How to Become a Medical Representative?

Building a much-needed link between Pharmaceuticals, doctors as well as patients, and Medical Representatives are an imperative part of the healthcare sector. Also called Medical Sales Representatives, they establish liaisons between pharma companies and medical practitioners and at times, also get in touch with the customers directly. In order to qualify for this profile that brings a crossover of a sales professional in the medical industry, one needs to have a comprehensive knowledge of Medicines, Drugs, and Equipment, amongst others. If you find yourself inclined towards this job role, here is a blog that aims to bring you all the essential details and features.

Role of a Medical Representative

Mainly a part of a pharmaceutical setup, the role of a Medical Representative is to essentially promote and sell medicines, drugs or related equipment manufactured by their company. Wholesalers and retailers can be a probable category under this profile and their target audience remains to be healthcare professionals, pharmacists or sometimes, direct patients. Fulfilling this job role, you will be required to boost the awareness of the marketed product, take queries from the customers as well offer advice on its right utilisation. Below we have listed down some of the key roles and responsibilities of a medical representative:

• Maintaining timely appointments and meetings with medical professionals and hospital-based healthcare staff
• Presenting new pharmaceutical products to doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other healthcare professionals
• Carrying out research for new inventions in the health sector
• Staying updated about the latest developments in the pharmaceutical domain
• Accomplishing the scientific as well as business requirements of healthcare professionals
• Negotiating sales contracts and deals
• Visiting and conducting trade exhibitions and conferences
• Creating and Reviewing detailed records of deals as well as sales performance
• Drafting reports and other related documents, amongst others.
• Following up with the customers to give their feedback regarding pharmaceutical products.

Eligibility to Become a Medical Representative

• The first and foremost thing that is needed to become a Medical Representative is a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, nursing, biology, life sciences or any related field. Having a Master’s degree is definitely a plus and will make you a preferred candidate for such roles.
• In order to increase your prospects of employment, you must consider enrolling in certifications that would add to your candidature such as medical sales representative. This is not mandatory but gives you an edge over your competition.
• Field experience is extremely important and must highlight your sales and marketing expertise. Your experience must be a showcase of the methods with which you utilise the skills you possess.
• Knowing the latest trends in your field and constantly updating your knowledge is seen as a huge plus in a candidate.

Skills to Become Medical Representative

Understanding the key qualities and skills of a medical representative is also significant as imbibing these will assist you in becoming more qualified for the job. As it brings an amalgamation of a career in Pharmacy with that in marketing, the intersection of required skills is also evident, a few of which have been enlisted below:

• Excellent Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Awareness of the trends and innovations in the pharmaceutical industry
• Organisational Skills
• Curiosity to Learn on the job
• Strong Listening Skills
• Technical Knowledge of Computer Applications to create presentations
• Brilliant Networking Skills
• Good at Negotiating Deals
• Knowledge of writing sales reports and performance reviews

Must Read: Medical Representative Resume

Medical Representative Qualifications & Certifications

Academic and professional requisites for becoming a medical representative are quite flexible in the sense, that those from a marketing background with an inclination towards pharmaceuticals can also apply for the role along with those who have done a Pharmacist course or acquired a degree in Biology, Chemistry or Engineering-related disciplines. It can also be counted amongst Biomedical Engineering jobs thus a degree in this field can also make you eligible for the role. Some of the major Medical Science courses that can equip you with the knowledge of pharmaceuticals and the healthcare sector are as follows:

• D Pharmacy
• Bachelor of Pharmacy
• M Pharm – Master in Pharmacy
• BSc Biology
• BSc Nursing
• Paramedical Courses
• Healthcare Management Courses
• MBA in Healthcare
• Hospital Management

Training

Furthermore, there are several vocational training programs that are offered by pharmaceutical companies as well as some established institutes to equip aspiring medical sales professionals with the necessary knowledge of this field. Some of the major Indian institutes offering these pharmaceutical sales training courses include the Indian Institute of Indian Representatives (IIMR), Medical Representative Training Institute (MRTI), and DIMR, amongst others. On the other hand, if you are planning to study this field abroad, you can explore programs in pharma sales and management, such as MBA in Pharmaceutical Management, etc.

Licenses & Certifications

Many accreditation councils around the world also provide relevant certifications to budding medical representatives. In India, pursuing training from institutes like IIMR or MRTI can provide you with the necessary qualifications to be eligible for this job role. Further, the Accreditation Council of Medicine Affairs (ACMA) also provides Pharmaceutical Representative Certification (PRC) which is an internationally renowned one you can gain in this domain.

Medical Representative Salary

The national average salary of a Medical Representative ranges between 2,20,000-3,50,000 INR per annum. The salary, however, varies depending upon the skills, qualifications, location, etc of a candidate.

We have tabulated below some Indian states/cities that reflect the salary of the medical representatives in the country.

Name of the State	Salary in INR
Delhi	3 lakh
Bengaluru	2.7 lakh
Patna	2.5 lakh
Pune	2.5 lakh
Chandrapur	2.2 lakh
Ahemdabad	2.5lakh
Chandigarh	2.7lakh

Check Out: Different Medical Courses After 12th

What Does Being a Medical Representative Offer?

Some of the factors that help make medical representative a good career decision are as follows:

1. It offers various opportunities to the individual for personal development and career growth.
2. Medical representatives create their schedule and working hours which offer them easy flexibility.
3. There is high earning potential with respect to the career of a medical representative.
4. Further, the job of a medical representative provides great job satisfaction to professionals.
5. It’s also a job that helps build strong relationships.

Is Medical Representative a Good Career?

A career as a medical representative might be rewarding for the following reasons:

• Opportunity for advancement: With experience and the correct skill set, a medical representative can quickly rise in their profession. Within a few years, you can advance from field trainer to sales manager. Furthermore, the work function offers numerous prospects for advancement.
• Learn new things: Because the medical industry is prone to quick change, these experts must constantly learn about new goods and seek new ways to utilise old ones.
• Job satisfaction: the drugs, medicine, or medical equipment you sell will eventually save the lives of patients. Job pleasure derives from the fact that the things you offer have a direct impact on the well-being of the patients.

Major Recruiters

• Cipla
• Sun Pharma
• Paragon 28
• Abbott
• Mankind Pharma
• Ajanta Pharma
• Orbit Medical

FAQs

Hence, now that you know what it takes to become a medical representative, you can start gearing up to attain the necessary academic and professional requisites. Take the help of the AI-tool at Leverage Edu that suggests the best course and university combinations as per your chosen field of interest, skills and preferences. You can also sign up for a 30-minute free career counselling session with our experienced mentors at 1800 57 2000 and we’ll help you sort out the admission process of your selected course and university.