Medical science liaison vs chemistry laboratory assistant

The differences between medical science liaisons and chemistry laboratory assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a medical science liaison, becoming a chemistry laboratory assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $30,971 average annual salary of a chemistry laboratory assistant.

The top three skills for a medical science liaison include patients, medical affairs and MSL. The most important skills for a chemistry laboratory assistant are lab equipment, lab safety, and chemistry lab.

Medical science liaison vs chemistry laboratory assistant overview

	Medical Science Liaison	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant
Yearly salary	$145,718	$30,971
Hourly rate	$70.06	$14.89
Growth rate	17%	4%
Number of jobs	57,208	40,180
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age	41	44
Years of experience	4	2

What does a medical science liaison do?

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.

What does a chemistry laboratory assistant do?

Chemical Laboratory Assistants are professionals who help researchers and scientists in performing lab experiments and tests. Their tasks involve the maintenance, cleanliness, or sterilization of laboratory equipment or instruments. They perform physical or chemical laboratory tests assisting scientists in the quantitative or qualitative analyses of liquids, gaseous materials, and solids. The necessary skills and knowledge for this job include chemistry, lab reporting, chemical solutions, and safety procedures.

Medical science liaison vs chemistry laboratory assistant salary

Medical science liaisons and chemistry laboratory assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Science Liaison	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant
Average salary	$145,718	$30,971
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $359,000	Between $16,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	Jackson, TN	Hartford, CT
Highest paying state	Tennessee	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Saint Luke's Health System	Pace University
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Education

Differences between medical science liaison and chemistry laboratory assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical science liaison and a chemistry laboratory assistant in terms of educational background:

	Medical Science Liaison	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common major	Nursing	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Stanford University

Medical science liaison vs chemistry laboratory assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical science liaisons' and chemistry laboratory assistants' demographics:

	Medical Science Liaison	Chemistry Laboratory Assistant
Average age	41	44
Gender ratio	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%	Male, 45.5% Female, 54.5%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 9.5% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	8%	9%

Differences between medical science liaison and chemistry laboratory assistant duties and responsibilities

Medical science liaison example responsibilities.

Supervise and analyze medical necessity review of manage care appeals.
Develop and manage KOLs resulting in presentations to regional, national and international meetings.
Utilize extensive knowledge of medical terminology, ICD-9, HCPCS and CPT coding along with analysis and processing of Medicare claims.
Provide pre-launch field support for a novel diabetes compound.
Provide drug information to medical professionals and sales force within FDA guidelines.
Join Clementine as a trainee BMS and successfully complete training and registration.

Chemistry laboratory assistant example responsibilities.

Comfort frighten patients and maintain an exceptionally bright professional demeanor to accomplish a procedure that makes most people very uncomfortable.
Prepare buffer solutions, separate DNA, dissect baby mice, and perform general lab procedures.
Facilitate placement and organization of equipment for new laboratory including HPLC, GC-MS, UV-VIS, and DSC.
Maintain GC/FID, GC/MS and LC/MS systems.
Purify total RNA out of scallop muscle tissue.
Maintain proper records and documentation of DNA sequencing products.

Medical science liaison vs chemistry laboratory assistant skills

Common medical science liaison skills

Patients, 11%
Medical Affairs, 9%
MSL, 7%
Medical Science, 6%
Pharmaceutical Industry, 5%
Internal Stakeholders, 4%

Common chemistry laboratory assistant skills

Lab Equipment, 39%
Lab Safety, 13%
Chemistry Lab, 6%
Lab Experiments, 4%
Lab Reports, 3%
Analytical Chemistry, 2%

Medical Science Liaison vs. similar jobs

Medical Science Liaison related careers

Medical Science Liaison related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Medical Science Liaison
Medical Science Liaison vs Chemistry Laboratory Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs