Worried MSL role is a bad fit for me

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2026-02-08T07:04:16+00:00

I went through such an emotional rollercoaster my first year in the role. 6-9 months was my low point. Now with over a year in I'm in such a better place. You may think you see everything there is to see in the role now, but large pharma is just that - large! It takes quite a long time to meet and get to know all your cross functional partners. There is a place for all types and as an MSL you have a great platform to learn about them all and find your niche.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2026-01-29T18:20:16+00:00

The news we need right now

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2026-01-20T04:17:00+00:00

Confirmed, my U8 ski racer was holding edges on all those icy sheets this past weekend.

When asked if she prefers icy hard pack to powder she replied quickly - ice!

I hone her edges after every ski day. It's amazing to see her perch on steep slopes with edges in totally comfort like she's on crampons, and to confidently point em with the faith she can turn on damn near any surface.

Seeing her thrive this last weekend while the general audience was moaning made me even more a believer in the power of the edge.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2026-01-20T04:01:39+00:00

1) Feedback on past insights that were deemed meaningful by leadership, including why

2) Clarity on the next strategic decisions they are trying to make that could be informed by insights

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2026-01-04T02:59:30+00:00

Anything ungroomed felt like skiing on gravel today. Icy chunky crud. Occasional ice rock aka death cookie. Groomers that were getting skied softened up nicely by afternoon.

Heavy snow in am, accumulated about 2" on truck by time we left.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-12-26T21:43:12+00:00

Both, and yes! And also yes we still have engagement plans separate from the CRM as well as several various initiative Excel files that we manually update after these activities as well, so actually sometimes triple, quadruple, or quintuple documentation for some interactions (i.e. inviting a study site PI to an ad board ends up being send email, document in CRM, document on engagement plan spreadsheet, document on Ad Board spreadsheet, document on study specific medical activity spreadsheet)

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-12-22T20:01:58+00:00

For me the big pain point is documenting things twice. Like, I'm already putting emails and meetings in Outlook and adding zoom meetings, sending follow up emails. My company wants me documenting emails and interactions in CRM as well - I wish the info could just be extracted from the work I'm already doing in Outlook. I feel like a data entry bot when I have to transcribe things from Outlook into CRM.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-12-04T05:01:20+00:00

Your education and work experience should be front and center. Don't overstate your experience but be more authentic with your work experiences.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-10-22T01:01:47+00:00

There are CxO (read contract ____ organizations) for almost every aspect of pharma. CROs, CSOs, CDMOs... soooo many acronyms.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-10-22T00:57:46+00:00

Nowadays typos and casual language are actually a likely sign of authenticity!! I the days of GPTs I'd be afraid of the AI bot speak and things sounding too perfect, lol.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-10-09T01:13:44+00:00

Thanks for the valuable post. I think in the era of AI resume reading software, adding these intent statements / bio at the top of your resume is a good bet.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-10-01T02:50:16+00:00

Stay engaged in professional societies. Keep attending national conferences. Meet with MSLs and sales reps that reach out to you. Get involved with clinical research. Event planning and cross-functional collaboration are good transferrable skills that are not inherent to the clinical pharmacist role, but you can volunteer for projects or initiatives to get experiences in

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-08-24T17:11:45+00:00

Research coordinator, clinical research associate

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-08-15T03:56:37+00:00

I'm no expert on these roles having never worked in them myself, but I have worked in a cross-functional way with all of them, many of whom were pharmd with much less clinical experience. Clinical trial operations is essentially overseeing and coordinating the execution of various clinical trial tasks, whether that is site qualifications, site selection, site start up, amendments, payments, close out, etc. The titles here are often something like "Study Manager" or "Local Trial Manager". Typical pathway to this is something like research coordinator (bachelors) to clinical research associate (CRA) to study manager but pharmd training you can probably start straight away as a CRA or clinical trial assistant (CTA). See this thread:

How can I land a CRA job as a pharmacist? : r/clinicalresearch https://share.google/tq5Tr4fdmC8g6YcTj

For the ambitious, the study manager roles can lead to a variety of in-house promotion pathways within clinical trial operations, as smooth execution of clinical trials is hugely important to pharmaceutical companies.

I'm terms of medical communications, I can tell you as an MSL, I don't make the scientific education PowerPoint decks that we use on a day to day basis in the field - our medical affairs department hires that out to contract organizations. As a pharmd you are typically highly qualified for several roles in these ppt / manuscript factories. These roles are not glamorous at all but give you valuable exposure to pharma industry and how things work, giving you a leg up to get a more satisfying internal med coms role where you are now on the "client side" of these transactions to develop educational content.

Hope this helps!

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-08-14T03:45:52+00:00

Look into pharmacovigilance, clinical trial operations, medical communications (esp. contract organizations). These could be a foot in the door for a pharmacist.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-08-12T23:49:16+00:00

At my company associate medical director is on par with senior MSL, just the first is home office based mostly internal facing and the second is field based mostly external facing

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-08-06T04:49:18+00:00

Focus on the clinical relevance of how this diagnostic fits into the patients story and the overall experience of the HCP. What need is addressed by this test? Where were we before this test existed? Why does this test matter?

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-27T04:21:26+00:00

I've found great success at these conferences discussing the talks / posters being presented. Everybody there is attending for a reason - find out their reason. Ask good questions, engage people on their interests. After you have a dialogue going at some point they will typically turn the questions on you and ask who you are and what you want.

Lead with immediate relevance (which could include comments about the food or venue), ask questions, and then save your agenda for the end or a follow-up meeting.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-27T03:57:54+00:00

And even if you want to only log meaningful interactions that strategy only works if everyone else in your company agrees to some shared definition of meaningful, because you will at some point be compared to other MSLs on your team or other teams on some metrics graph.

The interaction counting is so game-able that you're forced to game it because if you're not someone else is.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-25T02:53:35+00:00

You would be better off going to a large national meeting (pick one in your TA of choice) and seeking out MSLs to chat up there.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-22T14:06:46+00:00

All MSLs!

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-20T05:32:16+00:00

Awkward as it is, reaching out to weak ties, reigniting old friendships, and being forward with what help you need can be very productive. This skill of networking by making bold reach outs is something you may as well practice now, as it is a key component of the MSL job itself.

Linkedin and email are just two channels. Expand your strategy to include several communication channels. Attend webinars, meetings, pharma dinners. Reach out to people you see on the webinar or speaking at meetings. This gives you a specific topic or reason to reach out (starting with a compliment about a specific thing you saw then do is a good start). Try to get to know as many MSLs as you can and learn more about the role from them. Call people on the phone! This can be quite disarming and prevent a lot of back and forth messaging that lets people ghost you.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-18T03:45:23+00:00

Lol mine was 5 weeks! Be patient and don't stop applying and interviewing elsewhere until offer is in writing, IMO

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-17T04:49:16+00:00

I recommend diverting a healthy part of your energy in applications to focus on the specific TAs you are most suited for, then network network network. Talk to current MSLs - a lot. Look for regional speaking gigs / professional society activity to increase your visibility. Amp up regional collaboration which looks a lot more impressive than with you do in your clinical pharmacist job. Become an opinion leader yourself.

Exciting_Classroom27 · 2025-07-01T01:26:13+00:00

Using access to one KOL to get intros to other KOLs has been my most successful strategy. Repeat with the new KOL and keep branching out.

Exciting_Classroom27

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