An MSL has to be agile in the field and always deliver a top-performance. Especially when your MSL manager/director is out in the field with you. Here are some topics to focus on when you are out in the field alone or with your boss:

• Have good rapport with the KOL and listen to the KOL.
  • The KOL should be doing...

In the industry they used to call this topic "rep-sport". With the increase in MSLs coming into the industry, they now sometimes call it "MSL-sport".

What this means is the KOL/doctor asks you (or the sales representative) a difficult question in your (first) meeting.

They of course know the answer, I mean they...

You have just started as a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) and wonder, "How do I need to prepare for my upcoming KOL meeting?".

Before you go to see your KOL you have to make sure you know as much as possible about the KOL and his/her interest and focus. This will take some time, and you should not take this lightly....

Many people ask us what degree do you need to become a Medical Science Liaison (MSL)?

This really depends on the company and country you are in. 

Globally the most abundant background of MSLs are the researchers and the pharmacists. Researchers’ background can be BSc, MSc or PhD. While pharmacists can be...

When “from SCIENCE to PHARMA” asked me if I’d write a piece on how my first 2 years as MSL have been, I immediately thought about what a life-changing decision it has been to transition from Academia to Pharma as an MSL. And how much more rewarding and fulfilling the MSL role is than I’d...

Those of you who have read my blog posts might have wondered where Dr.J went. Wasn’t he on a mission to transition..? Did he lock himself in in the cold room, for a colleague to find him frozen to the floorboards on Monday morning? Go on and do yet another postdoc? Succumb to the challenge..?

No. None of that....

My brief ‘radio silence’ on the blog has had a cause. After completing multiple interview rounds successfully, I finally had an MSL contract in hand! Yes, indeed a contract! However, I didn’t sign it.

Let me describe how my final interview round unfolded, how great of an experience it was and how...

Interview Round 2+

To pick up the thread from my last post: After my initial contact with a recruiter some time ago, I was invited to a next interview round for an MSL role in oncology that  I find tremendously exciting. I was extremely happy, nonetheless, a ‘healthy nervousness’ now descended upon...

How much can happen in one week, regarding mood swings and career possibilities..? Quite a few things to be honest, but I’ll get to the career options later.

First I want to share something typical with you that I experienced this week, actually a discussion I got into with a colleague. It wasn’t the...

Does everyone who wants to exit academia and go into pharma, come to this point?

For roughly a year I have been working on finding a personal path to transition out of academia, two years if you count the “early days” of bold exploration and idea-sculpting.

So, for about a year I’ve been working...