You want a career...maybe drug rep (not.)

[MNnaloxone]

Due to the nature of this month's rotation, in which I hang out in a cubicle at a smaller drug company, I was exposed to a day of training for new drug reps today.

First, I don't believe any of these guys have anything past a BS. And from speaking to the "trainers" in the program, they tend to shy away from PharmDs. I didn't get a decent idea why, but it was pointed out to me that the company was currently recruiting a Medical Liason, and a PharmD would be perfect for that...

I guess I'm just not a sales guy. Nothing I learned really stunned me, it was just different to see what happens to the other guy across the counter giving you the free pens. Nothing devious and underhanded, just...I dunno. Too much pressure for me, I guess. It seemed like the path was: here's everything you need to know about condition X in 30 pages. Here's a study to discuss with them if they do Y. If you run out of bullets with this study, call Professional Services, and they'll bail you out.

Too bad I'm going to miss "How to deal with a bad attitude MD" tomorrow...that would be neat.

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[MALA]

Hi,
Yes you are right on -I work for a pharmaceutical company and the reps for the most part don't have any science background, it's just sell-sell -sell and it is very competitive to get one of those positions too. The training is horrible, they fly the training class out to some remote location for 6 weeks and in that time they cram 7 years of med school into 6 weeks. IT is alot of pressure too, you really have to be sales-oriented because you have quotas you need to make. On the other hand, 20 something years back, my cousin is a biology major and she was working in the lab, and they do love people that have science and can sell. My cousin has both and is very successful, she started selling pharma, and is now involved in medical equipment, she's a VP in the N.E. and makes boo-coo bucks! So that's another alternative if the clinical side becomes boring.