With guest writer Monica Saleh, PharmD, Medical Science Liaison, at Sanofi Genzyme.

First you ponder if making the switch from clinical or retail pharmacy to become a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) is for you. Then you think to yourself, “I wonder what my day to day will look like?”

… I wish I can give you an hour by hour breakdown of what a day in the life of an MSL looks like, but I can’t. There is no day that looks like another for an MSL, and honestly, that is one of the beauties about the job. If you are a very routine-based, regimented person, perhaps you might want to explore in-house pharma positions, such as medical information or medical communication. For an MSL, no one day looks like another.

Sure, COVID brought fewer physical activities, but an MSL’s day-to-day may be a little more structured than it once was. Aside from COVID, it is not your typical 9 to 5 job.

So instead, I am going to focus on what activities an MSL might accomplish in a week.

Time for Team meetings – we all have them, right? A few internal meetings sprinkled throughout the week. It could be a team call, a town hall, or a 1:1 with your mentor or field director. Oftentimes, MSLs may have calls with third-party vendors if the MSL is involved in special projects, such as deck creation. Other calls may include Investigator Sponsored Studies (ISS) assessment calls, which are less frequent, clinical trial calls with clinical development, or congress planning calls.

Time carved out for brushing up on the publications/data. It is critical that an MSL is up to date on the most current data/trials for the disease state in which they support. This can take place individually (preparing for a KOL engagement), or as a team in a form of journal club or best practices call.

Time carved out to prepare for KOL engagement – while MSLs probably have great relationships with their KOLs, it is important to take the time to prepare for any upcoming meetings. Review previous interactions and insights gathered, review notes taken from previous calls, and have a plan that aligns with the medical strategy and objectives

Time carved out for TRAVEL to these KOL engagements/congresses. Thanks to COVID, appointments are now all done virtually with the KOLs that are comfortable doing them virtually. However, pre-COVID, traveling to your appointment meant either driving within your territory, or flying, depending on how large the territory is. Of course there is the chance of traffic, or delayed/cancelled flight, so accounting for that is key. Podcasts, books, or even work are great things to knock off your to-do list to fill up time while traveling!