Medical and Scientific Communications 2013 Annual Forum

Fielding a MSL team represents an enormous cost for pharmaceutical companies. Since MSLs are the regular, customer-facing extension of Medical Affairs into the medical community, focusing on development costs to optimize this relationship is of paramount importance. Thorough training, continued competency development and knowledge acquisition, and career development are important issues to both the individual MSL contributor as well as the management team. In addition, training and competency programs offer an opportunity to create a "brand" for both the team and individual contributor that sets them apart from competitors. Many large pharmaceutical companies have the financial resources to either outsource training and competency development programs, or have an in-house function dedicated to career development. Small and mid-size companies, and even some larger companies, rely on their management teams to develop and implement these programs. However, MSL managers may feel that they lack the fundamental knowledge and tools needed to successfully develop effective training and competency programs. Furthermore, as it relates to overall career development, MSLs and managers alike may have a certain sense of frustration in developing a career pathway, particularly for those who want to remain field based. This session will discuss and highlight these issues. The panel will offer some suggestions for developing a comprehensive training and competency based development program while building your brand. Where the MSL role is headed in the future and how this relates to career development will also be discussed. Also discussed will be the ongoing evolution of the MSL role and how this relates to career development.