Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between visiting researchers 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 visiting researcher and a medical science liaison. Additionally, a medical science liaison has an average salary of $145,718, which is higher than the $68,912 average annual salary of a visiting researcher.
The top three skills for a visiting researcher include python, java and climate. The most important skills for a medical science liaison are patients, medical affairs, and MSL.
| Visiting Researcher | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Yearly salary | $68,912 | $145,718 |
| Hourly rate | $33.13 | $70.06 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 14,622 | 57,208 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A visiting researcher is usually a postdoc, assistant, or associate professor who wants to carry out research or perform other professional development activity in an institution, and so they either visit or spend sabbaticals there. Their duties are largely dependent on the institution. However, they may be required to make presentations about your research during their stay. They may also be expected to contribute actively to on-going activities in any of the programs.
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.
Visiting researchers and medical science liaisons have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Visiting Researcher | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average salary | $68,912 | $145,718 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $115,000 | Between $59,000 And $359,000 |
| Highest paying City | Berkeley, CA | Jackson, TN |
| Highest paying state | California | Tennessee |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Saint Luke's Health System |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a visiting researcher and a medical science liaison in terms of educational background:
| Visiting Researcher | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Physics | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between visiting researchers' and medical science liaisons' demographics:
| Visiting Researcher | Medical Science Liaison | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0% | Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 28.3% White, 51.1% 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% |