It’s clear how academic research training equips scientists for careers in commercial research and development (R&D) labs. However, did you know that your qualifications as a research scientist are also highly sought after by other activities in the pharmaceutical industry? In particular, your qualities as a researcher are highly valued by the medical affairs (med affairs) and the medical communications (med comms) arenas. In this first part of a 2-part series I discuss careers in pharmaceutical med affairs…
- What is med affairs?
Whilst there’s some structural variation amongst pharmaceutical (pharma) companies, most have broadly two sets of scientific teams:
- R&D whose job it is to define the scientific direction through product development and early stage advancements
- Med affairs whose job it is to provide scientific support in later stage drug development and post-market support.
Drugs can fail at any phase during the development process, but those making it through randomised testing (often in phase 3) will have to gain approval from the appropriate regulatory authority in order to proceed to market. Post-approval, companies need a clear strategy to market and have to highlight the benefits of their products.
Med affairs teams (comprising of medics and scientists) work throughout this entire development process to provide technical support both with external and internal customers (external customers are those that view your company as providing something to buy, whereas internal customers are other employees at the same company who benefit from your knowledge base/products/services).
Careers in med affairs help you to implement your medical and scientific knowledge to improve patient treatment. They also make use of research skills, so having a research qualification such as a PhD is a real advantage when applying to these roles. This is because the work involves reviewing research data, reading scientific publications and disseminating this information clearly.
- What is the role of med affairs?
Med affairs encompasses scientific interpretation, medical communications (med comms; where document writing is often outsourced to external expert agencies) and a variety of interpersonal processes, which depending on the company structure, can incorporate any of the following activities:
- What types of jobs are there in med affairs and how to get into these careers without prior experience?
There are several job types in med affairs. More senior roles include, medical director, med affairs manager and medical advisor. Typical entry level roles include:
- Medical science liaison (MSL): At both the pre- and post-approval stage of a product, effective communication of drug’s clinical development is a central activity associated with new pharmaceutical products. A core function of the MSL role is to establish peer-to-peer relationship with key external stakeholders (often leading clinicians in the field – key opinion leaders; KOLs).
This represents a two-way process with the MSL presenting novel clinical data and the KOL providing their ‘key opinion.’ This knowledge helps clinicians make an informed decision about a particular product and the pharma company to assess how their assets fit best within the current therapeutic landscape and market. This is a field-based role, but unlike a medical sales rep, it’s non-promotional.
To work as an MSL, candidates should have a strong academic background and good grounding in medical science, which is why it’s an ideal role for biomedical research students. Candidates should possess a higher degree (PhD, MD, DPharm, MPharm, MPhil, MRes, MSc etc) or have significant experience as a healthcare professional (e.g. nurse/nurse specialist).
Aside from a strong science background though, successful MSL candidates must possess a number of attributes in order to be considered for these competitive positions. These attributes include:
- Strong communication skills – an ability to communicate complex clinical and scientific data accurately and self-promote/network in order to build relationships
- An ability to independently project manage – a proactive approach to setting and completing objectives
- Great organisational skills – good time management and reporting skills
- An understanding of how to operate as a med affairs advocate within a commercial environment – a strong understanding of local compliance regulations within their region is essential
These attributes are carefully assessed through the interview process, which is multi-faceted and rigorous. Often culminating in the final stages as an assessment centre, which aside from a standard interview can also comprise of presentations, role play sessions, intelligence and personality tests, and critical appraisal of clinical research work.
Once selected, successful candidates often then go through a rigorous process of on-boarding to ensure they are trained in developing successful customer interactions, the role of the regional key account business unit and full training in the science (therapeutic area, product development data, clinical data, competitor data etc.). This induction training is often formally examined and at best is supported by field-based shadowing of more experienced colleagues.
For more information about becoming an MSL – click here.
- Scientific advisor: An alternative initial step into medical affairs can be a junior medical information role. This is in some way analogous an MSL role, in that it involves handling enquires around company products to provide an accurate response, but it is office-based rather than field-based.
Some enquiry responses can be fairly standard and therefore simple to answer, but others can be more involved, requiring in-depth literature review prior to providing a response. All responses must be checked against local compliance guidelines. In the UK, responses must be compliant to the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) code. As you become more experienced in this role you’d be expected to handle more complex enquires.
Like MSLs, you’d also be required to support internal brand marketing teams and be involved in KOL relationship development. So skill requirements are analogous to those for MSL positions, although these jobs can often be extremely competitive due to the lack of traveling requirements demanded by MSL roles.
- What is a typical day like in med affairs?
Because the work by med affairs is so varied and fast-paced, it’s difficult to define a typical day for these roles. MSLs will spend approximately 70% or more of their time on the road meeting KOLs, the rest of their time will be spent preparing for these meetings, in-house meetings, training and post-meeting admin.
Similarly, office-based roles will involve a lot of meetings. Meetings with marketing, data and statistical review meetings, protocol review committees, and team strategy talks. In fact, a lot of time is spent in meetings, working through projects in a team and building external and internal customer relations.
Ultimately these careers demand a large degree of people skills and an enjoyment of team work. So, if you’re a reclusive type, who doesn’t enjoy working with others so much, you might struggle in med affairs.
- What is the future of med affairs as a career choice?
The role of modern-day med affairs teams serves as a bridge between clinical, scientific and commercial teams in pharma. Traditionally it was closely entwined with R&D activities and a completely separate entity from any business development needs.
Today med affairs are still evolving as pharma and medical device companies define internal roles to take control of their individual business needs. A rapidly evolving environment and set of roles for medical affairs teams, makes careers in this sector very dynamic.
Moving forward, patient insights and real-world data surrounding products are important for med affairs teams to synthesise correctly and provide feedback. It’s also important for teams to keep up with technology, which is moving at a fast pace.
Artificial intelligence for example is being looked at as a tool to aid efficient communication and patient engagement. Digital communication platforms and feedback learning loops are already assisting med affairs teams to achieve their goals.
There is a drive towards deeper scientific knowledge across the pharma industry. Conversations with healthcare decision-makers are becoming more data focused, with the approach taking less of a promotional standpoint and more of a scientist-to-scientist peer discussion. For this reason, med affairs provide a growing opportunity for those with in-depth knowledge in medical and biomedical sciences.
Furthermore, patients are becoming increasing used to accessing scientific information and therefore research findings need to be presented in a way that it’s accessible by all, is balanced, and scientific.
Overall, working in med affairs provides a good opportunity for substantial growth in the future and as such offers a promising career prospect for scientists.
Summary
- Medical affairs (med affairs) is a broad term referring to a department within a pharmaceutical or medical devices company that supports in product development by interacting with stakeholders, including healthcare professionals
- Med affairs activities are diverse and include scientific liaison, meeting support, information dissemination and compliance adherence to name a few (see Figure above)
- A common way into med affairs is through the medical science liaison (MSL) route. This is a field-based role, where the primary function is to build strong peer-to-peer relationships with key opinion leaders in the field
- Med affairs is a growing area and offers an alternative career path in pharma from traditional lab-based R&D roles
- A med affairs career is highly suited to outgoing individuals with a scientific research background and a strong understanding of medical sciences
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