MSL Society Conference & Gala

The MSL Society Conference and Gala brings together top pharmaceutical industry executives, seasoned medical science liaisons, and those interested in pursuing the MSL role and provide a forum for networking and discussion.

MSL Society Conference & Gala
April 1-3, 2013
Hyatt at the Bellevue
Philadelphia, PA

Some of the speakers include :

• Dr. Stewart Rosen, VP of Medical Affairs Quintiles
• Dr. Robert Ang, VP of Medical Affairs Cadence Pharmaceuticals
• Dr. Elizabeth Kupferer, Director of Medical Affairs Sequenom

The conference will feature educational topics related to the Medical Science Liaison and provide numerous opportunities for networking with other MSL professionals.

To register or learn about the conference, please visit http://www.themsls.org/Philadelphia-2013

Medical Science Liaison (MSL) jobs for MDs

Interested in finding Medical Science Liaison (MSL) jobs?

Keep in mind that more companies are looking to hire MDs, PharmDs, and PhDs for MSL positions. Also, be ready for some significant travel requirements. Companies currently hiring MSLs include:

• Novartis
• Becton Dickinson
• Grifols 
• Myriad Genetics, Inc
• Teva Pharmaceuticals
• Covidien 
• and many more

Make sure to regularly visit the NonClinicalJobs.com Job Board and search for "MSL Jobs"

Don't miss this informative webinar about MSLs

eyeforpharma and the MSL Society invite you to this free informative webinar about MSLs titled:

The New MSL/KOL Engagement Paradigm
Innovative KOL relationship models for a brave new world
Wednesday October 10th, 2pm London (BST), 3pm Paris (CET), 9am New York (EST)
Free of charge

Learn about the evolving role of the MSL in today's environment and within increasingly popular Contract Research Organizations.

The speakers for this webinar include:

Dr. Eric Silfen
Chief Medical Officer
Philips Health Care

Dr. Stewart Rosen
Vice President of Medical Affairs
Quintiles

Dr. Samuel Dyer
Chairman of the Board
Medical Science Liaison Society

Learn more and register for this event here.

Job Post: SouthEast Medical Science Liaison (Atlanta, GA; Miami, FL or Orlando, FL)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Atlanta
State: GA
Zip: 30303

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Atlanta, GA; Miami, FL or Orlando, FL)

Description
inVentiv health offers best-in-class Clinical, Consulting and Commercial services to global companies seeking to accelerate performance. With 13,000 employees in 40 countries, we rapidly transform promising ideas into commercial reality. inVentiv has committed itself to hiring and retaining the very best talent in the healthcare industry, those who have a single common characteristic: the desire and aptitude to succeed. We are focused on hiring the best, those who possess unparalleled knowledge and experience as well as a passion for delivering exceptional ideas and service to our clients. In turn, inVentiv provides an opportunity-rich environment where employees can grow as professionals in one of many disciplines and pursue long-term career goals throughout our worldwide network of locations.

inVentiv Therapeutics Institute (iTI) and inVentiv Recruitment Services, divisions of inVentiv health, offer unparalleled Direct Placement and Project based Medical Science Liaison and Clinical Nurse Educator opportunities with our numerous clients for highly qualified and accomplished candidates. Our Team has successfully partnered with over 200 Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device companies to recruit top Clinical Nurse Educators, Medical Science and Sales talent. In just the past 5 years, iTI and inVentiv Recruitment Services have placed over 9,000 field-based Clinical, Healthcare, Sales and Management professionals with.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Atlanta GA; Tampa Fl or Miami, FL)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Atlanta
State: GA
Zip: 30303

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Atlanta GA; Tampa Fl or Miami, FL)

Description

Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Chicago, IL or Indianapolis, IN)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Chicago
State: IL
Zip: 60601

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Chicago, IL or Indianapolis, IN)

Description

Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Boston MA, NY, or CT)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Boston
State: MA
Zip: 02108

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either NY, CT or MA)

Description

Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Charlotte, NC or Louisville, KY)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Charlotte
State: NC
Zip: 28202

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Charlotte, NC or Louisville, KY)

Description


Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Texas)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison

City: Houston

State: TX
Zip: 77002

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Dallas or Houston)

Description

Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Job Post: Medical Science Liaison (Philadelphia, PA; NJ; MD)

Job Title: Medical Science Liaison
City: Philadelphia
State: PA
Zip: 19102

Apply here (Qualified Candidates can live in either Philadelphia, PA; NJ; MD)

Description

Biocompatibles Inc. is a BTG International group company. BTG is divided into three business areas, Interventional Medicine, Specialty Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology and Licensing.

Medical Science Liaison Management Summit

No matter what you call it – MSL, CSL, MSD, etc. – the role of the Medical Science Liaison is evolving rapidly. Changes to internal structure, including shrinking sales forces and budgets, combined with shifts in the external environment prompted by healthcare reform are affecting the responsibilities and the visibility associated with this role. They are also opening up new avenues of growth for the MSL – including opportunities to specialize in communicating with healthcare policymakers and involvement in REMS.

5th Annual Medical Science Liaison Skill Building and Management Summit

Strategies to Build Internal Awareness of MSL Value and Maximize Compliant KOL Relationships

January 12 - 13, 2011

Philadelphia , PA

Join MSLs and their managers in January at CBI’s Medical Science Liaison Skill Building and Management Summit. Now in its fifth year, this forum provides a unique training opportunity for both MSLs and MSL leadership. Attendees choose from customized tracks and workshops to develop and refine strategy while building practical, take-home skills. A few of the takeaways you will gain from the distinguished faculty at this meeting include strategies to:

• Define and communicate value internally
• Get your Legal and MSL Departments on the same page
• Lead small group meetings effectively and utilize PowerPoint to influence rather than to merely provide information
• Discover novel opportunities for the MSL role in REMS, clinical development and as a key conduit to healthcare policy makers
• Overcome retention challenges and maximize performance

Click here for more information about the 5th Annual Medical Science Liaison Skill Building and Management Summit.

Featured physician executive: Robin Winter-Sperry, M.D.

This week's featured physician executive is Robin Winter-Sperry, M.D.

Dr. Robin Winter-Sperry serves as the President and CEO of Scientific Advantage, LLC, and Science Oriented Solutions. Her responsibilities include management and oversight of all of the combined entity’s strategy and business activities. In addition to serving as founder and president of Scientific Advantage for the past six years, Dr. Winter-Sperry has held a number of senior management and medical affairs positions at leading pharmaceutical companies. She created Novartis’ MSL department of Scientific Operations and Sanofi-Synthelabo’s Medical Therapeutic Liaison division. She has pioneered the recognition of MSLs as a specialty in the biopharmaceutical and device industry and is responsible for creating and developing many of the industry’s leading medical affairs and medical liaison teams. Dr. Winter-Sperry holds an assistant professorship in Dermatology at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan. She is a member of the Women’s Health and Counseling Center (WHCC) steering committee in Somerville, NJ. She was named in August 2005 by PharmaVoice to be one of the industry’s 100 most inspiring people. In 2006, she was elected to the Madison Who’s Who of Professionals. She has professional memberships in the American Academy of Dermatology. She has also been an active member of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association (HBA) for over 18 years, and is currently the HBA Mentor to the Metro chapter. She also holds the position of adjunct professor at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.

Medical Science Liaison Jobs for Physicians

What's a Medical Science Liaison or MSL? Let's turn to Wikipedia for the answer:

A medical science liaison (abbreviated as MSL) is a healthcare consulting professional who is employed by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and managed care companies. Other job titles for medical science liaisons may include medical liaisons, medical science managers, regional medical scientists, and regional medical directors.

Interested? If you want to travel the country (or the world) and gain some useful "field experience," then an MSL job could be a great way to get started.

Whether you have residency training or not, you can still get hired as an MSL (at least with many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies). In general, you don't need to be board-certified or board-eligible to work as an MSL. Therefore, an MSL job is a great way to break into the pharmaceutical industry.

Click here to view a list of Medical Science Liaison Jobs for Physicians.

You can also view other jobs here on the NonClinicalJobs.com job board.

Medical Science Liaison (MSL) salary

What type of salary can you expect as an MSL? (Medical Science Liaison)

Like many positions, salary may depend on your geographic region, cost of housing/living, etc. According to Indeed.com (a search engine for jobs, allowing job seekers to find jobs posted on thousands of company career sites and job boards), the average salary for an MSL is $76,000. Does that seem right?

Let's check PayScale.com and see what they have to say:

Seems to confirm the Indeed.com salary range if you're looking at "entry-level" MSL positions. Can you believe that it jumps up to close to $180,000  if you have 10-20 years of experience?

These types of salary scales and salary calculators are not always accurate because so many different factors impact salary. They don't factor things like a signing bonus, stock options, a performance bonus, etc. If you're working as an MSL, you won't be "selling" anything, so don't expect any sales commissions. The life of an MSL isn't an easy one if you don't enjoy traveling.

Scientific Affairs Liaison (or MSL)

The term "Scientific Affairs Liaison" is a phrase used by some companies to refer to individuals who are also known as a "Medical Science Liaison" or MSL. Here's a brief explanation from Wikipedia:

A medical science liaison (abbreviated as MSL) is a healthcare consulting professional who is employed by pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and managed care companies. Other job titles for medical science liaisons may include medical liaisons, medical science managers, regional medical scientists, and regional medical directors.

Do you know any physicians who are currently working as an MSL?  Maybe you know some pharmacists or PhD grads who are working as MSLs. You can expect to do a lot of traveling if you work as an MSL.

So what does an MSL do? Let's take a look at a current job post/job description from TheLadders.com:

Medical Science Liaison

Hiring Company Industry: Biotech/Pharma
Number of Employees: 1,000 - 10,000 Employees
Total Compensation: $150K
- Base Salary: $130K
- Bonus / Commission: 20%
- Other: $15K
Reports to: Medical Science Liaison Director
Location: Orlando, FL; Boston, MA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Tampa, FL; Washington, DC

JOB DESCRIPTION

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF POSITION

XYZABC  Pharma, Inc., a XYZABC  Company, is seeking an experienced Medical Science Liaison for the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest Territory. The candidate must have a doctorate degree (PharmD., PhD, D.O., or M.D) with at least 1-2 years experience as a Medical Science Liaison or equivalent medical/ professional experience. MSL experience and knowledge preferred in one of the following areas: ADHD/ Pediatrics or Men’s Health/ Urology.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

* Ability to interpret and effectively communicate relevant scientific topics and literature.
* Ability to present complex scientific ideas fluently to internal and external audiences including, health care professionals, managed care organizations, key health care decision makers, and Executives.
* Ability to appropriately identify, develop, and maintain strong working relationships of Key Opinion Leaders.
* Possess doctorate level scientific knowledge and professional demeanor to earn and maintain the respect of all health care professionals.
* Ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary groups in a timely fashion in support of business outcomes.
* Attend major conventions, symposiums, advisory board programs, and congresses to provide medical and scientific support to internal and external customers.
* Complete accurate and timely administrative reports, projects, and required documentation requests.

MBA in pharmaceutical management

A few weeks ago, I met someone who was a student in the Drexel MBA (Master of Business Administration) in Pharmaceutical Management at LeBow College of Business. This person was a pharmacist and was currently working in a major pharmaceutical company in New Jersey. Why get an MBA if you're already a pharmacist working in industry? For career advancement, right?

My uncle and my wife are Drexel alumni, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for Drexel University. The MBA in Pharmaceutical Management is a cohorted program designed for working professionals and most of the course work is completed online. You have some on-campus time where you'll meet your classmates and work on some projects together, but you get to keep up with the rest of your studies using your computer. This is great for MSLs (medical science liaison) and other pharmaceutical professionals who are constantly traveling.

Here's a snapshot of the Drexel MBA in Pharmaceutical Management student profile (this is from their brochure):

• Average GMAT 620
• GMAT range 570-680
• Average age at start of program 36
• Age 26-42
• Average amount of work experience 10 years
• Work experience range 5-25 years

Does that describe you? Maybe you haven't taken the GMAT yet. If you have a terminal degree (doctorate degree), then you may waive the GMAT at Drexel.

The MBA in Pharmaceutical Management is uniquely designed for you to reach your goals of developing new skills, achieving new understanding, advancing your career, and helping your organization reach new levels of productivity in an increasingly competitive global economy.

One of the biggest reasons why pharmaceutical professionals get an MBA is to advance their career. After all, if you've been drenched in the sciences all your undergraduate and graduate life, how much have you really learned about the world of business?

MSL positions are opening up all over the country

It seems like MSL (medical science liaison) positions are opening up all over the country as pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies anticipate new drug launches. These companies are primarily looking for candidates who have some type of doctorate degree in the health sciences (MD, DO, PharmD, PhD, or equivalent)

In order to be an MSL, you need the ability to understand and speak a high level of clinical science as you interact with academic faculty members, physicians, pharmacists, and other scientific individuals. Be prepared to travel all the time if you're an MSL (roughly 50%, but some require more and some require less).

Not interested in traveling very much? Then you should not consider a job as an MSL. You simply won't be happy if you're constantly traveling. Field experience is very important if you're trying to climb the corporate ladder within pharma. This is one reason why some experienced corporate executives will transition into a field position to gain that experience.

Case study: from residency to pharma

I'd like to share a brief case study of a physician who transitioned into the non-clinical world of medicine:

SGK (I'll use these random acronyms to refer to this individual) graduated from a U.S. medical school, did an internship at a university-based program and a partial residency in internal medicine. SGK knew that she did not want to pursue a career in clinical medicine, so she started looking for a non-clinical job during her second year of residency. She began networking with her college friends and explored several possibilities including consulting and pharma. After interviewing at several different types of companies, she landed a position as a medical science liaison (MSL) in a major pharma company and worked there for 2 years. The travel burden was too great, so she transitioned into a marketing division of pharma and climbed the corporate ladder to head up a marketing division within pharma.

This case illustrates that the "entry" point into the non-clinical world was an MSL position within pharma. These positions are often filled by MDs, PharmDs, and PhDs who wish to gain field experience. You don't need a medical license and residency experience is beneficial but certainly not always mandatory. Speaking of pharma field experience, you can also gain this by being a sales representative. However, an MSL may be a more desirable role because you'll have more opportunities to dig into the science of medicine, disease treatment, pharmacology, pathophysiology, etc.

Entry-level non-clinical jobs for physicians

It's hard to imagine that a physician would be looking for an "entry-level" job. I use that term to refer to jobs that physicians can get if they lack industry working experience. Having 10 years of hospital experience doesn't mean that you'll be able to easily transition to a corporate job.

So, what are some common entry-level non-clinical jobs for medical school graduates? Let me start the discussion by focusing on a few industries:

• Medical communications. This includes medical writing, promotional medical education, marketing/advertising, certified medical education, consumer health, and much more. 
• Pharma/Biotech. Here, one of the ways to "break in" is to start as a medical science liaison (MSL). Or, you could enter as a medical writer (regulatory writing, drug safety reports, etc.). You may wish to consider the clinical research side if you have research experience.
• Consulting. You may have a difficult time breaking into McKinsey and Company or any of the other top consulting firms, but there are other consulting companies that are looking for physicians. If you don't mind living out of a suitcase, then perhaps you may wish to consider a healthcare consulting job.

Now, these are just three examples of different industries that will employ physicians who don't have extensive industry experience. There are many other types of non-clinical jobs out there, but the three areas listed above are some of the most common "entry points" for physicians who are transitioning out of clinical medicine. To learn more about entering the non-clinical world, I encourage you to invest your time and resources into a mentor who can guide you through this process.

Pharma and Biotech companies are hiring MSLs

MSL = Medical Science Liaison

Depending on the pharma/biotech company, they may call the MSL something else (such as medical liaisons, medical science managers, regional medical scientists, and regional medical directors). However, for simplicity, I will use the acronym MSL.

Despite the recession, mergers, and layoffs, pharma and biotech companies are still hiring MSLs. Interact with KOLs (key opinion leaders) and find opportunities to teach clinicians about drugs. Expect to do an endless amount of traveling, but it's a great way to get "field experience" so that you can advance in the corporate world. If you're thinking about breaking into the non-clinical side of healthcare and you want a career in pharmaceutical medicine or biotechnology, then you may wish to consider a stint as an MSL.