Virology director vs medical science liaison

The differences between virology directors 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 virology director and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $67,183 average annual salary of a virology director.

The top three skills for a virology director include cell biology, and . The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.

Virology director vs medical science liaison overview

	Virology Director	Medical Science Liaison
Yearly salary	$67,183	$145,718
Hourly rate	$32.30	$70.06
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	5,922	57,208
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Virology director vs medical science liaison salary

Virology directors and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Virology Director	Medical Science Liaison
Average salary	$67,183	$145,718
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $148,000	Between $59,000 And $359,000
Highest paying City	-	Jackson, TN
Highest paying state	-	Tennessee
Best paying company	-	Saint Luke's Health System
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between virology director and medical science liaison education

There are a few differences between a virology director and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:

	Virology Director	Medical Science Liaison
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Microbiology	Nursing
Most common college	Duke University	University of Southern California

Virology director vs medical science liaison demographics

Here are the differences between virology directors' and medical science liaisons' demographics:

	Virology Director	Medical Science Liaison
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7%	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 27.9% White, 56.4% 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%

Differences between virology director and medical science liaison duties and responsibilities

Virology director example responsibilities.

Manage technology transfer for clinical API supply delivery.
Collaborate with academics to further develop compounds that inhibit HCV growth in tissue culture.
Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.
Design fully-functional modern immunology laboratory.

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.

Virology director vs medical science liaison skills

Common virology director skills

Cell Biology, 100%

Common medical science liaison skills

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

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Virology Director vs Medical Science Liaison

Updated January 8, 2025

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