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Clinical scientist vs medical science liaison

The differences between clinical 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 clinical scientist and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $122,388 average annual salary of a clinical scientist.

The top three skills for a clinical scientist include patients, informed consent and clinical operations. The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.

Clinical scientist vs medical science liaison overview

Clinical ScientistMedical Science Liaison
Yearly salary$122,388$145,718
Hourly rate$58.84$70.06
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs96,92357,208
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age4141
Years of experience44

What does a clinical scientist do?

A clinical scientist's duties depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting experiments and research, gathering and preparing samples such as blood and tissues, analyzing and examining specimens through different processes, reviewing data and results, and coordinating with other scientists to develop medicines or treatments. They may also train new scientists, oversee assistants' performance, and maintain order in a laboratory. Furthermore, a clinical scientist may work in hospitals, clinics, private laboratories, learning institutions, or research facilities.

What does a medical science liaison do?

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.

Clinical scientist vs medical science liaison salary

Clinical scientists and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.

Clinical ScientistMedical Science Liaison
Average salary$122,388$145,718
Salary rangeBetween $94,000 And $157,000Between $59,000 And $359,000
Highest paying CityIndianapolis, INJackson, TN
Highest paying stateAlaskaTennessee
Best paying companyReata PharmaceuticalsSaint Luke's Health System
Best paying industryPharmaceuticalManufacturing

Differences between clinical scientist and medical science liaison education

There are a few differences between a clinical scientist and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:

Clinical ScientistMedical Science Liaison
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common majorBiologyNursing
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California

Clinical scientist vs medical science liaison demographics

Here are the differences between clinical scientists' and medical science liaisons' demographics:

Clinical ScientistMedical Science Liaison
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 37.0% Female, 63.0%Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.3% 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 Percentage8%8%

Differences between clinical scientist and medical science liaison duties and responsibilities

Clinical scientist example responsibilities.

  • Manage clinical monitors in successful completion of large international hypertension study.
  • Manage and work collaboratively with CRO management to initiate and update contract/consultancy agreements/amendments on an ongoing basis.
  • Function as member of the FDA audit preparation team in support of the filed NDA.
  • Conduct multiple HIPAA training sessions.
  • Identify grant funding opportunities and prepare scientific grant applications (NIH and non-NIH).
  • Review serious adverse event reports receive from other local country sectors for expediting to the FDA.
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Medical science liaison example responsibilities.

  • Supervise and analyze medical necessity review of manage care appeals.
  • Develop and manage KOLs resulting in presentations to regional, national and international meetings.
  • Utilize extensive knowledge of medical terminology, ICD-9, HCPCS and CPT coding along with analysis and processing of Medicare claims.
  • Provide pre-launch field support for a novel diabetes compound.
  • Provide drug information to medical professionals and sales force within FDA guidelines.
  • Join Clementine as a trainee BMS and successfully complete training and registration.
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Clinical scientist vs medical science liaison skills

Common clinical scientist skills
  • Patients, 9%
  • Informed Consent, 6%
  • Clinical Operations, 5%
  • Oncology, 5%
  • Clinical Development, 5%
  • Clinical Data, 5%
Common medical science liaison skills
  • Patients, 11%
  • Medical Affairs, 9%
  • MSL, 7%
  • Medical Science, 6%
  • Pharmaceutical Industry, 5%
  • Internal Stakeholders, 4%

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