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The differences between development 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 development scientist and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $92,514 average annual salary of a development scientist.
The top three skills for a development scientist include chemistry, data analysis and GMP. The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.
| Development Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Yearly salary | $92,514 | $145,718 |
| Hourly rate | $44.48 | $70.06 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 92,039 | 57,208 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Companies with a manufacturing arm usually employ Development Scientists. They are responsible for studying the company's processes and products and conducting research on improving these. They work on new strategies to make production and manufacturing more efficient. They also conduct feasibility studies to ensure that the strategies they come up with are effective and analyze the results of such studies. They then present these findings to their colleagues and develop implementation strategies for smoother streamlining of new processes.
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.
Development scientists and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Development Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average salary | $92,514 | $145,718 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $124,000 | Between $59,000 And $359,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jackson, TN |
| Highest paying state | California | Tennessee |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Saint Luke's Health System |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a development scientist and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:
| Development Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Nursing |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between development scientists' and medical science liaisons' demographics:
| Development Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% | Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% 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% |