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The differences between medical 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 medical representative and a pharmaceutical sales specialist. Additionally, a pharmaceutical sales specialist has an average salary of $73,003, which is higher than the $36,309 average annual salary of a medical representative.
The top three skills for a medical representative include patients, customer service and first aid kits. The most important skills for a pharmaceutical sales specialist are patients, sales territory, and diabetes.
| Medical Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,309 | $73,003 |
| Hourly rate | $17.46 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 176,481 | 23,474 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A medical representative is responsible for selling medical equipment, medications, and other medical supplies by demonstrating benefits and features to patients and healthcare professionals. Medical representatives work closely with their company's marketing department to develop strategic procedures and promotional techniques to attract customers and generate revenues for the business. They respond to the customers' inquiries and concerns, take their orders, and process their payments. A medical representative also analyzes the current trends in the medical industry to identify business opportunities that would establish a market presence.
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.
Medical representatives and pharmaceutical sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,309 | $73,003 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $48,000 | Between $47,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | Lansing, MI | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Michigan | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Capgemini | AstraZeneca |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a medical representative and a pharmaceutical sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between medical representatives' and pharmaceutical sales specialists' demographics:
| Medical Representative | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.2% Female, 54.8% | Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.8% 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% |