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Medical representative

Medical representatives are the key point of contact between pharmaceutical and medical companies and healthcare professionals: promoting product awareness, answering queries, providing advice and introducing new products.

Approximately £7 billion of medicines are sold to the NHS each year, although this only accounts for about 13% of total NHS costs.

Medical representative job description: Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills | Useful links | Find jobs and courses

Key responsibilities include:

organising appointments and meetings with community and hospital-based healthcare staff
identifying and establishing new business
negotiating contracts
demonstrating/presenting products to healthcare staff including doctors, nurses and pharmacists
undertaking relevant research
maintaining detailed records
making presentations
attending/organising trade exhibitions, conferences and meetings
managing budgets
reviewing sales performance
writing reports and other literature.

Promotional prospects are excellent - progression can be into senior sales/managerial roles or into related employment areas such as marketing or purchasing.

Typical employers of medical representatives

Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies employ medical representatives. Jobs are advertised online, by careers services and in newspapers, trade magazines and publications such as New Scientist, Drug Tariff, Pharmafile, and Journal of Woundcare.

There are several specialist recruitment agencies and consultants including Oxford Pharmaceutical Sciences Limited and Scientific Staff Consultants that also regularly advertise vacancies. Job shadowing, creative job seeking/networking and speculative applications are advisable. Pre-entry sales or hospital/medical work experience is advantageous.

Qualifications and training required

Employers normally prefer graduates with relevant qualifications in life sciences, pharmacy, medicine, nursing or dentistry. New recruits normally receive an initial period (up to six months) of intense training, following which they may shadow experienced sales staff before commencing work on their own.

Many new sales executives also take the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) examinations within the first few years of work. A full driving licence is also a common requirement.