new demand
- A "Team player" attitude- work in a multidisciplinary and collaborative environment, be a friendly, supportive and responsible team member
- A creative and flexible mind- strong problem solving skills, ability to think strategically, open-minded
- The ability to work independently
- Good judgement- know when to ask questions, solve problems and how to make decisions on one's own
- Gregarious, outgoing personalities- high level of contact with customers, communication with many individuals
- Excellent time, organizational and project management skills and ability to multitask- work on many projects simultaneously and ability to manage external contractors
- An Interest in science and desire to learn new technologies- requires continuous advanced learning
Tips to entry or path to
- Consider working in clinical development first; develop an intimate understanding of disease states, learn about pharmacology- current therapies and needs of health care field.
- Apply to companies with products already on the market.
- Consider joining a contract research organization (CRO)- tend to hire people with scientific and medical backgrounds who don't have prior experience.
- Consider joining an agency that provides services to the medical affairs department; continuing medical education (CME) and medical communication agencies seek specialists to run their programs and interact with companies.
- If interested in MSL, talk to liaisons and sale reps. Often recruited or referred.
- If in a clinical practice, become involved in investigator-sponsored trials.
- Apply to fellowships or residencies in a biopharmaceutical company or serve as an advisor for CME programs. Show your expertise in the field.