Medical representative (Artsenbezoeker)
Information on this skill...
A medical representative works within the pharmaceutical industry and can be seen as a representative. As a medical representative, you visit pharmacists, various doctors and possibly veterinarians to bring medicines or medical devices to the attention and possibly sell them. For example, it may happen that a new medicine has been placed on the market with regard to diabetes. As a medical representative, you bring this medicine to the attention of an internist or general practitioner. As a medical representative, however, you do not conclude sales contracts. This is why the profession of medical representative differs from that of a traditional salesperson such as a representative. With the help of persuasion, you enthuse doctors and pharmacists with regard to medicines and medical devices. It depends on the product you want to bring to the attention or sell which doctor or pharmacist you visit as a medical representative. As a medical representative, you usually hold a commercial position within the pharmaceutical industry. The profession of medical representative is a profession with many freedoms, but it is important to achieve sufficient results. The profession of medical representative is therefore not suitable for everyone. This is because you must have sufficient commercial skills, knowledge and persuasiveness. As a medical representative, you are therefore mainly responsible for bringing medicines and medical devices to the attention with the aim of selling them. A medical representative will first make an appointment with a doctor or pharmacist before he or she visits. This is because doctors have busy schedules and are not available at any given time.
Obviously, you can't just become a medical representative. It is important that you have the necessary knowledge of medicines and other medical related matters. Because you work as a medical representative within the pharmaceutical industry, you will have to deal with various medical specialists. You can think of internists, cardiologists, gynecologists, neurologists, etc. A medical representative can be regarded as a representative. This is because you bring products to the attention and try to sell these products. Moreover, as a medical representative, you can be regarded as an acquirer. This is because, as a medical representative, you are engaged in acquiring new customers. As a medical representative, you have to deal with various medical specialists on a daily basis, such as a doctor, a general practitioner or a pharmacist.
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND LOBBYING
Within the pharmaceutical industry, lobbying is widely used. This means that a certain pressure can be exerted to be able to sell a specific medicine or medical device. It is important that you as a medical representative sell medicines or medical devices. This is often the goal you have when you as a medical representative have an appointment with a doctor or pharmacist. Through persuasion, a doctor can be influenced to buy that one medicine that brings you to your attention. The moment you do this, you as a medical representative can be considered a lobbyist. As a medical representative, you therefore have a commercial function in which it is important to ensure a good turnover for the pharmaceutical industry. It is important that you as a medical representative have the necessary commercial skills. This is because you are often not the only medical representative who visits a doctor or pharmacist.
WORKING AS A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
As a medical representative, you are often the representative of a pharmaceutical company. You visit doctors and pharmacists and try to sell pharmaceutical or medical products to such a doctor or pharmacist. It is important that you as a medical representative have thorough knowledge of sales techniques. You explain the effect of the product and discuss the benefits of the product with the doctor or pharmacist. This is to convince the doctor or pharmacist in question why he or she should purchase the product. It is important that you, as a medical representative, have sufficient knowledge with regard to medical sciences. This is because you need to be able to answer the questions that a doctor or pharmacist asks regarding the product you recommend. After all, it is about the health of patients, so it is important that you as a medical representative provide the right information.
As a medical representative, you are responsible for achieving certain targets, the most important of which is making sales. As a medical representative, you focus on selling medicines and medical devices. As a result, the work you perform has many similarities with the work of a sales employee. As a medical representative, you often keep yourself busy with building and maintaining customer contacts.
DUTIES AS A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE:
- Stimulating the sale of medicines and medical devices.
- Explaining the effect of a medicine or medical device.
- Building and maintaining customer contact.
- Recognizing sales opportunities.
- Visiting doctors and pharmacists.
WHAT DOES A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE DO:
TRAINING TO BECOME A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
There is no specific training for the profession of medical representative. If you aspire to a career as a medical representative, it is necessary to have a medically oriented background. Many pharmaceutical companies therefore require at least a hbo diploma at the moment that you want to apply as a medical representative. For example, you can follow a hbo or university degree in health science, biomedical sciences or physiotherapy. In addition to the fact that it is important that you as a medical representative have sufficient medical knowledge, it is important that you have the necessary commercial skills. To learn the commercial skills, you can follow a study at HBO level in a commercial direction. For example, the study commercial economics. There are also various external training institutes where you can follow a course with regard to learning commercial skills. It is also important that you have a car driver's license. This is because as a medical representative you are often on the road to visit various doctors and pharmacists. As a medical representative, you will regularly follow further training. This is because the pharmacological industry is constantly evolving. In order to be able to bring new medicines to the attention, it is therefore important that you as a medical representative move along with these developments.
COMPANIES WHERE A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE CAN BE EMPLOYED
A medical representative works for a pharmaceutical company. For example, as a medical representative, you will work a lot with a pharmacologist. A pharmacologist specializes in pharmacology and has investigated the action of a drug on the human body. As a medical representative, it is important that you can make it clear to a doctor or pharmacist what the effect of the medicine you recommend is. As a medical representative, you are often assigned an area. The moment a renewed medicine has been brought to the market, you bring this to the attention of the various doctors and pharmacists.
COMPETENCES MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
As a medical representative, it is important that you are commercially minded and can communicate well. It is also important that you have an eye for the laws and regulations with regard to medicines and that you have medical knowledge. This also applies to pharmaceutical products. As a medical representative, you will often have to take on the role of supervisor. This is to ensure that the laws and regulations regarding medicines are complied with. It is also important that you have sufficient perseverance and are stress-resistant. To ensure that you encourage doctors and pharmacists to buy a specific medicine, it is important that you can convince and negotiate well. In addition, it is important that you can plan and organize well because doctors often have a full agenda, and you are not the only medical representative who comes along. Other important keywords of a medical representative are promotion, people knowledge, networking and persuasiveness.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
The career opportunities of a medical representative are generally good. This is because the pharmaceutical industry is constantly evolving. However, it is important that you have sufficient knowledge and skills to be able to grow. When you have sufficient knowledge and skills, the career opportunities of a medical representative can be seen in holding a higher position such as the position of a regional manager or a sales manager.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY OF A MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVE
The salary of a medical representative will be between €3000 and €4000 gross per month. Exactly how much you earn depends on the level of education and the work you perform as a medical representative. Often there is a bonus construction in the execution of the work of a medical representative, which can increase the salary considerably. Also, a medical representative often has a company car at his or her disposal because a doctor's sales representative is often on the road.
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