May 15, 2019
I’ve been fascinated by the medical science liaison career. Its an entry level position in the pharmaceutical industry that is often open to both licensed and unlicensed physicians.
In today’s interview, I speak with an obstetrician who leveraged her clinical work, professional relationships, and networking to obtain her first job as an MSL.
Dr. Swati Shah is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist. Since quitting her practice in 2009, Swati has held a variety of different clinical positions including practicing as a locum tenens physician in Hawaii, St. Croix, Maine, Kansas, a Navajo reservation and elsewhere. She also worked as a laborist (OB hospitalist) and a free-lance consultant.
But she landed a position as a medical science liaison through her relationship with an MSL who called on her as a physician influencer. When Swati decided to pursue a nonclinical career, this MSL was able to serve as a mentor to her. Swati says that since working for her company, she has really enjoyed this new career and is very satisfied with what she is now doing.
I have interviewed three other MSLs, but I wanted to highlight Swati for a couple of reasons. First, I met her at the recent Physicians Helping Physicians conference in Austin, TX, in April. And I found her perspective on landing an MSL job very interesting and instructive.
Second, her story demonstrates how an experienced physician can leverage a network of colleagues, and a deep knowledge in a specific field, to land a first MSL position after one interview. Some of the MSLs I’ve spoken with who are med-school graduates but not residency-trained, took quite a bit longer to get an interview, and endured multiple interviews before being hired.
I’ve just created a free mini-course on how to become an MSL, based on a complete course I'm creating. You can find the FREE mini-course by going to vitalpe.net/msllecture.
In it, I cover the major resources you should use to pursue this career. It’s the first of several free courses in the works.
You can find links to the resources mentioned in today’s interview, and a transcript of the interview, by going to the show notes at vitalpe.net/episode089.