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The differences between hospital sales representatives and pharmaceutical sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a hospital sales representative and a pharmaceutical sales specialist. Additionally, a hospital sales representative has an average salary of $93,625, which is higher than the $73,003 average annual salary of a pharmaceutical sales specialist.
The top three skills for a hospital sales representative include patients, territory sales and healthcare professionals. The most important skills for a pharmaceutical sales specialist are patients, sales territory, and diabetes.
| Hospital Sales Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $93,625 | $73,003 |
| Hourly rate | $45.01 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 165,793 | 23,474 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 85% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Hospital sales representatives sell medical supplies to clinics, hospitals, doctors, and facilities. The representatives promote their company's products like medical equipment and/or pharmaceutical products. They increase product awareness, provide advice, introduce new products, and answer queries. It is also part of their job to explain the benefits and features of the products. They are expected to be responsive, keep their patient in mind, communicative, have good customer service, and should be knowledgeable in medicine.
A pharmaceutical sales specialist's primary duty is to reach out to pharmacies, medical facilities, and physicians to discuss the latest medical drugs in an effort to secure sales. Their responsibilities typically revolve around learning and understanding everything about the products that they are offering, traveling to different areas to deliver samples, and maintaining records of all transactions. Furthermore, as a pharmaceutical sales specialist, it is essential to create marketing materials and build positive relationships with clients to accomplish sales targets, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Hospital sales representatives and pharmaceutical sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hospital Sales Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $93,625 | $73,003 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $141,000 | Between $47,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Nevada |
| Best paying company | - | AstraZeneca |
| Best paying industry | - | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a hospital sales representative and a pharmaceutical sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Hospital Sales Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 85% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between hospital sales representatives' and pharmaceutical sales specialists' demographics:
| Hospital Sales Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.9% Female, 41.1% | Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |