How to Become a Medical Representative – Qualities, Skills and Responsibilities

Today, working as a medical representative is not only very profitable, but also prestigious. It is interesting that such a profession appeared in our country quite recently – just ten years ago.

See also: Work as a mystery shopper – working conditions, personal qualities and salary.

The content of the article:

Professional duties of a medical representative

The main reason why this profession has become widespread in Russia is the official ban on advertising of drugs that are dispensed with a doctor’s prescription.

So who is a medical representative and what are his responsibilities?

It is interesting that at one time Russians worked as a medical representative. with a wide variety of skills and specialties: doctors, teachers, builders, managers and actors. Only the largest and most successful Western companies adhered to full compliance with all the most stringent requirements.

However, business in Russia is developing, so now almost all medical representatives must have either pharmaceutical or medical education… They practically do not hire employees with biological, economic or other education.

• The main duties of a honey representative are to establish contacts with doctors, chief doctors, as well as heads of various departments of hospitals and medical institutions, pharmacies.
• The main purpose of the medical representative’s work is to persuade the doctor to prescribe exactly the drug that he is currently promoting.
• Working as a medical representative also means informing doctors and pharmacy staff about the advantages of the drug being promoted., in the form of comparative characteristics with the drugs of competitors, bringing real reviews of experts who enjoy authority in the medical field.

The medical representative must at all times update your knowledge base, participate in various symposia, exhibitions, conferences, meet and take master classes from experts. Those employees who are involved in the promotion of OTC drugs should also organize various promotions in pharmacies and carry out merchandising.

What education is needed and what opportunities does the career of a medical representative provide

Many citizens don’t know is this profession worthy or not – a medical representative, and does she need to study at a university?

As a rule, most of the companies require specialized medical or pharmacological education… For doctors, even without work experience, there is an opportunity to find a job as a medical representative with a good salary…

The main skills that you need to have in order to get this specialty:

• be able to effectively promote products;
• be able to build partnerships with different people;
• be able to negotiate;
• master the technique of effective presentations;
• manage stress, plan your work;
• good at owning a PC;
• know the medical field.

To a greater extent, preference is given to candidates who have received education in the leading universities of the country. Almost all pharmaceutical companies at the beginning of work conduct training, as well as the necessary trainings to develop certain qualities.

See also: How to successfully pass a job interview and get the desired position.

Personal qualities of a medical representative and work skills

What personal qualities should a honey representative of a leading company have?

• It is preferable for the candidate to have work experience in the relevant field, as well as the presence of its own customer base.
• More than five years of experience speaks of the candidate as a reliable, responsible person, interested in a common cause and in the company for which he works.
• Medical representative of the company must have good looks, self-confidence, excellent communication skills…
• In addition, he must be an optimist, and strives to become successful, to know all the techniques of effective sales.

• He must not only perfectly know everything about the promoted drug, but also be able to correctly convey it is up to pharmacists and doctors.
• The skills of the medical representative must be such that he can to interest clients, convince them to recommend this particular drug, be able to present all its advantages in a favorable light in comparison with competitors.
• It must be the kind of person who smart, erudite, he wants to trust and communicate with him on a variety of topics. After all, the promotion of medicines must be done very ethically, and not spontaneously. Therefore, the personal qualities of the medical representative must also be positive…

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a honey representative

Among the disadvantages of the work of a medical representative are the following:

• It’s hard to make a career. A representative who works in the region will have a hard time making a career. The point is the very structure of pharmaceutical firms. In large cities, each company has several teams of medical representatives, which are led by a couple of managers. Each group includes about thirty ordinary honey representatives. If an employee wants to make a career, then he will feel very strong competition from other interested persons, and in the future it will be quite difficult for him to work and grow in this company.
• Unfixed amount of income.
• The need to master a new profession – even with a medical education.
• The need to always be aware of events.
• Frequent business trips, work outside the office.
• Communication with a wide variety of people, the need to persuade, advertise.

Benefits of working as a medical representative:

• The ability to regulate the intensity of work yourself and determine its direction.
• Alternative source of income – can be combined with the main job.
• New perspectives in the profession.
• For sociable people – possibility of communication with a wide range of specialists is a definite plus.
• Quite good income – the average salary of a medical representative – within 30 thousand rubles, and to it – quarterly or monthly bonuses from sales.

See also: Business telephone etiquette – how to properly conduct a business conversation on the phone?

A successful medical representative from a small regional company will quickly be overbought for a more promising company with a high salary… It is for this reason that most of the honey representatives do not want to make a vertical career, for the sake of obtaining material well-being. And, if we talk about the wages received, then it competes with the income of regional managers.