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Pharmaceutical representative vs medical representative

The differences between pharmaceutical representatives and medical representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a pharmaceutical representative and a medical representative. Additionally, a pharmaceutical representative has an average salary of $66,166, which is higher than the $36,309 average annual salary of a medical representative.

The top three skills for a pharmaceutical representative include pharmaceutical products, territory management and medical professionals. The most important skills for a medical representative are patients, customer service, and first aid kits.

Pharmaceutical representative vs medical representative overview

Pharmaceutical RepresentativeMedical Representative
Yearly salary$66,166$36,309
Hourly rate$31.81$17.46
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs51,956176,481
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4747
Years of experience22

Pharmaceutical representative vs medical representative salary

Pharmaceutical representatives and medical representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

Pharmaceutical RepresentativeMedical Representative
Average salary$66,166$36,309
Salary rangeBetween $42,000 And $103,000Between $27,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City-Lansing, MI
Highest paying state-Michigan
Best paying company-Capgemini
Best paying industry-Pharmaceutical

Differences between pharmaceutical representative and medical representative education

There are a few differences between a pharmaceutical representative and a medical representative in terms of educational background:

Pharmaceutical RepresentativeMedical Representative
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Pharmaceutical representative vs medical representative demographics

Here are the differences between pharmaceutical representatives' and medical representatives' demographics:

Pharmaceutical RepresentativeMedical Representative
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 44.3% Female, 55.7%Male, 45.2% Female, 54.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%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%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between pharmaceutical representative and medical representative duties and responsibilities

Pharmaceutical representative example responsibilities.

  • Manage and promote cardiovascular and respiratory products to local cardiologist, endocrinologists & allergists.
  • Manage Santa Rosa/San Francisco territories, marketing and selling respiratory, urology, cardiology to pharmacies and primary care physicians.
  • Collaborate with institution, cardiology, and diabetes specialists to increase penetration and productivity in hospital and endocrinology.
  • Complete extensive training in disease states such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, allergy, neurology and pain management.
  • Promote pharmaceuticals in the anti-microbial, neurology and gastroenterology markets.
  • Conduct discussions for a new drug for the treatment of hypertension.
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Medical representative example responsibilities.

  • Achieve market share growth in the psychiatry, cardiovascular, and neurology markets.
  • Lead the nation in new product introduction of ZAC, an anti hypertension medication.
  • Manage the sale of pharmaceuticals to treat hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, depression, women's health and pain/neurological disorders.
  • Manage specialty sales of psychiatry and other products across Mid-Michigan health-care systems.
  • Manage products in gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, rheumatology, and OB-GYN categories.
  • Achieve sales growth objectives by incorporating product/technical knowledge, teamwork, customer and multi-product focus, innovation and creativity.
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Pharmaceutical representative vs medical representative skills

Common pharmaceutical representative skills
  • Pharmaceutical Products, 17%
  • Territory Management, 13%
  • Medical Professionals, 7%
  • Market Share Growth, 6%
  • Neurology, 5%
  • Sales Growth, 5%
Common medical representative skills
  • Patients, 17%
  • Customer Service, 13%
  • First Aid Kits, 9%
  • Incident Investigations, 9%
  • CPR, 6%
  • Medical Terminology, 6%