pharmaceutical sales rep turned doctor

[kah145]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

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[Non-TradTulsa]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

In my opinion, absolutely not (you asked!). Think of yourself as an applicant with a business background and go from there. You need your pre-med courses, good grades, and a good MCAT as well as volunteer/shadowing experience. While I think having been a pharmaceutical rep and having been close to physician's offices might help justify your wanting to make a career change to medicine - I wouldn't take it further than that. "Pharm-free" is becoming a very large movement in medical education right now - so, while being a pharm rep isn't going to kill your app - it's been done before - don't assume you'll walk into interviews with instant credibility - you won't. I think if you got your fingernails dirty volunteering in an ER, you'd have a much better app.

 

[postbacker]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

You have to be kidding...NFW!

Was this a serious question?

 

[Nasrudin]

That's kind of like a pimp wanting to be a ho, and then asking if pimping could be considered a public service.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

That's kind of like a pimp wanting to be a ho, and then asking if pimping could be considered a public service.

Mine was more polite... but, I'll admit, yours is shorter...

 

[Bluemirage]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

I worked for Pfizer and then J&J for 4 years as a senior pharmaceutical rep. As someone who has successfully gained multiple acceptance offers, I can assure you that my career was regarded as a health-related profession and my day-to-day experiences did count as valuable medical exposure. I believe that the experiences that I have gained in my work gave me alot more substance in my answers to interview questions than applicants that have not worked in the medical industry. However, that being said, you still need to have the MCAT/GPA numbers like your fellow applicants. Your work is not counted as volunteering (but your preceptorships that your company has paid for will count as shadowing). With all of your physician relationships, it should be very easy to get your volunteering and shadowing hours in. Best of luck!

 

[Nasrudin]

I worked for Pfizer and then J&J for 4 years as a senior pharmaceutical rep. As someone who has successfully gained multiple acceptance offers, I can assure you that my career was regarded as a health-related profession and my day-to-day experiences did count as valuable medical exposure. I believe that the experiences that I have gained in my work gave me alot more substance in my answers to interview questions than applicants that have not worked in the medical industry. However, that being said, you still need to have the MCAT/GPA numbers like your fellow applicants. Your work is not counted as volunteering (but your preceptorships that your company has paid for will count as shadowing). With all of your physician relationships, it should be very easy to get your volunteering and shadowing hours in. Best of luck!

As a professional specializing in corrupting the fine lines I would not expect you to have a problem with conflicts of interests involving your conflicts of interest. Working both sides will not only prove lucrative but you will likely be on the fast track for success as other professionals on the take want the assuaging relief of your company. Unless your born-again hard under the oath--of course, who knows, this is an anonymous forum, I am only assessing your response and your CV.

 

[aero]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

I work for a medical device manufacturer as an engineer and the experience worked for me. I spent a total of 8 hours shadowing outside of my work interactions. The interviews I had were more along the lines of simple questions to make sure that I had a realistic view of medicine which my interactions with doctors, patients, and the healthcare system allowed.

Your rep experience will certainly allow you to speak about problems and opportunities in healthcare so it will be an asset. A lot of our sales reps started in pharma and transferred over once they gained experience so all pharma reps are not necessarily evil - it's a stepping stone...

 

[Scottish Chap]

anybody here from pharma sales industry wanting to become a doctor?

I always wondered if med schools think of pharmaceutical sales experience as a health-related profession. They do work with doctors selling medicine all the time and may have some good contacts with the doctors. Could this substitute for the volunteer/shadowing experience?

I didn't work in pharma, but I did work in a clinical discipline for two years and, as such, I felt that there was little point in doing some token shadowing experience when I knew what I was getting myself into. I got into med school on my first try. I did, however, volunteer in several areas in the ten years preceding medical school - but only because I was interested. I strongly disagree with padding one's CV just because it's expected. That seems wrong to me. I've continued this practice while in medical school over the last two years (I volunteer for things I feel I can uniquely contribute to and I actively avoid doing all of the voluntary activities touted by faculty if they mention "Dean's letter" in the same sentence).

GPA and MCAT are critical for gaining entry into medical school, and health care experience or exposure is also critical, but I think there are many ways that this can be demonstrated on paper. Bottom line: if you do the expected voluntary activity, you will not have to worry about this being an issue post-application. Good luck! 😉