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The differences between chief scientists and medical science liaisons can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a chief scientist and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $108,046 average annual salary of a chief scientist.
The top three skills for a chief scientist include DOD, RF and IC. The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.
| Chief Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Yearly salary | $108,046 | $145,718 |
| Hourly rate | $51.95 | $70.06 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 60,741 | 57,208 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Chief scientists supervise, plan, and budget the funds for research activities to publish their discoveries with influential publication companies. By doing commentaries with the press and media, they spread their knowledge about science to the public. They are mentors or coaches to non-professional scientists and help them build a case to get their promotion. For their subordinates to feel motivated to reach their goals when working on research projects, chief scientists must maintain a professional, creative, but engaging environment.
A medical science liaison (MSL) is a scientific professional who facilitates a working relationship between healthcare companies and leading physicians, researchers, and clinicians. Also referred to as key opinion leaders (KOL), medical science liaisons represent their company to the decision-makers in the medical community as well as to investors and government regulatory agencies. They analyze clinical trends and monitor the scientific literature for new developments in the medical community. Medical science liaisons also prepare medical samples and data to investigate the causes of chronic diseases, pathogens, and toxicity.
Chief scientists and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chief Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average salary | $108,046 | $145,718 |
| Salary range | Between $69,000 And $168,000 | Between $59,000 And $359,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jackson, TN |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Tennessee |
| Best paying company | Uber Technologies | Saint Luke's Health System |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a chief scientist and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:
| Chief Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Physics | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between chief scientists' and medical science liaisons' demographics:
| Chief Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% | Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 23.4% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |