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The differences between medical sales specialists 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 sales specialist and a pharmaceutical sales specialist. Additionally, a pharmaceutical sales specialist has an average salary of $73,003, which is higher than the $69,959 average annual salary of a medical sales specialist.
The top three skills for a medical sales specialist include patients, medical devices and medical sales. The most important skills for a pharmaceutical sales specialist are patients, sales territory, and diabetes.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $69,959 | $73,003 |
| Hourly rate | $33.63 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 76,398 | 23,474 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A medical sales specialist is an individual who advertises, markets, and distributes a specific pharmaceutical product or medical equipment to medical establishments. Medical sales specialists must manage a network of independent representatives and maintain relationships with their clients to attain territory-specific sales goals. They develop marketing strategies and business sales plans to identify key growth areas and deliver short and long-term corporate objectives. Medical sales specialists should also conduct analyses on product and market trends to achieve and exceed sales goals.
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 sales specialists and pharmaceutical sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $69,959 | $73,003 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $102,000 | Between $47,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Medline | AstraZeneca |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a medical sales specialist and a pharmaceutical sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between medical sales specialists' and pharmaceutical sales specialists' demographics:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.8% Female, 49.2% | Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% 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% |