His Name: Mark
Profile: PhD in Immunology interested in landing a role as a medical science liaison
His Story:
Mark holds a PhD in microbiology and has lots of experience in public speaking. He was having a hard time landing any medical science liaison (MSL) interviews because he had no previous MSL experience. Although other MSLs were telling him that he has the skill set and just needs a “lucky break.” Mark was faced with the typical ‘chicken-egg’ scenario. Without any experience, he couldn’t land an MSL role. Yet, how could he get relevant experience to land a role?
Mark decided to explore ways to help him stand out and distinguish himself among candidates. He did some searches on Google and came across several articles which suggested that he become a Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist (BCMAS). Mark looked into it and decided that if this is what he wanted to do, it would be worth a shot. Plus, BCMAS is the only accredited board certification for medical affairs and MSL professionals. Mark applied and was accepted into the board certification program. The program took Mark about 3 months to complete and because it was completely self-paced and online, Mark was able to easily complete it with his full-time job. Three months after completing the BCMAS program, Mark landed an MSL role at a small biotech company.
Summary:
Mark’s story is common among PhD, MD and PharmD professionals looking to get into their first pharma industry role without experience. In addition to becoming board certified in medical affairs, there are many other things you could do to distinguish yourself when you do land that interview. Here’s a great article on how to ace the MSL interview.
Learn about the day to day activities of a medical science liaisons(MSL)