I saw this thread and had to jump in. Long story short = My frist job out of college was a Drug Rep for Pfizer seling zithromax, glucotrol XL and viagra. I had no science background at the time as I graduated in psychology. I was one of the few male drug reps and the rest were very nice looking females. I did well at Pfizer and it was my first exposure to medicine but I hated being a lowly rep and most do. I often got "hey you seem like a good guy, why don't you get a real job?" Anyways, I left to pursue medical business consulting which led to more interest in medicine. Finally I went back to school to take my pre-med classes and take the MCAT. So here I am now at the young age of 34 in my M1 year. I think it will be great when I get that first pimping from a drug rep and just shut them down. So here are some weapons for you.
First, most of these reps are very insecure in general. They know that most docs and staff look at them as sample pushers who do not really know anything but a bunch of drug company propaganda. They are only trained in very shallow detail on the drugs / related pathology of the drugs they sell. Most are overly competitive and are taught to hate their competition. So next time a drug rep pimps you you can do a few things. You could ask any basic question just outside their scope and watch them panic to either BS or say "let me get back to you" They can get in lots of trouble for giving out information that is either incorrect or flat out false and they are trained to say "I am not sure but I can check on it and get back to you." Also if you hear them say anything that is slightly wrong or off a little and you correct them or even challenge them they will shut up fairly quickly as they know they are at the end of their knowledge rope and you have not even begun to display your knowledge. Most reps will shut down when questioned about science / facts that they know little about. Their knowledge base is very limited and it is very easy to get them off their game. Remeber they are trained to beleive that doctors are close to being gods and that they are the customer and they make the companies all the money, so docs need to be treated with reverance. Of course not all of the reps act accordingly but they do look up to the doctors with a bit of envy / repect.
Next question their career choice as you compare it to the people who give samples out at the grocery stores. try: "You seem like a rather bright, talented individual why did you settle to become a drug rep?" This will shut them down quickly also. They may get rude and say something about how they make good money etc blah, blah, blah. The fact is I knew very few reps who actually liked their job and we all knew we were a bit of a pain in the butt for most physicians and we really felt like we were on the outside of the real healthcare trying to get in but we were the kids who were not allowed to play.
Finally they hate losing business to another drug and will become very uncomfortable if you start talking about why you like the "other guy's" drug better than their drug. They are trained to push you and ask you why and give you counter points on why their drug is actually far superior, etc. The more you talk about why drug b is so much better than their drug the more angry they become. Every counter point they offer you can comeback with a "well that is not what I have seen in the real world" I like the outcomes much better with drug b." "my patientts do so much better on drug b." "compliance is better with drug b." By the end they will be so flustered they will think twice about pimping a med student or doc again.
I know there are a lot of well meaning and nice drug reps out there. I am just giving some amo for the ones who step out of bounds and start pimping the docs. I plan on using the drug reps that call on me for all kinds of things: golfing, free dinners, ski tickets, sports events, free lunches for me and staff, etc. but never any kind of medical knowledge.
I should probably update it again soon. I've been slack on recording lately also.
