Sunday, January 30, 2011

Qualify to Become a Medical Science Liaison

I recently took a snap shot of the top 10 posters for MSL (medical science liaison) positions on Monster.comHotjobs.com,  and CareerBuilder.com.  After boiling down the job descriptions for core qualifications of MSL job posts, I found a consistent list of attributes employers are seeking in candidates.  

By no means is this an end-all list for guaranteed employment as an MSL.  Consider this a starting point.  Acquiring these attributes and exhibiting them purposefully in your CV will only help increase your chances of breaking in: 
  • Education: MD, PharmD, PhD
  • Skills: Clinical presentation, medical education development, and an overall thought development leader. Individual must have solid computer skills (spreadsheets, word processing, database, internet research and other applicable software programs.)
  • Experience: 3-5 years in a specific area with strong knowledge of the treatment landscape for one's field of specialty.
  • Personal Attributes: leadership, interpersonal, analytical and problem solving skills. Candidate must be energetic and possess excellent communication skills (oral and written.) In addition, he or she  must be  highly self-motivated such that he/she can work in an independent environment.
  • Social Attributes: membership into the national society of preferred disease specialty. Individual will be able to demonstrate a well-established network in this specific network.
  • Travel: 6 weekends a year up to 80% travel. Most are required to live within a given territory.
If you are trying to break into the MSL field, do you qualify?  If not what are you doing about it?


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