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The differences between pharmaceutical scientists and medical science liaisons can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a pharmaceutical scientist and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $79,535 average annual salary of a pharmaceutical scientist.
The top three skills for a pharmaceutical scientist include dosage forms, pharmaceutical sciences and formulation development. The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Yearly salary | $79,535 | $145,718 |
| Hourly rate | $38.24 | $70.06 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 45,560 | 57,208 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Pharmaceutical scientists must have master's degrees or doctorates in pharmacology, chemistry, biology, anatomy, or math. Paid around $86K per year, those who choose this career path perform drug discovery research, development, and testing. They also execute experiments for system-based research projects aimed at introducing new drugs to the marketplace.
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.
Pharmaceutical scientists and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average salary | $79,535 | $145,718 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $115,000 | Between $59,000 And $359,000 |
| Highest paying City | South San Francisco, CA | Jackson, TN |
| Highest paying state | California | Tennessee |
| Best paying company | BASi | Saint Luke's Health System |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a pharmaceutical scientist and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Pharmacy | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between pharmaceutical scientists' and medical science liaisons' demographics:
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0% | Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |