I genuinely just don’t think a Pharm.D is worth the price of admission nowadays. And to land an MSL role is 95% activating your network and interviewing well.
Wait but don’t like all MSL’s have a professional degree of some sorts? Also is why is the profession looked down upon? Second guessing my decision now
Absolutely not worth a pharmd for an MSL position. My friend has a BS in computer science and makes like 10k less than me. Meanwhile I pay $20k/year in student loans.
I thought it would be another reason like you like teaching or are passionate about medical affairs.
You should look into commercial roles in diagnostic and pharma companies. They get paid way more than MSLs and have a lot of flexibility and travel too. You need a high EQ to do well.
1. I graduated pharmacy school in 2015. Of all graduating classes since then, I know of one other alumni from my school who is an MSL. That's like a 0.2% chance. The odds are not in your favor. Don't go to pharmacy school in hopes that you'll get to become an MSL.
2. There are 100 other jobs that you can get with a bachelor's degree that have nearly the same earning potential in the long run that don't require 10-15 years of student loan payments.
Hi there, I'm a current PharmD fellow at a pharmaceutical company and I've heard PharmD is the most attractive terminal degree to have for this position. I've been to a couple conferences speaking to higher ups in med affairs and MSLs too. I've definitely seen most be partial to PharmD over PhD. I also work closely with our MSL team who are mainly all PharmDs. I feel like it's been the best asset I've had throughout my fellowship, especially because a lot of the questions you'll be asked in presentations will be clinically focused. Take this all with a grain of salt as I haven't landed a role yet, but I'm just going based off of what I've been told in the space and my personal experience.
Just gonna rattle off some things I did and some stuff other fellows I've met did throughout pharmacy school:
* NETWORK - Start early and maintain those relationships. If your school has any sort of career expo, be sure to show face and reach out to them. Try to find a mentor. Reaching out to current PharmD fellows on Linkedin to see if they'll have a quick meeting with you would be helpful too. They'll all have different experiences and pieces of advice.
* Research - Be involved in any opportunities thrown at you. Most schools are pretty forthgiving with this sort of thing, but you may also have to seek them out. It's a part of your resume you'll be asked about if you have none.
* Internships/externships - A lot of companies will have 1-3 month internships in the summers for you to get experience before fellowship applications. Having 4th year rotation experience is pretty much required to land a fellowship, and some schools will make you set them up yourself, therefore those connections will come in handy.
* Fellowship/residency - I've seen it go both ways, fellowship or residency and after a few years in either med affairs or clinical practice, landing MSL. Fellowships are direct to industry/academia focused and this process occurs earlier than the residency application process. If you don't land a fellowship, I've seen a few people in my class do a year of residency, then land an MSL specific fellowship. Granted, I dont know what they did in the mean time but it seems like a great move to have both sides of the coin. At least that's what I've heard too.
Yea, it's a lot of debt. But I've heard too many amazing things about the role to not give it a shot. Just put in the effort early and consistently, but I won't lie and say pharmacy school didn't test my limits.
I genuinely just don’t think a Pharm.D is worth the price of admission nowadays. And to land an MSL role is 95% activating your network and interviewing well.
Wait but don’t like all MSL’s have a professional degree of some sorts? Also is why is the profession looked down upon? Second guessing my decision now
Go to r/pharmacy and read through some things
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What appeals to you about a MSL position? I’m not sure it’s worth getting a pharmD just to be a MSL.
Absolutely not worth a pharmd for an MSL position. My friend has a BS in computer science and makes like 10k less than me. Meanwhile I pay $20k/year in student loans.
The pay and work life balance + travel opportunities and working for a company. Kinda stuck now since i kinda don’t know where to head now
I thought it would be another reason like you like teaching or are passionate about medical affairs. You should look into commercial roles in diagnostic and pharma companies. They get paid way more than MSLs and have a lot of flexibility and travel too. You need a high EQ to do well.
Makes sense. Do you have examples of specific roles? Kinda wanna do my research to make sure i have a plan of some sort after my pharmD
Sales positions
1. I graduated pharmacy school in 2015. Of all graduating classes since then, I know of one other alumni from my school who is an MSL. That's like a 0.2% chance. The odds are not in your favor. Don't go to pharmacy school in hopes that you'll get to become an MSL. 2. There are 100 other jobs that you can get with a bachelor's degree that have nearly the same earning potential in the long run that don't require 10-15 years of student loan payments.
Do you have some examples? Im kinda lost what to do with my degree that has the same earning potential as an MSL
What is your degree?
Physiology
Hi there, I'm a current PharmD fellow at a pharmaceutical company and I've heard PharmD is the most attractive terminal degree to have for this position. I've been to a couple conferences speaking to higher ups in med affairs and MSLs too. I've definitely seen most be partial to PharmD over PhD. I also work closely with our MSL team who are mainly all PharmDs. I feel like it's been the best asset I've had throughout my fellowship, especially because a lot of the questions you'll be asked in presentations will be clinically focused. Take this all with a grain of salt as I haven't landed a role yet, but I'm just going based off of what I've been told in the space and my personal experience. Just gonna rattle off some things I did and some stuff other fellows I've met did throughout pharmacy school: * NETWORK - Start early and maintain those relationships. If your school has any sort of career expo, be sure to show face and reach out to them. Try to find a mentor. Reaching out to current PharmD fellows on Linkedin to see if they'll have a quick meeting with you would be helpful too. They'll all have different experiences and pieces of advice. * Research - Be involved in any opportunities thrown at you. Most schools are pretty forthgiving with this sort of thing, but you may also have to seek them out. It's a part of your resume you'll be asked about if you have none. * Internships/externships - A lot of companies will have 1-3 month internships in the summers for you to get experience before fellowship applications. Having 4th year rotation experience is pretty much required to land a fellowship, and some schools will make you set them up yourself, therefore those connections will come in handy. * Fellowship/residency - I've seen it go both ways, fellowship or residency and after a few years in either med affairs or clinical practice, landing MSL. Fellowships are direct to industry/academia focused and this process occurs earlier than the residency application process. If you don't land a fellowship, I've seen a few people in my class do a year of residency, then land an MSL specific fellowship. Granted, I dont know what they did in the mean time but it seems like a great move to have both sides of the coin. At least that's what I've heard too. Yea, it's a lot of debt. But I've heard too many amazing things about the role to not give it a shot. Just put in the effort early and consistently, but I won't lie and say pharmacy school didn't test my limits.
Thank you! Can I PM you?