The intended audience of this article is for professionals, current and in training, interested in learning more about or trying to become Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs). These are suggestions based on my singular experience and I hope the article’s content is taken in the spirit of friendly advice, nothing more or less. As with my last article, this too was written in the wee hours of the morning (time zone differences will do that to you) and hopping from one plane to the next – which to me is apropos for writing about what it is like being a field professional. I’d love to hear your thoughts and your own anecdotes, for those willing to share. Thanks so much and enjoy!





What is it like being an MSL?

This is a really broad topic so there is a lot to explain. Every day truly is different but there are essential functions of the role that you will likely do most days of the week, if not all. When it comes to the principles that guide your work, those will be applicable every single day. I was taught the 5 Success Principles for being an MSL while I was a Medical Affairs Intern and I hold them in high regard as I think through my own day-to-day strategy. They are: be an expert, be relevant, customize your engagements, maximize your network and create genuine relationships. As you read through the description of what MSLs do, you’ll notice that each activity supports at least one of the principles.

The core function of our job is in the title – Medical Science Liaison – my role is to take the science (the pre-clinical/clinical data primarily) and share it with the medical community. Often times people are confused about the difference between being an MSL and a Sales Executive (or Sales Representative). I’ll share a few differences here, although there are certainly more. Due to the fact that MSLs have a doctorate, we have a broader range of topics we can discuss than a Sales Executive, including data emerging from congresses, ongoing studies, research that has been published or abstracts presented, competitor products (big caveat there – what you can talk about is extremely limited), etc.. I do not go into specific policy stipulations regarding proactively or reactively discussing various topics, but know this differs from company to company and there are fierce regulatory guidelines that dictate what can and cannot be discussed. Additionally, MSL success metrics are not based on number of prescriptions written. Learning about the prescribing habits of a provider in terms of prescription quantities for any drug would be extremely inappropriate for an MSL as well as against policy.

A big part of my job is relationship building and maintenance. The first steps in building relationships can include identifying key people to speak to that had not been previously identified and vetting the people that your company has listed that you should be speaking to. This is an ongoing process but it is especially key to your success in the early stages of building your territory (territory referring to the cities and states you are responsible for building relationships within). Of note, the amount of time doing either differs based on if the role is new within the company or if you are taking over accounts from a previous employee. When planning to establish a relationship, effort is made to learn about them before reaching out. In other words, creating a warm conversation vs making a cold call. This can include using resources such as PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, academic websites, social media platforms, professional societies, etc.. This is followed by finding their contact info and then lastly making the connection and scheduling the meeting.

During the meeting itself, the purpose we serve is two fold: 1) be the voice of the company and 2) be the eyes and ears for the company. Let me elaborate. Voice. We represent the company, as do all employees, but we are the ones seen most often compared to our internal colleagues. For a pre-launch team that has no Sales Associates, we as MSLs are potentially the only community-facing body out there at this point in time, on a regular basis. Our role is to share meaningful data with physicians so that they can make an informed decision for their patient population. Eyes and ears. We also have the opportunity to listen to how the data we share is received. We get to hear if people are enthusiastic about our product or have serious concerns. Additionally we get to learn about the gaps that physicians identify or perceive in our data sets. For example, perhaps a physician will suggest that we should do a study in “x” population or we should do a phase IV observational study in said patients that were excluded from the trial. Any information like this we can send back internally to help shape our medical strategy moving forward. Additionally, we can identify providers that have interest in research or becoming a future clinical trial site and share this with our Clinical Development team. Furthermore, major trends or insights gathered from the medical team can also impact commercial leadership decision-making as well. However, there are large firewalls between medical and commercial (the height of that firewall depends on what company you work for, but it always exists) and only certain ranks can share such insights to other high level leaders. I mention these examples to give you an idea of how your knowledge can have impact at various departmental levels.

Another way that we gain access is by attending conferences including local, regional, national and sometimes international. Educational symposiums serve the dual purpose of keeping us abreast of the latest data, trends in care, opinions expressed by attendees as well as allowing us to meet physicians. These can be providers that are on your list but haven’t met yet, people that have been previously off your radar, or those that you know and thus, serving as an additional touch point. Another value we bring from conference attendance is sharing insights from sessions we attended with those that did not get the chance to attend and discuss the implications they have for our field and our company. Depending on company policy, you can also then share or discuss data learned at conferences with the healthcare providers you meet with, which both enhances the HCP's knowledge as well as enhances your credibility and trustworthiness.

Just as in the beginning of the relationship when the MSL researched the professional profile of the person they were meeting with, an MSL continues to do this throughout their tenure for each KOL on the list, esp. preceding a planned or anticipated meeting. This allows you to be both an expert of the literature and trends as well as well informed on this person’s accomplishments. Relationships are usually maintained by sharing new data from the company. Hence, this is why MSLs must always be aware and educated on the data their own company is producing so that it can be appropriately socialized.

I want to mention some of the additional opportunities that you may have as an MSL that are not necessarily core to your job. These can include: ad boards, journal clubs, resource generation, cross-functional projects, patient advocacy events, med info booths, on-boarding partner, publications, congress planning, and more.

Of course, the way in which we do our job requires travel, especially if you cover multiple states. This will likely span traveling to your appointments, to the home office from time to time, and to attend conferences. Many people see this as a perk, others a nuisance. I personally enjoy both my time at my at-home office and time on the road, and I appreciate and look forward to the diversity of my work settings from day to day. Others, eh not so much.

Can you tell me about your journey of becoming an MSL?

This feels like a bit of a self-indulgent answer, but I get this question most often so I certainly want to share. Before I go down memory lane, please recall that there are thousands of unique paths into your industry career, i.e. there is no one right answer. I am not suggesting this is the only way; far from it. Although you and I won't have the same experiences, it may be valuable for you to notice some key themes or key types of activities. Things to listen out for as I’m sharing my experience are academic excellence, desire for leadership, community involvement, research experience, industry experience, and relationship building. These are some of the key themes that led to my success and can serve as a quasi-formula for others.

I graduated from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in the top five percent of my class. While I was there I was the VP of the International Pharmacy Student Federation, where I was responsible for coordinating our ten Global Health Outreach Trips in association with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing. I also was responsible for launching several new public health awareness efforts, including events, galas, educational symposiums, etc.. With this organization, I went on several Global Health Outreach Trips myself and was responsible for fundraising efforts leading up to the trips. As a student, I partnered with two of my professors to publish a paper in the Journal of Pharmacotherapy and spent two summers working in a lab with a wonderful professor named Hartmut Derendorf for the purpose of expanding my research experience and capabilities. I attained two competitive block programs at the VA and at Shands UF Health, as well as a rotation and the FDA. I enjoyed that experience so much that I asked people at the FDA if I could come back for an internship and they said yes!

Now here is the story of how I learned about what an MSL is. It’s a long one but I will sum it up by saying I was a tutor and my trainee mentioned that he wanted to become an MSL. I’d never heard of that as a third year pharmacy student so I looked it up. A week later I attended some Oktoberfest festivities, met a few pharmacists who asked me what I wanted to do. On a whim, I mentioned that I’m considering industry opportunities. They then recommended I meet the VP of Medical Affairs at Merck who is a UF Alumnus who’d be coming to a College of Pharmacy event a few weeks later. We then met, exchanged info, and then he became a mentor to me and then later, an advocate and a sponsor. Ken Massey in fact created a Medical Affairs Internship based on my request for an industry opportunity as a student and his desire to create opportunities for aspiring students interested in industry. Another leader within the Med Affairs organization, Stephen Dodge, coordinated my internship and took extraordinary effort to make it a broad and meaningful experience across Med Affairs.

I then did my Medical Affairs Fellowship at Novo Nordisk where I reported into an outstanding manger, leader and soon to be friend, Laura Hamway. I remember sitting down across from her during my last interview and telling her very decisively that in this fellowship, in addition to my responsibilities within Medical Affairs, I would want experience in other functional areas as well. During my one year fellowship, she both allowed me to create those opportunities and created many of them for me by again, being an impactful advocate on my behalf. During my time with the company I was able to do things such as create an ad board workshop with our Medical Directors, work with the Market Access team, collaborate with the HEOR team and present the data at AMCP, present our Med Affairs research project at the DIA conference, and lead the Clinical Landscape project (which was a 7 month long project that involved input from 50 people across the company and that I presented widely to home and field departments. It ultimately shaped our Med Affairs Strategy and supported strategic plans cross-functionally). Additionally, I had gotten involved with the Millennial's Employee Business Resource Group and created NOVO Talk, where we brought in thought leaders from across the US to do a TED-like talk at Novo Nordisk, so that internal people could continue to be connected to the voices of those that influence our field. Lastly, I moved to DC to create the first dual fellowship between Government Affairs and Policy and Med Affairs before deciding to become an MSL with Merck.

The reason that I chose to then leave Novo Nordisk, which was truly an ideal experience, to go to Merck was 1) I wanted to work for the leadership team at Merck, the person who had introduced me to industry, and the person who would be my boss, Bill Hittel 2) I wanted to move into a new therapeutic area that I believed would open additional opportunities to me in my career, esp. in the immunology space 3) I am passionate about decreasing prices of medications via competition which is what biosimilars are intended to do, so the idea of launching one of the first biosimilars to hit the US market and be tasked to explain this new medical concept to rheumatologists and gastroenterologists was extremely alluring to me. After joining Merck, our biosimilar was approved one month later.

One year into the role, the entire team was dissolved and our responsibilities were handed over to Managed Markets MSLs, which was an understandable decision. Some of us were rehired on various teams, I in particular landed a spot on the Virology MSL team where I got to help launch an HIV medication about a month after joining (another fortuitous stroke of luck). One year later the company laid off a sizable quantity of MSLs based on a new criteria put in place for the new role that was being created in place of the MSL title. This criteria, in part, included having combined eight years of research + field experience and recall, this is only my third year out of school – so I was out.

Maybe in a follow up article, if people express interest, I can talk about getting laid off. I’ve been through it twice in two years so I pride myself as someone who knows how to handle it. The idea of being laid off carries shame with it and I’ve learned how to surpass that instinct, albeit challenging. Between my last day at Merck and the day I was made an offer by Aurinia, it was only 5 days of unemployment. Trust me, you can make a layoff be the best thing that ever happened to you. It certainly has been for me in both situations. Now I’m with Aurinia Pharmaceuticals with the prospect of launching a product in 2021 and I’m extremely excited about what we have accomplished as a team in the 7 months I’ve been with the company and the future moving forward.

What do you think has been the most important part of your background in preparing you to be successful as an MSL?

For visual simplicity, I like to think of the essential differentiators in the form of boxes that you should consider being able to speak to (e.g. check off your list) when interviewing for a role or even trying to attain an interview. These can include:

Clinical excellence : this could be in the form of academic excellence if you are a new graduate, experience in that therapeutic area as a fellow, or clinical expertise in a given therapeutic area.

: this could be in the form of academic excellence if you are a new graduate, experience in that therapeutic area as a fellow, or clinical expertise in a given therapeutic area. Research experience : this can come in the form of publications, abstracts, bench work, or clinical trial experience as a clinician or as an employee of a CRO, etc..

: this can come in the form of publications, abstracts, bench work, or clinical trial experience as a clinician or as an employee of a CRO, etc.. Community involvement : this can include involvement in specific relevant societies (whether they be medical affairs related or therapeutically aligned), leadership positions, or volunteer work related to the disease you care about (e.g. advocacy, foundations, etc.). This can also refer to having relevant relationships within the community that will benefit you in the MSL role or your professional growth individually.

: this can include involvement in specific relevant societies (whether they be medical affairs related or therapeutically aligned), leadership positions, or volunteer work related to the disease you care about (e.g. advocacy, foundations, etc.). This can also refer to having relevant relationships within the community that will benefit you in the MSL role or your professional growth individually. Industry experience : this is the most challenging hurdle for most. Most do not have industry experience and are eager for it. If you do not have any industry or industry-related experience, is there anyway you can gain it before becoming an MSL or a full-time employee in industry? Could you do contracting work? Could you gain experience with a company that works to support pharmaceutical companies? Could you do an internship? Could you set up meetings (virtual or otherwise) with people that work in these industries that could later lead you to gaining one of these opportunities? Would you be willing to start in another pharmaceutical industry job that would serve as a stepping stone to becoming an MSL? I am not suggesting you absolutely need industry experience, but for many hiring managers, it will be a make or break differentiator.

: this is the most challenging hurdle for most. Most do not have industry experience and are eager for it. If you do not have any industry or industry-related experience, is there anyway you can gain it before becoming an MSL or a full-time employee in industry? Could you do contracting work? Could you gain experience with a company that works to support pharmaceutical companies? Could you do an internship? Could you set up meetings (virtual or otherwise) with people that work in these industries that could later lead you to gaining one of these opportunities? Would you be willing to start in another pharmaceutical industry job that would serve as a stepping stone to becoming an MSL? I am not suggesting you absolutely need industry experience, but for many hiring managers, it will be a make or break differentiator. Character: I love the book The Speed of Trust. It is something we read as a team at Merck and I got a lot out of that experience of both reading it and discussing the implications. Trust is built based on both your competence and your character. The four items described above are by and large focused on competence. Character is referring to not just what you do, but how you do it. It describes the basis of your personality, your work ethic, your ability to support and/or lead a team, and the way you show up in life. Character can and will be demonstrated with every interaction you have in pursuing your goal of becoming an MSL, and if you consistently demonstrate your strong character, you will begin to generate a reputation that enables others to feel confident in recommending you for opportunities.

How can I break into the MSL role?

Before answering this question, I would suggest you answer a couple questions you pose to yourself: Are you willing to move? What skills do you currently have that you need for the job you want? Are there ways that you can gain more experiences now to make yourself a more viable candidate in the future? Are you willing to take another non-MSL position within a pharmaceutical company or consulting company/vendor in order to eventually progress to the MSL role? There are certainly more questions to be asked, but this is may be a good start to be clear on what you are willing to do upfront.

How to break into the field differs quite significantly if you are a student vs. a full time employee, and what kind of FTE you are. There are two main routes of entry, but again, there are many more possibilities. The two main routes are first, being a clinical expert in a specialty (e.g. oncology, neuroscience, etc.) and moving from your practice as a clinician/researcher into pharma. Similarly, sometimes people start in managed care and then move into a Managed Markets MSL role, leveraging their experience from the managed care world. The second is going straight from school to a pharmaceutical industry fellowship. Gaining industry experience and departmental training allows you to demonstrate your capabilities to the future employer.

You can look on any LinkedIn posting for an MSL position and get an idea of the responsibilities and criteria required for the role, so I’m not going to belabor that information here. What I think is most important are the following. Know what the MSL role is inside and out. Even if you haven’t done the job before, have a level of understanding that parallels someone doing the job. This can be achieved through a combination of taking part in Med Affairs professional societies, discussions with MSLs, gaining additional work experience at a pharmaceutical company and shadowing MSLs, reading the job descriptions online, etc.. The last thing an employer wants to see in an interview is a lack of understanding of the position you are applying for. I would imagine your viability as a candidate would be lost at that point. If you have an understanding of how MSLs support the larger Med Affairs organization and the company as a whole, your credibility increases. Be crystal clear in explaining what experiences you have that fit the needs of the role and how your unique experiences will improve the strength of the group. If you are struggling to answer this question, you may need to consider gaining more experience before applying for this job. Do your research on the company and the product (current and pipeline) prior to reaching out to MSLs or Hiring Managers associated with the role you are looking to apply to. It demonstrates genuine interest, ability to quickly learn and communicate your knowledge to another person (aka your primary function as an MSL), and lastly will help you ask more specific questions that will help you decide if you are truly interested in this position. Furthermore, the most important answers you can give are the why behind everything. Why you want to leave your current role, why you chose your prior employment settings, why now, why this company and why this position.

Relationship building is extremely challenging when you are starting at square one and I empathize with you. However, I do believe that if you have done the above, the times when you do reach out to an MSL or HM prior to submitting an application, will be more fruitful. Generic questions and generic introductions are, by nature, somewhat boring and forgettable. Someone that sends a LinkedIn message or email that succinctly states your intent, your applicable experience and why you are interested in this specific opportunity will be more memorable, more credible, and more likely to have a shot at a phone call.

What do you like about being an MSL?

A few aspects of the MSL position that just light me up include my sense of fulfillment, my impact and my autonomy. There is a very specific reason a company hires an MSL: to build relationships with the healthcare community so that providers can make informed decisions based on the data that you share with them. If you continue to think of this as the core of your purpose and form the basis of your activities around this personal mission statement, you will likely feel very fulfilled as you continue to succeed in taking actions that serve this purpose. I enjoy being on the cutting edge of science within my therapeutic area and speaking directly to some of the most influential thought leaders in the space. I enjoy knowing that the data that I share with a physician may ultimately impact my figurative neighbor (i.e. a patient in my community) and that the thoughts they share with me may ultimately impact the choices made by the company. This gives me a great sense of purpose and meaning as a professional.

I enjoy that when I wake up in the morning, I get to decide what I do that day and that every day is a little or a lot different than the previous. Of course, all my activities are based on the needs of the team and my responsibilities, but the way in which I do my work is primarily my decision. When I choose to email someone for a meeting, choose to read an article, choose to plan my conference schedule, etc., is in large part driven by me. This is why it is vitally important for an MSL to be self-driven. Granted, you have a manager to guide you, but by and large, the way that you use your time and talent is decided by you. I feel I have the opportunity to express my creativity through this role, which I might suggest is fairly unique and rare opportunity.

What is the most challenging aspect of being an MSL?

When you have done everything you can think of and still aren’t able to successfully meet with a key provider. For example, you finally find their email address and you get no response. You call the office and the office staff say they’ll call you back and never do. You see them at a conference and say hello and they say “Sure, email me, we can meet”, but then ultimately they never get back to you, and this carries on for months or years. That is extremely frustrating and can feel like rejection. Is this rejection? Yes. Is it a failure? No. A failure is not trying. In this scenario, you either a) look for alternative pathways (e.g. get others in your company involved, drop by the office without an appointment, ask other MSLs for help, etc.) or b) learn when to let it lie. Sometimes there is value in taking a pause. Wait some time to reach back out. There could be reasons not relating to your or your company that are leading this person to ignore you. Or, perhaps this person simply has no desire to have a relationship with an industry professional and in that case, we must have the grace to respect that decision.

Can you share some best practices in finding MSL opportunities?

I believe that even a small network can be extremely powerful if utilized appropriately. As you are searching for your next opportunity, tap on the shoulders of people you already know. For example, I have people reach out to me looking for various positions within the company I work for. If we have a relationship and they are an excellent candidate, I’d be their greatest advocate. For those that I know less well, I’d be happy to connect them to the appropriate people to further the conversation. However, if I don’t know someone hardly at all who is asking for a referral, I use my discretion in choosing to what extent I recommend them.

I believe that it is more meaningful to make relationships with people when you don’t need to (e.g. when you’re not asking for something). This applies nicely to recruiters too. Making relationships with recruiters prior to when you need a job is preferable to when you do. I would highly suggest that you partner with several recruiters and also ask trusted friends and colleagues which recruiters they suggest, as it may be advantageous for you to work with more successful/recommended recruiters.

LinkedIn has been a phenomenal resource for me to find career opportunities. I strongly recommend that if you email or message someone about job opportunities at their company, you take a moment to look on LinkedIn as to if any are currently posted and if so, refer to that specific posting in your message. There are multiple Medical Affairs related societies that post job opportunities to their websites. Do a little digging to find them and learn more about what these associations offer.

Any advice for making the transition to an MSL role from a fellowship position?

As you may know, the number of fellowship opportunities has steadily grown in the last several years and some fellowships offer as many as forty slots. Obviously, not all of those fellows will be able to stay on with the company given that this supply will likely exceed demand of FTE positions. I think this is important for fellowship candidates to consider prior to selecting a fellowship. I was fortunate to have a fellowship class of seven total, which increased all of our chances of being brought on full time substantially. I also believe that if you have interest in becoming an MSL right after fellowship, having an MSL/Med Affairs fellowship really does help (that may be a bit of a duh statement). However, I do applaud people who gain experience in another functional area and are able to gain Med Affairs experience during their fellowship and then be able to relate that experience to why they are applying for an MSL role. It is so crucial in those cases to be able to explain the why behind your decision.

It is true that often times companies are more likely to hire someone if they have experience in that therapeutic area, but of course that is not always the case. I transitioned from a diabetes focused fellowship to a rheumatology/gastroenterology MSL position and then from that position to an HIV role. Point being: it can be done. Following your fellowship, if you chose to or are unable to continue on with your fellowship-hosting company, look for opportunities highly related to your therapeutic area of experience. If you are highly interested in transitioning out of your therapeutic area, then prove that you are able to quickly transition into this field by taking it upon yourself to learn about the drug, the company, the pipeline, the competitive landscape and the key players. If you demonstrate an admirable effort of being on your way to becoming an expert in this space, I think you will be much more highly considered. Again, this is something I would suggest doing prior to reaching out to influential decision makers of your employment status. If you have decided psoriasis is your area of interest and you’d like a job in that space, start doing the work now.

How would someone transition from being an internal medical information specialist to a field MSL role?

I think for those without industry experience, pursuing a job in Med Info can be a great stepping stone. I don’t have personal experience in this but I have seen it done before. Having disease state expertise is highly valuable and is often one of the major criterion hiring managers are looking for from an MSL. What I might argue is that it may serve you best to try to get Med Info experience in the company that you want to be an MSL for, as they will have had several years to get to know you, your strengths, your capabilities, etc. before transitioning in the field. If not that company, than a company that specializes in the same disease state as yours would likely be easiest.

As a first time MSL, should I try to start with a small or large company?

There are always exceptions to any rule, so I’m not suggesting there is only one choice. However, often times larger companies have more capital to be able to invest in the resources needed to train new MSLs. Conversely, a small company may not have such capabilities. In a newer start-up company, they likely do not have the capacity to train someone about the disease state nor job and thus, they are more likely to try to hire someone with job experience and/or disease state expertise. From what I’ve observed, it is just far less likely for a start up company to hire a person without MSL experience. However, that may not be the case if you are already considered a leader or expert in the disease state. I think you are more likely to be made an exception in that case. An alternative option to both of these is seeking employment as a contract MSL. That could give you experience with either sized company which you could thereafter leverage for a full time opportunity.

Can you tell me about your internship experiences with Merck and the FDA? Were these useful in preparing you for an MSL career, and how did you go about securing the internship roles?

Any experience you can gain with an entity that either is or works closely with pharmaceutical companies can only benefit you in securing an industry profession. Although the way in which I secured an internship was fairly unique, it has some teachable tidbits that can be translated to any internship position. First, do your homework on opportunities. Use google to it’s maximal capacity. Make an effort to find out through research and dialogue. Once you’ve gone through this information gathering phase, be able to answer similar questions to why you want to be an MSL (see previous paragraphs), but instead be able to answer why you want to be an intern, what capabilities you have that match this opportunity and why you want to specifically intern with this company. Once you’ve answered that to yourself, reach out on LinkedIn to people involved in pharmaceutical internship programs or perhaps even fellows or employees of the company who may know who is closely involved in the internship program.

Second, create opportunities for yourself. As I mentioned previously, there was no Merck Med Affairs Internship when I asked for an opportunity. I had never heard of anyone creating a one month internship at the FDA following a rotation. Did that stop me? Absolutely not. Being an MSL involves a significant amount of ingenuity, creativity and self-starting. Why not create an opportunity for yourself that demonstrates those characteristics early on in your career? Tap on all doors, whether that involves expressing your interests to your peers, your professors, your social media community, or perhaps companies that work with pharmaceutical companies but are not themselves pharma companies (e.g. companies that specialize in medical marketing, medical writing, consultants, managed markets, etc.). Recognize what your paradigm has been for finding opportunities, then smash that paradigm and make it bigger.

To answer the question about how these roles were attained; I literally and simply, asked. I expressed my interest, I expressed my long term intent, I demonstrated my capabilities and dedication to put in the work, and I was fortunately rewarded. Sometime things don’t work out, and it may have nothing to do with you and your talents. It does involve some level of skill and some level of luck. During my FDA internship/rotation, my intention was to get involved in meaningful work, gain as many experiences as I could during my time in DC, and have engaging conversations with FDA professionals. During my rotation with the Office of Medical Policy, I was able to work on the Guidance for Industry on the Instructions For Use portion of a pharmaceutical label. While I was with the Clinical Outcomes Assessment team for my internship, I was able to engage in NDA Regulatory Briefings, IND Reviews, PRO Consortium and Advisory Committee Meetings as well as support research of COA Instruments for Quality of Life Assessments in pediatric obesity (FYI: I picked obesity because of my plans to go to Novo Nordisk which speicalizes in the disease). I met with someone new usually once a day based on emails I sent requesting a lunch meeting or staying after a presentation to introduce myself to the speaker and talk. I also went to a number of meetings outside of my division to gain experiences, learn, as well as meet new people that I still, for some, keep in touch with to this day. This is a lot of detail that may not have any meaning to you, but this is all to say that during my experience at the FDA I tried to gain as much insight I could from either people or experiences to afford me further understanding for when I became an industry professional.

During my experience at Merck, these three intentions I mentioned about approaching my FDA experiences were similarly true. Making such strong relationships with other MSLs and Med Affairs professionals was a leading reason why I chose to come back as an MSL following my fellowship. Similarly to my FDA experience, I gained broad experience. All in all, as an intern you can have an impact through the projects you support, however I believe the expectations on you are fairly low in terms of your productivity. The opportunity is given to you more fundamentally to allow you to learn, to demonstrate your work persona (e.g. do you create opportunities or do you wait for them to be given, etc.) and to gain insight into a number of different professions and professionals you would not have otherwise known. I was able to work with the field MSL team, field managed markets MSL team, learn about resource generation, work with patient advocacy, learn about investigator initiated trial processes, patient education, and the list goes on. This is all to say that having this broad experience helped me understand how the Field Med Affairs team played a role in supporting the larger Med Affairs function. Once you have an understanding of what value your organization creates for the rest of the company, you can speak to that more clearly in interviews as well as be more intentional with your actions within your role. When you know why you are doing something, you are likely more likely to feel compelled to do it and do it well.

Thank you so much for reading this article. If you loved it, liked it, thought it was somewhere in between or down right disagree, I would highly value your feedback. I hope this can help the many aspiring MSLs get clarity on the job itself and empower you to be successful in your endeavors.

Keely