MSLQ VOL 1-3 2003

@MSLQ – FROM THE FOUNDER

Jane Chin PhD.

Time flies, and already we are entering the fall season. When the MSL Quarterly was launched earlier this year, I had a clear vision of what I would like to present to medical science liaisons. However, it became clear very quickly that there is a concern of disclosure. As MSLs, we are confronted with issues that we may share only among selected colleagues – among those we most trust. The fear of identification and possible retaliation by corporate entities can be real. Some MSLs who originally wanted to contribute their experiences to this newsletter were quickly curbed by senior managers who preferred to err on the side of caution and keep information within.

The launch of this newsletter was not without challenges, and easily would not have happened without insistence, perhaps rebellion. My commercial affiliation immediately prevented any form of “marketing” or “advertising”, no matter how innocuous, to field-based medical programs in other companies. The growth of this newsletter has been sustained purely by non-compensated referrals – recruiters who have found this site invaluable for preparing MSL applicants, medical liaisons whose enthusiasm helped propel this project forward, and by prospective candidates whose desire to break into the profession reminded me that medical science liaisons are performing an important scientific service.

I appreciate contributions from consultants and recruiters who serve the industry, for they hold valuable insights into the dynamics of an organization that we at a microcosmic level may not gain. I am immensely grateful to MSL contributors who have written articles to share their experiences in every issue of the MSL Quarterly. It is not an exaggeration that these MSL contributors, including those who must choose to share anonymously, exhibit a certain level of courage. I hope in time, more MSLs can come forward to express their opinions and offer solutions, so that we can maintain (attain?) a high standard of professional excellence and integrity.

New Motherhood in the MSL Trenches

By Tracy Rogers, PharmD.

Frequent business travelers often escape to the airlines’ service lounges for a respite from airport noise, to get some work done or to catch up on the day’s news headlines. Not me, however. I amusingly spent the majority of my “lounge” time last year in bathrooms listening to the “shee-shee” of a double-electric breast pump.

As women clad in tailored business suits traipsed in and out, I hovered in the most inconspicuous corner I could find maneuvering plastic tubing, bags and breast shells, always wishing I had a third hand to hold up a blanket to conceal the awkward milk collection process.

Constantly staring at my watch or at the same page of a magazine for 20 minutes, my theory was that if I didn’t make eye contact and acted nonchalant these women wouldn’t notice my noisy milk assembly line. Along with motherhood there came a new definition of a successful business trip.

Success now also included quickly finding an obscure electrical outlet, pumping and packaging breast milk, cleaning up and making my next flight in the span of a one-hour layover. Despite the obvious challenges of nursing an infant and providing breast milk as a frequent business traveler, the rewards of working motherhood have been infinite.

My 4 years spent working as a Medical Science Liaison in the pharmaceutical industry have helped prepare me for a number of personal and professional challenges. I’m happy to say I’ve learned a number of life lessons along with the workings of the pharmaceutical industry.

With the birth of my daughter last year came a number of new questions. “What will I do for childcare?” “Will I be a good mother?” “How will I be able to handle a marriage, career and baby all at once?” These questions plagued me throughout my pregnancy and maternity leave.

When it came time to return to work, I was incredibly anxious and relieved at the same time. I couldn’t bear to leave my child with someone else, yet on the other hand, I desperately needed to speak to adults in a rational manner. My constant uttering of “Look at the cute baby!” and verses of “twinkle, twinkle little star” were turning my brain into mush.

So, after choosing a reputable day care center and shedding a few hundred tears of anguish (all while in the midst of nightly 2 a.m. baby feedings) I chose to return to work full-time. It has been quite an adventure, one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Aside from airport maneuvering, parenting and maintaining a career have certainly had its ups and downs. My personal life has become less flexible and there are certainly days when I’m exhausted from being pulled in different directions. To add to this challenge, my chosen profession of Medical Science Liaison comes with a price tag of spending precious time away from home and loved ones.

People often ask me “how do you do it?” My response is, “Not simple.” It takes strength to leave your loved ones and a clear vision of your goals for the future.

During busy times at work, I often remind myself that being an MSL provides well for my family, allows me more work scheduling flexibility than traditional Pharmacy careers, keeps my sense of curiosity satisfied and ultimately allows me to be a good role model for my daughter. How do I do it? I try to follow these simple life rules:

Keep your priorities in mind. Talk with your spouse to create a game plan for business trips. Although it may seem mundane, regularly discuss expectations regarding responsibilities for household chores and childcare responsibilities. A

s parents, you are a team and both members need to do their part. If the dishes sit dirty until after your child is in bed, who cares? Spending time with my child in the evenings is the greatest part of my day. Other tasks can wait.

Work hard but know your limits. Working from a home office can easily foster an “all work, no play” lifestyle if you allow it to. Although it is infinitely important to meet your work objectives and contribute to your team, you must also realize that time spent with your family is equally as important.

Strive to use your time wisely during the day. It is also important to use technology to your benefit. If a meeting can be done via teleconference or web conference, take advantage of this wonderful technology.

Spend some time recharging your batteries. Find a few minutes each day for yourself to do something you enjoy. Read a magazine or book, watch your favorite TV show, play a game, exercise, sleep an extra half-hour. It isn’t always easy, but treating yourself to some personal TLC helps keep you prepared for the stress of the daily grind.

Although not perfect, I feel my work-life balance has come a long way. It is true being a mother and a professional has at times brought me great stress. It has also brought me even greater joys.

I’m proud to say I’ve survived the first year-and-a-half of working motherhood and am looking forward to the changes and challenges I face in the future. Of course, I’ll always have fond memories of explaining the working parts of a breast pump to perplexed airport bag screeners.

Author information as of publication date: Tracy Rogers is a medical science liaison.

The Dark Side of Thought Leader Development

By Anonymous MSL.

“Dark Side” is an anonymous, MSL community-contributed column about less-than-stellar facets of the MSL profession.

What is a thought leader? There are a handful of “known” thought leaders within any industry. They like being thought leaders and want to be known (i.e. they have egos). They will always know far more about a product, a process, clinical/basic science in general (either my company’s or another’s). These thought leaders are helpful for competitive information that we can funnel back to the higher-ups. In most of these cases, you also have to temper their ego, particularly when they sit on advisory boards of various sorts.

There are local opinion leaders who may or may not want to get involved with particular products/industry, but who are on a need-to-know basis. The key with them is making sure they get current information and give them some information on future products. Support their various projects if needed, even if that just means a grand rounds program. It’s all about rapport.

The biggest problem I have faced when interacting with my thought leaders is when someone in the company has contacted them, typically about conducting a trial, and then drop the ball (no follow up) because there may be a problem with the trial. Typically the person in charge of the trial is outside the US, and the problem is not easily resolved. The development team may resent MSL involvement within the company. Then I inherit unhappy thought leaders.

I have learned thought leader development through trial and error. I was given the geography and a few opinion leaders who were known by the company and told to go have a good time. I was given some clinical reprints to review before hand. However, we are driven entirely by marketing and new product development departments who basically tell us what to say and what to reference.

I read far less today than I did when I started. I really feel like it doesn’t matter since I just need to deliver key points. We used to exchange new journal articles and have a journal club. Not needed anymore. I’m not exactly sure how the nature of our jobs in thought leader development has changed, or is changing. Maybe I’m starting to deliver marketing messages with selective scientific presentation instead of the other way around. I wonder if my other MSL colleagues across the industry are doing the same or feeling the same. Probably. MSLQ

Author information as of publication date: MSL Anonymous is a medical science liaison for a global pharmaceutical company.

Changing Lanes: Pamela K., Ph.D.

Changing Lanes is a quarterly column about transitioning into and out of the medical science liaison profession. This issue features Pamela K., Ph.D, who left academia to become a medical science liaison. Pamela now works for a pharmaceutical company.

Jane Chin: What were you last doing (i.e. your job/responsibility) before making the transition to the MSL profession?

Pamela K: I was an associate professor in a large urban medical school. I was also the director of neuropsychology clinical, research, and training program.

JC: What lead you to look at the MSL profession, and did you consider other industry professions before deciding on the MSL career?

PK: I had looked at positions in biotech. A headhunter called to inquire about my interest in an MSL position.

JC: Since you’re a newbie MSL, what challenges are you looking forward to? How do you plan to manage those challenges?

PK: Challenges include setting up a home office, relying on my own discipline to complete tasks, keeping up with voluminous reading material, and being my own secretary. I will try to tap into whatever organizational skills I learned as the director of a division to manage those challenges. I set a few hours aside each day to read. I keep up with a filing system. I also educate others about the role of an MSL. Most people assume I am a “drug rep”. I’m not yet sure how I’ll do this.

JC: There are many PhDs who are interested in becoming MSLs; can you give your peers some tips on preparing for the interview?

PK: Familiarize yourself with the drugs you will be working with, know the pharmacokinetics, and be enthusiastic.

JC: What about acing the actual interview?

PK: Assure them that you are by far the best candidate for the position. Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses.

JC: How do you increase the likelihood for a company/recruiter to consider your application?

PK: Have any already identified key opinion leaders contact someone in the company to introduce you. The fact that someone is willing to put their reputation on the line for you is critical.

JC: Have you spoken with other MSLs prior to your moving forward with the MSL application? Did speaking with other MSL(s) prove helpful in your decision to become an MSL? Did speaking with other MSL(s) help you prepare for the interview process?

PK: Although my talks with other MSL’s gave me a general idea of what the position entails, it was not until training that I really understood what an average week or month would be like.

Sixty-Five And Up: Pharma’s Fastest Growing Customer Base

By Faiz Kermani, Ph.D. and Pietro Bonacossa.

Medical and technical advances combined with changes in lifestyle have led to dramatic reductions in mortality rates over the past 50 years. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the life expectancy in many industrialized countries rose from around 40 years in the early 1950s to almost 62 by 1990 (1). A speech by the UK Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury, dramatically illustrated this point with the fact that a person born in the 21st century can now expect to live 30 years longer than someone born in the 19th century (2)

The increase in life expectancy coupled with a decreasing birth rate will place considerable pressure on governments and healthcare providers. For example, in Japan although its population will start to decline after 2006, the elderly population (aged 65 or above) will continue to increase up to 2050 (3). Governments are having to reassess how they allocate their healthcare spending given that on average, the over 65s require four times as much healthcare resources as younger people (4).

The challenge for the pharmaceutical industry

However, it is not only governments that will face challenges due to population ageing. Pharmaceutical companies must take account of the changes in population demographics when developing new drugs. As drug development times lie between the 10 and 12-year range, information on diseases of the elderly will need to be factored in to R&D decision-making.

Demographic and healthcare spending data confirm the importance of reaching seniors (65+) and their healthcare providers with effective marketing. The ageing marketplace still remains a tremendous growth opportunity for an industry seeking to offset losses from lagging late-stage product pipelines. For example, in the US, coronary heart disease accounts for 70-80% of deaths in men and women in adults over 65, and congestive heart failure (CHF), is the most common cause of hospitalization for the elderly (5).

Industry figures regarding drug pipelines show that the pharmaceutical industry has reacted to demographic changes. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), in 2002, 135 biopharmaceutical companies were developing 294 new treatments for such debilitating conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, and Parkinson’s disease (6).

Yet just because there will be large populations at risk from these types of diseases does not mean that the pharmaceutical industry will face an easy time in marketing its products as pricing is becoming a contentious public issue. It has been shown that US consumer spending for prescription drugs increases with age (7). In 1999, spending by the over 65s on prescription drugs was nearly double that of the average spent by all consumers (7). However, it is worth pointing out that the same report showed that compared to other daily expenses such as housing, transportation and food, prescription drugs represented a relatively small part of total consumer household spending (7).

Nevertheless many seniors have criticized the high prices that they pay for prescription drugs and are hoping that the government will help drive down costs. In a 2002 US pre-midterm election survey carried out by Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc., healthcare and drug benefits were considered the most important national issue for Americans 65 and older (8).

Ageism in Healthcare?

Part of the problem lies in the fact that seniors often feel discriminated against when it comes to health care benefits. According to a recent report released by the not-for-profit Alliance for Aging Research (AAR), “older people are often excluded from tests for drugs, less likely to receive preventive care, and deprived of professionals trained in their needs” (9). For instance, people older than 65 represent the highest suicide rate in the U.S. but rarely are diagnosed as being depressed. Due to their age, they are also often discouraged from participating in clinical trials even for treatments that they could benefit from. The irony of it is that seniors are often left out of clinical trials for drugs and medical treatments aimed at their age group. They also rarely receive preventative medical screenings.

According to the AAR report – which was presented on May 19th at a hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on Ageing – at the root of such substandard health care for seniors is the tendency of providers and patients alike to view many serious medical conditions in older people as simply a natural part of getting older. “That attitude results in providers missing out on millions of opportunities every year to prevent, treat and enhance the lives of people over 65”. (10)

Marketing Considerations

Marketers must determine where seniors will use the medication, and then find out who will select the product and where it will be dispensed. Most people over 65 receiving healthcare services are located in community care settings and not in hospitals or nursing homes. Effective marketing campaigns should target decision makers who initiate therapy in hospitals as well as those who prescribe medication in nursing homes, where therapy is often continued. Otherwise, a patient may be started on one agent in the hospital and switched to another upon admission to a nursing home, a loss to that product’s maker.

As populations age, governments will be under pressure to provide adequate healthcare services and to fund new drug treatments. However, equally, pharmaceutical companies will be under pressure to justify the prices they charge for novel medicines. There are several ways to implement a successful marketing strategy to the ageing market: identifying all the decision makers and how they influence care and prescribing; defining the needs of and appropriate messages for those key customers; closely analyzing the potential benefits of any product marketed to the older population and to the providers caring for them; understanding the level of healthcare necessary to this target population.

References

1. Kermani F. and McGuire S. (2002/2003). TransPharma, Volume 1, Issue 2, pp 34-37. http://www.chiltern.com/press/Articles/TP02Japan.pdf

2. Launch of Ageing Population Panel Report. June 13, 2000. Department of Trade and Industry.

3. Nagae T. (2003). Prediction of the Number of Hypertension Patients in Japan. Pharma Japan No. 1843: 1 – 7.

4. Gerdtham, U-G et al. (1994). Factors affecting health spending: a cross-country econometric analysis. OECD/GD (94) 101.

5. Cardiovascular Disease in the Elderly. Mayo Clinic Rochester. http://www.mayo.edu/geriatrics-rst/index.html

6. New Medicines in Development for Older Americans, 2002. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). http://www.phrma.org/newmedicines/olderamericans/

7. Elderly Spend More on Prescription Drugs to Maintain Health. The Medicare Chartbook. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). http://www.phrma.org/issues/medicare/chartbook/index.cfm

8. Seniors Cite Medicare, Drug Benefit as Top Health Care Concerns (2002). Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Medicare Archives. http://www.phrma.org/mediaroom/

9. Ageism is Pervasive in Health Care? (May 20, 2003).

Jim Abrams, CBSNews.com

10. Alliance for Aging Research Exposes Widespread Ageism in U.S. Healthcare (May 19, 2003)

Author information as of publication date: Dr Faiz Kermani currently works in Business Development at the CRO, Chiltern International, where his role covers bids, proposals and marketing.

Resigning Your MSL Position

By Tom Bramswig.

You’ve made a decision to accept a new position with another company. Now you have to resign. The resignation process is unsettling for most professionals, but if done properly, can be quick and stress-free.

As a loyal employee with many professional and personal ties to your present organization, you must address this process with the attitude of “nothing personal, just business”. You have worked hard and put in long hours for your company and they in turn have rewarded you both monetarily and with professional growth. From the beginning this was suppose to be a business arrangement. Don’t make it personal.

The first step is the resignation letter. Keep it short and to the point. This is a letter that thanks your company for all they have offered you professionally and also lets them know your date of departure. It is not to be used to summarize all that is good or bad at your company. This letter goes into your personnel file.

You should hand deliver the letter, if possible, to your direct supervisor. If the situation allows you should sit down and have a short and polite talk. Feel free to be honest, but not at the risk of hurting yourself or trashing a co-worker. Also, keep in mind you might need a future reference.

Be positive and upbeat. Counter offers are not an issue at this point. Counter offers in general are a “no-no” and historically will come back to haunt you. Keep in mind you have already made the decision to leave and the time for negotiations has long past.

What to expect from your supervisor? If the working relationship was good, then the usual response from a supervisor is two fold, sadness in losing a valued employee and having to replace you, yet happiness for you in your new career move. Don’t be disappointed if they don’t try to talk you into staying or in their lack of apparent emotion. This is business.

Proper notice is minimum two weeks, with three weeks a very generous offer on your part. It is possible that you might be asked to leave immediately. Once again, this could be standard operating procedure for your company, so be prepared.

Business relationships are not meant to last forever, you enter into one knowing that you will one-day move on. As you tender your resignation, remember you are leaving for a brighter future and therefore should focus on that positive.

Author information as of publication date: Tom Bramswig is President and Senior Recruiter of Pharmaceutical Careers (PO Box 124, Pleasantville, NY 10570.)

Thought-Leader Development: A Medical Science Liaison’s Perspective

By Suzanne Sincavage, Ph.D.

Conducting one-on-one or small group medical/product presentations/discussions with thought leaders and other professionals (i.e. Formulary committees, medical meetings, patient education, allied healthcare professionals) are an important aspect of thought leader development. Working with thought leaders to positively optimize patient outcomes by reinforcing and/or creating new standards of care within the industry sets the MSL apart from others. Create a positive company product awareness, therapeutic benefits and appropriate use to build your credibility as an MSL.

Unhappy thought leaders are basically those professionals who feel they are left out of the academic or community physician loop: being left out translates to not being considered serious leaders in prescribing the most up-to-date therapy for their patients. By effectively incorporating thought leaders into the respected opinion leaders list of the company, supporting their educational initiatives (publications, research, attendance to consultants meetings, participation of CME programs) helps ensure that their development is balanced and maintains the MSL as respected deliverers of the company’s scientific information and data.

My own thought leader development skills definitely came by trial and error. An MSL must have a basic understanding of general business practices and experience in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as standard medical practices in therapeutic area(s) of concentration to be most effective in their field. The position demands excellent communication skills (written and verbal); presentation skills. Unfortunately, most companies do not offer these skills and expect MSLs to have not only the academic expertise but sales savviness as well. Moreover, there is an expectation that the MSL have a marketing understanding, the ability to differentiate product markets, and a command of legal and regulatory issues/guidelines and company growth opportunities.

Strong interpersonal skills are essential for interaction with multiple company and customer departments or individuals and must be conducted with a professional manner. An MSL must be equipped with the ability to multitask and work independently while remaining focused on designated priorities. All these skills require the use of good clinical and business knowledge. Overall, the ability to thrive in an ever-changing environment is needed to meet the challenges of the position.

Medical science liaisons for the most part are responsible for the delivery of strategic and integrated scientific approaches to opinion leader and advocate development to support the pharmaceutical marketplace. They must develop, implement, coordinate, and communicate innovative professional education strategies and tactics through product launch cycles. Special emphasis is now placed on developing regional, state and local opinion leaders, advocating the largest and most influential accounts as well as regional /state society networks. Pharmaceutical and Biotech companies are now expecting MSLs to effectively utilize research opportunities and “Kick Start” their opinion leader and advocate development process, often relying on the MSL’s management to move opinion leaders along the opinion leader continuum. Generally, this is implemented and supported by utilizing resources from the commercial operations (marketing and sales) side of the business.

Suzanne’s Personal Keys to Success

• Develop and maintain consistent personal contact with regional key opinion leaders, selecting significant academic centers and key managed care accounts in therapeutic areas of commercial and research interest.

• Serve as a local scientific technical expert, for not only internal clients but external customers, in select therapeutic areas currently marketed and/or in development by the pharmaceutical company.

• Create advocates by developing thought leader recruitment, and educational program development.

• Use appropriate and ethical judgment in the distribution and communication of medical/scientific information in support of marketed client product portfolio and appropriate pipeline discussions.

• Provide rapid response to thought leaders in communicating medical/scientific information.

• Professionally represent thought leaders at select medical meetings and programs.

• Working to build the scientific/medical image of clients through focused medical education programs.

• Tracking and reporting competitive environment is extremely important.

Look closely at the MSL responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies. The position is trending towards increasing responsibilities that branch into sales and marketing in addition to existing responsibilities of educating on off-label usage of product. More and more, companies are blurring the sales/research initiatives, leaving the MSL in an increasingly vulnerable position. MSLQ

Author information as of publication date: Suzanne Sincavage is a medical science liaison for a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Sincavage is based in California.

KOL Development: The Dreaded “What’s New?” Question

By Jane Chin, PhD.

Even as medical liaisons have many different names and sometimes slightly different focus, thought-leader development is a responsibility that remains constant. How exactly does one “develop” a thought-leader? Although the concept may be somewhat clarified by paraphrasing to “build thought-leader relationships”, medical science liaisons will not be formally trained on the fine art of building relationships. Medical science liaisons are expected to have fine-tuned their thought-leader development skills when they sign up for the profession.

Medical science liaisons interact with physicians who most likely fall under the “scientists” category, which comprises 20-25% of total physician population visited by pharmaceutical personnel (Vanderveer, 2003). Scientists love research and make the majority of their treatment decisions on clinical data. Not surprisingly, these physicians are often nationally and even internationally recognized as forerunners in their field of expertise. Time with these thought leaders is a rare premium for industry, and it is the liaisons’ responsibility to evaluate what they are trying to communicate and how this translates to their long term goals.

The Dreaded Question

I do not plan to dissect the different areas of developing a thought leader in this short article. Rather, I’d like to start the discussion with a question that many of us dread hearing from our physician clients: “What’s New?” You may offer yourself as “the New (maybe improved) medical liaison” for your physicians, a trick that should work just once, although some liaisons can milk “I’m New” a few more times with absent-minded physicians. Then it’s back to “Why are you coming in?”

The medical liaison will hopefully have set up the agenda for the next meeting during the recent one. A coherent developmental plan for each opinion leader can be designed during the initial consultation between the medical liaison and the physician. Medical liaison’s customer service offering is a combination of technical support, relationship maintenance, and new business development. Effective execution of the medical liaison’s service program should minimize the risk of stagnation in the relationship and especially minimize a perception that the liaison is wasting time.

Technical Support

Medical liaisons act as technical support to a variety of thought leader queries and requests continually. These may include responding to questions, providing company-specific information, putting out fires or mending bridges between a thought leader and the company (damage control usually occurs at the beginning of a liaison’s tenure, when he inherits the “problems”). Throughout the relationship life-cycle, technical support may involve new product information and new development for existing products.

Relationship Maintenance

Given the sometimes vast expanse of a MSL’s territory, the medical liaison may have to choose to “serve fewer clients better.” Some senior managers, especially those who are quota-driven, may not like this approach. However, those senior managers who understand that the quality of a relationship is inversely proportional to the quantity of the total number of relationships assigned to the MSL generally foster happier MSLs who appreciate a reasonable “cap” on the number of thought leaders they are expected to visit.

One enlightened senior manager even prevents thought leader-list overload: if the MSL receives pressure (for example, from sales) to add an “important” thought leader, the inductee will eliminate an incumbent on the list. The MSL always has a manageable number of clients with whom he or she is expected to build a solid relationship, and the source of the pressure has an option to choose whom to eliminate. This immediately places “important” in perspective for pressure source.

Relationship maintenance may consist of keeping the thought leaders in the loop about what is happening at both the scientific level (in the disease area or in the therapeutic class) and at the corporate level (press releases about the company). Keeping thought leaders in the loop help reaffirms that the company is interested in them, and in turn, helps thought leaders maintain interest in the company.

New Business Development

New business development is not necessarily confined to business between the thought leaders and the company. Medical science liaisons have access to new research opportunities within the scientific community that can benefit their scientist customers. As agents of a commercial entity, MSLs can fall into a tunnel vision and focus only on new opportunities that involve their companies. Medical science liaisons who realize that their greatest asset is the strength of their relationships with key opinion leaders in a respective field often serve up opportunities that can benefit their clients regardless of direct benefit to the company. This enhances the MSL-thought leader relationship, and ultimately, benefits the company when direct collaborative opportunities arise. New business development is therefore really an exercise in networking, where you do not look to only benefit yourself in the short term.

Summary

What I present is one perspective on thought leader relationship development. There are many ways to build solid relationships through a consultative approach and/or through a personal approach. The final goal for the medical science liaison is to cultivate the capacity to “make things happen when things need to happen.” Building relationships with thought leaders does not wander far from building relationships in other areas of our lives. Medical liaisons come in different personalities, and it is often helpful to assess how we best build relationships in our personal lives to gain insight into how we best build relationships with our customers. If we force ourselves to adopt a method that is not aligned our personality, we may risk looking “forced” (or worse, insincere) and have a perfectly miserable time engaging in a potentially rewarding part of our profession. MSLQ

Author information as of publication date: Jane Chin is a senior medical science liaison for a global pharmaceutical company. She is based on California.