Pharmaceutical consultant

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

The pharmaceutical consultant serves as a link between an academic health professional and the pharmaceutical industry , whose activities are regulated by pharmaceutical law. It provides information and advice from resident physicians and pharmacists to clinics , health insurance companies and associations in the context of so-called specialist information on drugs , medical devices and medical technology . The latest research results , product development or new therapy and care approaches are exchanged in the so-called medical and health policy field service .

The pharmaceutical consultant works closely with the back office , especially with sales , marketing and the medical and scientific department of his pharmaceutical company . In addition, it also fosters Congressional services and on trade fairs and events present and there for the objects of his company and for the acquisition charge. He particularly advises doctors there or gives specialist lectures .

The pharmaceutical consultant needs extensive medical and pharmaceutical knowledge as well as precise knowledge of the company's product portfolio as well as knowledge of the products that are in competition with it. Personal prerequisites are social skills , especially good communication skills and rhetoric , but also well-developed self-confidence and self-confidence , a positive appearance and usually a driver's license .

Since the legal requirements have changed significantly in recent years, as a pharmaceutical consultant you have to have highly specialized knowledge and also have legal knowledge. In the past, lateral entrants as pharmaceutical representatives were also welcome in this professional field, but today demand is focused on scientists and medical professionals, including those with a doctorate . As a result, the number of career opportunities in pharmaceutical consulting has decreased in volume, but at the same time the qualification requirements for a smaller area of ​​highly specialized, innovative products have increased.

In Germany , around 20,000 pharmaceutical sales representatives worked in the field in 2015. Its advice was used around 20 million times that year. At that time the pharmaceutical companies spent on pharmaceutical consultants totaled around 2.5 billion euros . Pharmaceutical advice is therefore the most influential and at the same time most valuable advertising medium in the pharmaceutical industry.

Legal framework

In order to be able to work as a pharmaceutical consultant, one of the following training courses must be completed in accordance with Section 75 Paragraphs 1 to 3 of the German Medicines Act (AMG) :

In the other case, the qualification as a certified pharmaceutical representative can be proven in a training course in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). In addition, the competent authority can determine other training courses as equivalent.

The pharmaceutical consultant must comply with the applicable legal provisions , especially the AMG and Medicinal Products Act (HWG). According to Section 76 (1) AMG, the pharmaceutical consultant is obliged, within the framework of pharmacovigilance, to record in writing reports from members of the health professions about side effects and contraindications or other risks associated with drugs and to notify the client in writing, which at the same time fulfills a legal mandate.

CPE training

Since 2013, in line with the legal regulations of other European countries, pharmaceutical consultants have been able to receive continuous training in the form of certified and evaluated training courses to become "CPE-certified pharmaceutical experts" in close cooperation with well-known university hospitals and universities . The so-called concept for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (CPE) was developed by the Professional Association of Pharmaceutical Consultants (BdP) and is intended to guarantee product-neutral training. Similar to Continuing Medical Education (CME) for doctors, the budding pharmaceutical experts receive advanced training points for participating in individual courses . The new concept was first implemented and implemented by the Hannover School of Health Management (HSHM) at the Hannover Medical School . The future pharmaceutical experts receive a further training card in which the acquired CPE points are documented.

income

An average pharmaceutical consultant in Germany earns around € 3,000 gross per month. Beginners start with around € 2,500 with service providers and can increase to around € 3,800 there. If you are directly employed by a pharmaceutical company, the starting salaries are slightly higher. In addition, there are regular (company-dependent) bonuses for achieved sales targets. A company car of the middle class is standard. According to www.hitec-consult.de, the annual salaries for beginners are € 35,000, € 60,000 for professionals and € 110,000 for top earners.

New developments

The current trend is no longer to hire pharmaceutical consultants directly, but rather to hire the employees they need from service providers (lending field service, contract sales organization). This makes the pharmaceutical company more flexible in personnel planning . Many companies use this method to find new employees, ie after a certain period of time the pharmaceutical consultants are then permanently employed by the pharmaceutical company.

From the United States (USA) comes a development to reinforce the work of the pharmaceutical representative through e-detailing . This internet-based technology, which is only just beginning to exist in Europe, is assessed in part as competition to the classic field detailing of the pharmaceutical representative.

literature

  • Claudia Borchard-Tuch, medicine for pharmaceutical representatives. General and Special Pharmacology - Anatomy and Physiology - Pathology - Pathology , ISBN 3-00-009151-3
  • Dirk Stienen, The changing job profile of the pharmaceutical representative: Consequences of the implementation of innovative reorganization and personnel development concepts in the pharmaceutical field service , by Ibidem Verlag ISBN 3-89821-098-7
  • M. Queitsch: e-Detailing - a challenge for modern pharmaceutical marketing? TU Cottbus, 2003

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Audimax : Pharmaceutical consultant: A job with a future
  2. ↑ a b c Law on the trade in pharmaceuticals (Drugs Act - AMG) - Fourteenth section - Information officer, pharmaceutical consultant - § 75 and § 76
  3. ^ Deutsches Ärzteblatt : New training for pharmaceutical consultants begins
  4. ↑ Salary comparison on hitec-consult.de , accessed on February 7, 2015