Medical Rep Job Description

Medical representatives are employed by pharmaceutical companies to promote the company's products within the healthcare sector. This normally means distributing product information to doctors, nurses and medical technicians in both hospitals and general practices. The hope is that this will result in doctors prescribing the company's drugs in favor of their competitors.

Description

• Medical representatives are normally given a specific product to promote in a given geography. Reps will have to organize meetings with doctors where they describe their product. Given that doctors have little free time these meetings are often brief giving the rep little time in which to describe their product's benefits. There may also be times when reps organize workshops and events for members of the health industry where they can market their new products to a greater audience.

Hours

• The hours of a medical representative are flexible as they organize their own meetings with doctors. Priority is normally given to those doctors who prescribe the most drugs. Most meetings take place either in the morning, lunchtime or at the end of the working day. Much of the day might be spent traveling from one doctor to another.

Qualifications

• To become a medical representative you should ideally have a university degree, preferably in science. However, employers are increasingly taking on graduates from a variety of university disciplines. Getting a foot in the door is also possible for those who don't have a degree, but do have a high school diploma and sales experience or a background in the healthcare sector.

Qualities

• The most essential qualities needed to be a medical representative are good interpersonal skills and the ability to create and build solid relationships with doctors and physicians. Excellent communication skills are also highly desired as reps are expected to be able to persuade doctors to their way of thinking. Patience and self motivation are also needed, as reps will have to deal with rejection time and time again. Doctors are busy and will often refuse to see reps due to time constraints.

Salaries

• According to the Bureau of Labor, in 2004 the average salary for medical representatives was $60,130 per annum in the US. In the UK, Prospects reported that the average salary for a rep with 3 to 5 year's experience was £25,000 - £35,000 in 2008. Reps also receive commissions which make up between 10 percent to 20 percent of their total earnings. Other perks of the job include company cars, travel expenses, health insurance and company credit cards.