When the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA) was established, it signified an important event in the evolution of medical affairs within the Pharma/Biotech Industry. The ACMA is an accrediting body offering a Board Certification in Medical Affairs called the Board Certified Medical Affairs Specialist (BCMAS) program. The BCMAS provides a professional designation and title to scientific & clinical professionals currently working in medical affairs or looking to work in the industry.

To be eligible for a BCMAS designation, individuals must hold a terminal degree (MD, Ph.D., DO, or PharmD). The BCMAS provides in-depth education on several important areas within medical affairs such as publication practices, rules on interactions with health care providers (HCPs), abstract/medical writing, the payer landscape, and evidence-based medicine, among several other areas.

The ACMA’s founding is an important milestone in the pharmaceutical industry because it demonstrates the increasing importance of medical affairs as a strategic differentiator vs. a simply operational, reactive group for other cross-functional teams, such as marketing or clinical development.

Board-certified medical affairs professionals are very excited about the opportunity to use the BCMAS designation to improve their ability to excel within their current positions. Other individuals use the BCMAS as a way to improve their chances of breaking into a medical affairs role. And it makes perfect sense when we look at the statistics. The average MSL opening has several hundred applicants, and getting the position is not unlike your odds of getting accepted into a U.S. medical school or Ph.D. program. 

The ACMA believes it will only be a matter of time when an increasing number of medical affairs professionals will have an MD, BCMAS designation behind their name. As the healthcare landscape evolves and healthcare providers look to medical affairs professionals to be the front line in disseminating complex scientific information, the assurance BCMAS provides will become increasingly important.