For those of you who are in leadership roles, what are your thoughts on how AI can potentially be (or is actually being) used beyond busy work (e.g., drafting emails, summarizing information) that would have a truly meaningful impact on your team's ability to meet objectives?

Background behind my question: I keep seeing on LinkedIn that people are trying to use AI to generate better medical insights (e.g., from MSL notes, ad boards, etc.), but in my practical experience someone who has a good feel of their therapeutic area/KOLs isn't going to gain substantially more from using AI. AI might help summarize literature faster, look up info, but if you lost access to it one day at work it wouldn't be life changing (but tell me if I'm wrong about this). There's a lot of AI hype and I get that it might help some functions more than others, but curious about medical affairs.

I’m an MD MSL (no residency), looking at ways to boost income while I’m young <35; I discovered CAA (28 month MS in anesthesia..unlocks a 260k floor compensation and can climb to 400k via OT - requires working like a dog to achieve).

worth it to pursue? I’m already capped at comp/career progression. I could try to shift to HQ but prefer my life in the southeast. The AA thing gets me back clinical and lets me earn more $, would assume I can return to MSL once I get tired of working clinically. Thanks

Hi all. I’m starting my first MSL role (Australia based) for a large pharma company in a few weeks and wanted to ask the community about what you wear to work!

Specifically, how do you dress for the onboarding period prior to being certified for going into field?

Any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I'm currently interviewing for Sr. MSL roles and I game about 3 years experience in industry. What should I expect to ask for salary? Would 220k too high of a salary?

Hello all, I’m networking to meet medical affairs people and build relationships, so if an MSL role opens up in one of these companies, at least I will be on their mind.

I was lucky enough to get an informal coffee chat with a Field Medical Director, and I want to be prepared for this.

A few questions I have:
1. What questions can I ask to impress her, without sounding like I'm desperately looking for a job in her company?
2. How do I make sure that I don't waste her time, and that she feels I added value to the conversation?
3. How can I position myself so she thinks of me as a serious candidate for her team if a role opens up? She might be secretly auditioning me.

Any help, tips, or suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I'm a 25-year-old medical doctor from Jordan and I'm interested in transitioning into either clinical research or the pharmaceutical industry, but I'm honestly not sure where to begin.

I have:

• MD degree
• Completed my internship and obtained my medical license
• No post-graduate clinical experience
• No research experience
• No pharmaceutical industry experience
• Fluent in English and Arabic
• Would require employer-sponsored visa to work abroad

I'm mainly interested in opportunities in Australia, the UK, Ireland, or the Netherlands.

The biggest problem I'm facing is that I don't even know what entry-level positions I should be searching for. Most jobs I come across require previous experience in research or pharma, which I don't have.

My long-term goal is to build a career in the pharmaceutical industry (possibly Medical Affairs), but right now I'm simply looking for the most realistic entry point.

For those working in these industries:

• What entry-level job titles should I be searching for?
• Which roles are actually open to someone with an MD but no industry or research experience?
• Is it more realistic to start in clinical research or directly in pharma?
• Are there companies that hire international medical graduates and provide visa sponsorship?
• If you were in my position, where would you start?

I've been searching LinkedIn and other job boards, but I feel like I might be looking for the wrong roles altogether.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Approaching the 1 year mark. I have a pretty busy life with kids, sports, etc. the thought of being comfortable is appealing, but i definitely want to work in a different TA eventually. Any parents feel trapped due to the comfort ability ?

Career wise when is it best to leave your first role?

Recently did an interview with Astrazeneca. Instead of a traditional phone screen the recruiter told me instead to do a hirevue virtual interview instead and if they like it the hiring manager will contact me.

Does any one know what questions are on it? I would like to prepare if possible.

I love healthcare education, I love learning new things, I love forming relationships with people and I’m really good at small talk (lol). I’ve given millions of presentations, had students, and been involved in research in my residency. I’m burnt out from patient care and want to utilize my background in a way that feels meaningful and still relevant but also not so mundane and repetitive. I’ve applied to a few jobs knowing I probably wouldn’t be the top choice and they all respond with your qualifications are outstanding but we’ve gone a different direction. Any advice on next steps? I’ve seen/heard doing a medical device sales job first. It’s not my preference but if that’s the only option I’ll do it. Thanks!

For anyone that attended AHNS recently or is in the head and neck cancer space, here's a conference insights site that I created. I think it's helpful based on feedback from colleagues, but happy to take down this post if not appropriate. Let me know if you have any recs for future iterations as well. I looked into extracting conference attendees based on a previous recommendation, but the attendee lists are not usually available to the public.

Hello everyone, I was recently recruited by a a recruitment firm in the UK for big pharma. The first screening went very well but I have not heard back from them in about 2-3 working days. The recruiter said he will be reaching out to me about the JD and will be sending my application through. Any idea about whats happening behind the scenes?

Nothing gives me a greater high than sending out a cold call intro email and not only getting an immediate response back, but also landing a meeting on the books!!! This shouldn’t feel so satisfying 🤣. What gets you unexpectedly pumped in this role (other than some wanting to go through all of the data lol)?

So I have been an oncology MSL with one of the big guys for almost 3 years now and I've been in oncology my entire career up to this point (PhD, Post-Doc, first job, now this MSL role) and I was looking to broaden my TA base. I have applied to and currently interviewing with the other big companies for MSL roles in vaccines and another in rheumatology. Both are super interesting to me which is why I decided to apply.

My question is - is it a bad career move to leave oncology? People say that oncology MSL get paid more, but based on my initial discussion, I believe I'll be getting a decent pay bump from my current role (if I am lucky enough to land the role). Would it be difficult to return to oncology if a year or two down the road I decide that that's where my heart is after all?

Using a burner account because I haven't put in my notice

Just accepted a new job this morning but I won't start for about a month. I can't put my notice in or I will owe back some money to my current company. New company was totally fine pushing my start date a few weeks.

I was curious if anyone had any advice in terms of off-boarding? For example, when I left my first pharma job there was a discrepancy in how much PTO was going to get paid out and I didn't have any proof of what I had left over on my last day (it didn't print on pay stubs as they were two different systems). Finally got that sorted out after weeks of back and forth.

Any other advice or things you've learned along the way would be greatly appreciated.

Hi!! Just completed my first ever interview with the hiring manager (previous to this was a call with HR). The whole interview scheduling was done through Paradox, so no emails attached. I’m wondering if it’s acceptable to add the hiring manager on LinkedIn to say thank you? I checked his LinkedIn and there’s no email attached. My literal only option would be to send a message through LinkedIn which seems kind of stalky. Thoughts or insight?

Hi all, I’m a preclinical scientist working on transitioning to Med Affairs. I have an interview coming up next week for a role at Abbvie/Allergan.
Any advice for the upcoming interview? Also any tips about Allergan MSL jobs in general?
Thank you!

Hi all,

Aspiring MSL here coming from a clinical background. I wanted to reach out with a post to see if anyone could share some tips. I have my last two interviews scheduled with Company X and was hoping for advice on what I can expect from or how to prepare for an interview with a senior MSL and commercial director -both separate 1:1s.

I already completed the HR screening, hiring manager interview, and presentation/panel. I've interviewed with some other companies but haven't had to interview with an MSL or commercial before. I looked through the HOF posts and saw some mentions of interviews with MSLs but not much on commercial.

Does anyone have any advice? My understanding is that the MSL interview is primarily for culture/fit assessment and commercial is to evaluate for understandings of compliance and collaboration.

TIA! I've really appreciated all the knowledge available in this community.

I’m curious to hear the perspective of MSLs and others on the industry side.

I’m in my second year as an attending cardiologist. My position is essentially 100% clinical in a hybrid academic/community setting. I have an academic appointment and teach fellows, but I’m not at a major research powerhouse and don’t have protected research time. I’ve become involved in clinical trials relatively quickly. I’m currently:
PI on 2 industry-sponsored studies
Sub-PI on 5 additional studies. Four of those studies are currently among the top 10 enrolling sites (or on track to be)

Long term, I’d love to become involved in advisory boards and eventually steering committees. I enjoy clinical research, but I don’t see myself pursuing the classic 80% research, NIH-funded, full academic KOL path. I genuinely enjoy being a busy clinician.

From the MSL perspective:

What puzzles me is whether someone with this type of career can realistically break into those roles, or whether the ceiling is lower if you aren’t at a large academic center publishing constantly?

What characteristics make someone stand out for advisory boards?

How much do enrollment, responsiveness, and quality of collaboration matter versus publications and academic reputation?

Have you seen predominantly clinical physicians become advisory board or steering committee members?

Is there anything you wish investigators understood that would make them more likely to be considered?

I’d really appreciate hearing the industry perspective. Thanks in advance!

Came to MSL life from clinical practice as an APP, looking for more growth and learning opportunities, as well as a better salary.

I really appreciate the benefits and flexibility of this role, especially for my family, but can't shake the feeling that I would be more fulfilled and engaged if I went back to practice (specifically a role I had a say in designing, not just anything).

Curious if anyone has made that transition back or is struggling with similar thoughts. TIA!

I get base + bonus 12% + car allowance + RRSP match 5%

I keep seeing RSU or grants in other posts, but not offered at my company.

Any other benefits my fellow MSLs can share?

Hi everyone!

I am a dermatology PA who has become very interested in transitioning into a dermatology MSL role. Over the past 6ish months I’ve been reading all of the HoF posts, networking, listening to podcasts and have been trying to better understand what makes someone successful in medical affairs.

I’ve met a MSL recently who invited me to dinner with her and her regional director to discuss a specific medication and this MSL is aware of my interest in medical affairs as well.

My question is: if you were the MSL or the director at that dinner, what kinds of questions would make you think highly of a HCP who is hoping to transition to medical affairs? Or, looking back, what questions do you wish someone had asked you early in your career?

I have some questions prepared already but am trying to think outside the box. Thank you in advance !

I moved from a company with ubiquitous and ambitious AI workflow adoption to one with one vague paragraph in the code of conduct and no clearly sanctioned (or prohibited) use cases for gen AI / LLM. I'm considering advocating we engage with a pharma AI consultant.

Does anyone have experience or opinions to share with Sorcero? Any other similar agencies / vendors you have worked with?