Medical Affairs

If you love science and communciation Medical Affairs is a great department to work in. You get to specialise in your given scientific therapy (or general medicine) and further the knowledge of science while keeping a commercial outlook. It is a great way to keep in touch with cutting edge developments while getting involved with clinical research and communicating science. Here at SRG we have an in depth understanding of the market, where it has been, where it is and where it is going. We will look not only at the therapeutic areas you wish to work in but also look at the culture of a company and your fit within. Looking at and understanding all aspects of you as an indiviual and the companies we work with will hopefully help us to get the fit right for you. We offer advice on the roles on offer and how to plan ahead and ensure you get the opportunities and exposure you require for future development and potential moves.

Roles are highly varied, and include:

• Medical Information Scientist / Senior / Manager Scientific Advisor
• Medical Science Liaison / Medical Liaison Advisor / Regional Medical Liaison
• Knowledge Advisor
• Medical Advisor
• Medical Director
• Medical Scientific Expert
• Compliance Manager
• Medical Marketing Manager

Salaries vary according to roles. You can expect a starting salary from £26,000 in Medical Information; circa £40,000 as a Scientific Advisor; circa £45,000 for the Medical Liaison; and from £70,000 as an entry level physician. Contractor rates vary with experience.

Medical Affairs is a really exciting area to work in as it enables you to work cross-functionally in most roles which gives you a good understanding of the industry as a whole and how it all fits in together. You will gain scientific specialism and also contribute to the commercial success of a company.

In order to get into Medical Affairs there are a number of skills required depending on the scope of the role. For example to get into Medical Information, a typical background would be a pharmacist (demonstrating the ability to communiate with a number of people and have the ability to pick up the science involved with different therapeutic areas); in order to work as a Medical Advisor however you will need to be a GMC registered physician preferably with a clinical placement under your belt. In short it really depends on the role you are applying for in Medical Affairs and which company you would like to work for; pharmacists, life science graduates, PhD graduates and physicians are all relevant academic backgrounds. The key to a number of these roles is your ability to work in a commercially driven environment.

There are a number of professional associations you can join in Medical Affairs - PIPA (Pharmaceutical Information and Pharmacovigilance Association), DIA (Drug Information Association) and GMC (General Medical Council).

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