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The differences between medical sales specialists and 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 specialist. Additionally, a medical sales specialist has an average salary of $69,959, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.
The top three skills for a medical sales specialist include patients, medical devices and medical sales. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $69,959 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $33.63 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 76,398 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| 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.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Medical sales specialists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $69,959 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $102,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Medline | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | - |
There are a few differences between a medical sales specialist and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between medical sales specialists' and specialists' demographics:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.8% Female, 49.2% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| 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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 11% |