Value.MA .White .Paper

Communicating the Value of Medical Affairs

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Medical Affairs’ role in securing a bright future for pharma is undeniable, yet many before have struggled to bring forth concise and consistent descriptions that communicate the full range of benefits and expertise that Medical Affairs (MA) brings to the table. As a result, the wider understanding of MA’s role is not where it should be. To that end, this white paper explores the role and value of MA, backed up with commentary from industry leaders, as we define clear pillars of MA that communicate its true value. What’s more, we propose a short elevator pitch that MA professionals can use to quickly yet succinctly describe the importance of MA for every successful pharma venture in the future.

Download the White Paper

 

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Managing Your Career – Part 3: Five Modern Medical Affairs Competencies

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Five Modern Medical Affairs Competencies

Dr. Qasim Ahmad, Corporate Officer, Head of Medical Affairs, Japan, Novartis

 

Since joining the pharmaceutical industry (PI) 2 decades ago, I have been lucky to have lived through and experience the exponential growth of medical affairs function, not only in size and ever expanding responsibilities, but also the importance and value it brings to the industry. There are several internal and external factors, contributing in the evolution of medical affairs from a mere support function to becoming a core pillar, and an equal partner with drug development and commercial functions with the PI.

In recent years, we have seen significant and unprecedented advances in biotechnology, delivering novel treatments and data sets, faster than ever before. There is an information overload, which calls for smart and innovative ways to design, analyse, disseminate and communicate the value of evidence, to the right end user (the customers), at the right place and the right time.

Concurrently, health systems across the world are becoming over-burdened, facing considerable sustainability challenges, due financial constraints, ageing, increasing population, changing disease patterns, persisting as well as new communicable diseases (COVID-19) and cost burden of chronic non-communicable diseases, including cancers.

You must also develop command on evolving health care environment and be equipped to meet the challenges associated with growing drug approval complexities and health technology assessment criteria for access. Develop unique competencies and transformative operating models to address these requirements, build capabilities that are ideally suited for medical affairs organization to generate data beyond traditional registration trial safety and efficacy packages, to facilitate evidenced based decisions making based on patient centric, clinically meaningful, health outcomes, access and quality of life real world data (RWD) data sets.

As you think of building your career in medical affairs, keep the above opportunities and challenges in consideration, the following 5 core medical affairs competencies will help nurturing your talent as patient and customer centric medical champions, ready now for future.

  1. Enterprise Perspective
  2. Functional Excellence
  3. Health System Thinking
  4. External Facing Organization vs Internal focused
  5. Effective Leadership & Governance

 

 

1. Enterprise Perspective

Medical Affairs has evolved to be one of the most strategically important and valued functions in a pharmaceutical industry. As successful medical affairs professionals, you need to build the skills and scientific acumen like that of a clinical development expert, while demonstrating the strategic intellect and real life customer oriented mind-set of a commercial leader. You will have to champion cross functional navigation, show enterprise vision, logical and critical thinking, develop broad and long range strategic direction throughout product life cycle and build bridges between unlimited internal touch points as well as external stakeholder.

 

2. Functional Excellence

In order to demonstrate value, your medical affairs competencies should be geared to exceed internal and external expectations, meeting the demands of above mentioned expanding responsibilities, while acquiring new skills and capabilities. You will need an all-rounder approach, adapting new technologies, digital tools, precision medicine approaches, and introduce novel engagement models. Thus continuously striving for medical and operational excellence, not only in designing and delivering high quality clinical trials based on meaning actionable insights, but also excellence in executing deep scientific exchange with medical experts, incorporating the voice of patient, payer and all stakeholders at launch, and across life cycle strategies.

 

 

3. Health System Thinking

In medical affairs, you are perfectly placed to lead, plan and deliver health care solutions and to shape the environment, playing a key role in health systems sustainability. You should build capabilities and competencies to assess health system needs and developing solutions, supporting public health initiatives; disease awareness & educational training programs; research collaborations in area not only limited to company core business (orphan diseases, rare indications, special populations); managed patient access programs and many other patient focused projects, partnering with health system players. You will require special skills for this mind-set shift, and thinking beyond the pill to building trust with the society. This competency is distinctive and vital for future role of medical affairs.

 

4. External Facing Organization

As part of modern medical affairs organization, you should have involvement and ownership across life cycle of assets, from early development to late stage planning. Either you are in field medical teams, medical advisors or MSLs (medical science liaison) role, you are the eyes and ears of the organization to external world. With external customer base expanding beyond prescribers and policy makers, you well have to learn rule of engagement and proficiency to work with providers, payers, private non-state health actors, patients and patient advocacy groups, as they are all taking central stage in health care decision making. This will be the game changers in reversing the traditional internal fixated industry approach to a strategic patient and customer focused, outward facing organization. Building this core competency by incorporating patient journey, stakeholder need assessment and changing health care limitations in your strategies, will enhance collaborations, speed of innovation, resource waste reduction and improved patient outcomes.

 

5. Effective Leadership

Modern medical affairs is not a support function, it is about leading from the front as equal partner with commercial, departing from prior passive back seat mind-set and demonstrate value to the organization through proactive leadership, vision and measurable impact. You will have to steer this transformation from current medical advisory role to leadership status, breaking unnecessary internal silos and taking ownership as well as accountability of business deliverable. Creating this new room within the organization will requires your commitment, change agility, interpersonal skills and inspiring leadership to take on completely new responsibilities or replacing those previously championed by other functions.

 

Conclusion

Traditional sales and commercial models are becoming obsolete, success of future pharmaceutical frameworks relies on vision, foresight and appropriate investment in building medical affairs (MA) talent, ready now for future. With ever changing external landscape, regulations and compliance requirements, the role of medical affairs will continue to grow as the key pillar, vital to achieve organizational objectives. By building these core competencies, you can demonstrate to your leadership, the value medical affairs brings, and its strategic far reaching business impact.

 

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Managing Your Career – Part 2: How To Maximise Your Chances of Success at Interviews

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How To Maximise Your Chances of Success at Interviews

By Alan McDougall, MD, VP, Head of Medical Affairs, Asia-Oceania Region, Astellas

 

Interviews are stressful but you can reduce your adrenaline levels through proper preparation. Medical Affairs has transformed in the last decade and there are a number of key competencies which are sought after and which you should attempt to demonstrate through each and every contact you have with both the recruiter and your prospective employers. Below is a not exhaustive list of the most desirable competencies and behaviours.

 

Communication

The ability to communicate clearly and effectively and through a variety of channels is essential for anyone working in medical affairs. Having a high level of knowledge but an inability to share it or teach it effectively is of little value. Communication also includes using appropriate body language, listening skills and the ability to provide feedback. Make sure every verbal or written contact you have with the company or the recruiter is carefully thought through and proof-read in the case of written contacts.

 

Passion and enthusiasm

Employers want to hire someone who demonstrates a passion to work at their company, sometimes described as being “hungry” for the role. Having the right attitude is often more important than knowledge, because attitude is very hard to train but knowledge can be learned. Carefully word your cover letter and individualise your CV for each job to stress key experiences or skills that are mentioned in the advertisement and job description (JD). Spend time browsing through the company’s corporate website and come armed with pre-prepared questions which are thoughtful and specific to the role and the company. If possible, ask about a recent company press release and the implications (if any) for the role for which you are applying.

 

Technical skills

Medical affairs positions require certain technical skills that are usually listed in the job advertisement or JD. You should already possess many of the skills the company is looking for, at least to some degree. You may not yet be an expert in all of them but there should be a solid foundation upon which you can build. Typically, at interview, these technical competencies will be assessed (presentation skills, therapeutic area knowledge etc.). Take note of the JD, advert and recruiter’s comments and use every contact opportunity to mention where your current technical skills fit the role being offered.

 

Work ethic

It should go without saying that employers expect you to be at work on time, do what you were hired to do, meet targets and deadlines and work to the best of your ability. Sadly, we have all worked with colleagues who do not always meet these basic requirements. Make sure you are early for interviews, meet all deadlines when replying to emails, phone messages etc. and do everything you can to give your prospective manager confidence in your own work ethic. You have only a few contact opportunities with your potential next company and so make sure each one says something positive about you and your personal standards.

 

Flexibility

More than ever before, employees need to react quickly to changing business conditions. Agile companies and agile teams are currently popular subjects in articles written by business thought leaders. Employers need employees who can quickly adapt to change. Come to interview with examples of how you demonstrated your own agility – perhaps covering another role on top of your own, taking on a project about which you had no little or no previous experience and delivering a successful outcome or dealing positively with an unpredictable environmental change.

 

Resilience

We all typically get challenging but (hopefully) achievable goals and deadlines. The key to successful delivery is often being able to work hard and to keep moving forward when you encounter the inevitable and frustrating obstacles that regularly happen in business. Come to interview with examples of how you overcame particularly difficult challenges and show that you did not give up but that you persevered and ultimately met your objectives.

 

Teamwork

Little in the pharmaceutical industry is achieved by a single individual. Roles in medical affairs are becoming more diverse and specialised and therefore there is an increasing need for reliance on your colleagues to get things done. The ability to get on and work collaboratively with others is therefore a key competency. Using real examples, show how you contributed to successful teamwork under challenging circumstances and how you “did not give up”.

 

Life-long learner

As product portfolios and market environments change, there is a need to seek out new information, challenge your beliefs and explore new ways of doing things. Long-held “facts” can change when new contradictory evidence emerges. People who are naturally curious with an interest in learning combined with a willingness to share this with others, make great co-workers. At interview, explain what new skills or knowledge you have learned, how you applied this at work and describe the impact that it made.

 

Problem-solving skills

Managers look for people who are motivated to take on business challenges, ideally with minimal direction. Most of us prefer our employees to “come to us with solutions not problems”. Employees should see when something needs to be done and react accordingly. Come to interview with examples of how you observed an issue at work, took ownership of it and solved it. This can be even more impactful if it wasn’t in your job description in the first place.

 

Loyalty

Employers want people to stay with them for many years due to their financial investment with the recruitment company and the time spent on interviews and on your on-boarding process. Multiple job moves in a relatively short time period with different companies is usually an alarm bell and indicates a risk that you will not stay long if you are even offered the job. If you unfortunately have had several short-term moves recently, make sure that you come to interview with a clear explanation as to why and what you learned. Try hard not to criticise your current or previous companies or managers as this can come across quite negatively, even if you feel you have every right to do so. Employers always prefer someone running towards the role on offer than someone running away from their current job as the former is a positive choice whereas the latter can be simply escaping to “any port in a storm”.

 

Conclusion

It is a truism to say that you only have one chance to make a good first impression and so at interview be well prepared and make sure you have done your homework well in advance. Tell the employer why you really want this job and make sure your passion and enthusiasm come to the forefront. Show your agility, resilience and ability to learn, which are all highly valued competencies by employers. Finally, do remember that all contacts with the employer and recruiter, no matter how trivial, are likely to be judged so make them count!

 

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Managing Your Career – Part 1: A crash course on how to manage your career in Medical Affairs

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Managing your career – Part 1: A crash course on how to manage your career in Medical Affairs

By Cezary Statuch, MD, VP, Medical, International Markets, Biogen

Like many things in life, when managing your career timing is everything, and being in the right place at the right time is important. Knowing whether it is the right time for you to move on is not always easy. The pharma and biotech industries are an attractive place to pursue your professional dreams, and some markets are in great demand for medical affairs talent–so the phone rings more often than ever with calls from headhunters. Unfortunately, at times of high demand for talent the recruiters are less likely concerned if you have completed your career cycle, and if your skill set fits what they are after you will have to deal with serious temptations. Here are a few tips on how to manage your career planning and how to get ready for your next job.

  • Look back and do a quick assessment of your career to date. Understanding your career trajectory, what you have accomplished and where you want to go will significantly help with the challenge. But most importantly understanding your limitations is critical. Only when you know them will you be able to close the gaps. Ask yourself these questions: Have you have been in your current role long enough? Have you completed a career cycle? Have you fully learned the role? “Job jumpers” or “non-stickers” as I call them are very easy to spot. If you happen to have a very short stint in the role, be prepared to provide a compelling explanation why.

 

  • Understanding what the industry can offer is a common challenge for candidates, especially the younger ones. The knowledge of basics of drug development and the commercialization process is crucial as it will help in understanding what opportunities exist in your country/territory and how to navigate them. The industry has evolved dramatically over the past decade and there are many roles now which never existed previously. There is a wealth of resources offering insights into how pharma companies are structured. Many companies offer training in the drug-development process as part of their curricula for employees. If your company does not, look online. Talking to more senior colleagues is also a good source of acquiring that knowledge.

 

  • Compete for the right job, one which matches your skill set. Understand your strengths and create a competitive advantage. Create a simple checklist of attributes/skills which may differentiate you from other candidates competing for this position and sell yourself well.

 

  • Do not be a title junkie! Titles are important as they help to position us in the industry and make us proud of what we have achieved. We all like attractive titles, particularly those which reflect our seniority, but beware of inflated titles which are easy to spot. Do not take the job simply because it offers a higher grade or a more impressive title, as this could easily put your career on the wrong track. Reversing this could take a long time.

 

  • Having a great boss is a big draw, but don’t choose the job purely because of the manager. Follow the job content and opportunity to learn, not the person. Your boss will always remain part of your professional circle and you will always be able to rely on his/her career advice, even if you stop working together.

 

  • Having the right work-life balance is critical for your success, so ask yourself how moving to your next career step will affect your personal life and if you are ready for it. Frequent travel, need to relocate, necessity to work out of hours—these things can seriously impact your job satisfaction.

 

  • Creating the right image is very important and is a process which takes time. You can start with creating a high-quality LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn has become a powerful tool. Read profiles of those whom you respect and admire. Use a professional, high-quality photo and ensure the use of proper English. When you apply, provide a quality CV adapted to showcase your skills for the role for which you are applying.

 

  • Always respond to recruiters but be very transparent about your true intensions. Do not interview if you are not seriously considering the opportunity. Telling recruiters that you are not ready to change the job yet will speak highly of you, proving you to be loyal to your organization and mature about your career goals. They will remember that and will keep you on their radar screen.

 

  • Get help from those around you. Pay attention to relationships and build your social capital. The pool of professionals in the industry is defined, and so is the number of companies. The proverbial “small world” applies to our industry as well, so take care of your reputation, not only within your own company, but most importantly within the industry. Become visible within your organization and outside of it. Build your own pool of advisors, coaches and mentors. They can be peers, but don’t have to come from the same department or the same company.

 

  • Make your company aware of your aspirations; otherwise your manager may assume that you are not interested and therefore not consider you for the job you want. Apply for the jobs which may be a stretch for you even if you think that the probability of getting them is low. It will send a strong message to your manager as to what you aspire to, and will help you and your manager to understand what you need to learn to land the job the next time. Treat every interview as a lesson and always ask for feedback. Unfortunately, providing high-quality, timely feedback for those candidates who failed to get the job is still not a common practice in the industry. If feedback was not provided to you, do not be afraid to reach out to the hiring manager or the recruiter to discuss the outcome of your interview. Constructive feedback is an invaluable source of direction for your future career steps and providing it is not always easy. You may need to be persistent and ask questions as to why the interview was not successful or why you were not chosen. Regardless how well you are supported in your career development, there is one principle which should always guide you: remember that ultimately, you own your career and no one else but you should drive your development.

 

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