Medical science liaison vs phd researcher

The differences between medical science liaisons and phd researchers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a medical science liaison and an phd researcher. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $51,634 average annual salary of an phd researcher.

The top three skills for a medical science liaison include patients, medical affairs and MSL. The most important skills for an phd researcher are python, chemistry, and research projects.

Medical science liaison vs phd researcher overview

	Medical Science Liaison	PHD Researcher
Yearly salary	$145,718	$51,634
Hourly rate	$70.06	$24.82
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	57,208	19,736
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Doctoral Degree, 40%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

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 an phd researcher do?

The primary job of a Ph.D. researcher is to plan and conduct experiments and analyzing their outcome. You will collect, organize, and analyze data and opinions to solve issues and predict trends. Other tasks you will perform include doing fieldwork to collect samples, writing reports, research papers, and reviews, and organizing materials testing. In addition, you need to liaise with research and production staff, develop ways to resolve problems, and supervise junior research staff.

Medical science liaison vs phd researcher salary

Medical science liaisons and phd researchers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Science Liaison	PHD Researcher
Average salary	$145,718	$51,634
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $359,000	Between $35,000 And $76,000
Highest paying City	Jackson, TN	Novato, CA
Highest paying state	Tennessee	California
Best paying company	Saint Luke's Health System	Meta
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between medical science liaison and phd researcher education

There are a few differences between a medical science liaison and an phd researcher in terms of educational background:

	Medical Science Liaison	PHD Researcher
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Doctoral Degree, 40%
Most common major	Nursing	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	Duke University

Medical science liaison vs phd researcher demographics

Here are the differences between medical science liaisons' and phd researchers' demographics:

	Medical Science Liaison	PHD Researcher
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%	Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3%
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, 6.1% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 32.5% White, 47.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between medical science liaison and phd researcher 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.

Phd researcher example responsibilities.

Manage and mentore graduate and undergraduate students in their physical chemistry relate studies and research projects on spin dynamics simulations.
Evaluate data employing GC/MS, gel electrophoresis, and UV/VIS spectroscopy.
Perform testing using gel electrophoresis as well as mixed and pour the gels used in testing
Optimize and redesign robotic components base on FEA for improve strength using ANSYS and SOLIDWORKS.
Coauthor an NIH grant proposal on DNA mismatch repair and malaria drug resistance (5R21AI072723-02).
Design a scent dispenser 3D model in SolidWorks and build a prototype by utilizing MasterCam and CNC machines.

Medical science liaison vs phd researcher skills

Common medical science liaison skills

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

Common phd researcher skills

Python, 9%
Chemistry, 8%
Research Projects, 6%
Data Analysis, 6%
Renewable Energy, 6%
C++, 5%

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Medical Science Liaison
Medical Science Liaison vs PHD Researcher

Updated January 8, 2025

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