The young man in the doctor's waiting room checks his watch. He is not a patient, but he has spent more than an hour here now, and he has five more physicians to visit this afternoon. Inside the surgery, the doctor is also feeling a bit hassled. It is his fifth appointment with a medical representative that day.
Physicians and the pharmaceutical industry's travelling salespeople have a partnership of convenience. The drug market is competitive, and the widespread practice of tempting clients with presents, or even free conference trips, carries a whiff of corruption. But a job as a medical representative — a fancy name for a door-to-door drug seller — is often the first step in a lucrative career in the sales or marketing departments of big drug companies, and hence is an appealing alternative for an increasing number of scientists tired of the insecurity in research.
Gerd Sauer is one such case. The 41-year-old molecular biologist has a PhD from the University of Würzburg in Germany. Ten years ago, seeing no future at the bench and feeling his appetite for research waning, he swapped his lab coat and pipettes for a suit, briefcase and company car, and became a sales rep at Immuno, a drug company that later merged with Baxter Healthcare.
To researchers this might seem a step down. But Sauer, now group product manager for oncology at Roche Pharma in Basel, Switzerland, doesn't regret his decision. "Leaving research was not easy, but it proved to be the right step for me," he says. "I wouldn't like to have missed one second of the time I have spent working in sales. In the lab you have to be fortunate to get good results; in sales you are responsible for achieving your goals." And meeting interesting people and being encouraged to produce new ideas provided the motivation to turn his back on science.
In Germany, some 17,000 medical representatives look after about 130,000 physicians. In France, Britain and the United States, there are similarly about seven doctors to every salesperson. And many of the reps come from science. At big companies such as Roche or GlaxoSmithKline, up to 40% of sales and marketing staff have a PhD, most in biology, pharmacology or medicine.
"The job market for researchers forces many graduates and life scientists into the pharmaceutical industry," says Peter Eulenschläger, head of human resources at GlaxoSmithKline's German headquarters in Munich. Not all former scientists find their dream job, but those with good communication skills, who like contact with people and being out on business, have good chances to progress.
A qualified opinion
Management careers in the drug industry typically begin outside the office. Starting salaries for sales reps are roughly equivalent to those for postdocs, but bonus payments for hitting sales targets push them much higher.
A PhD is not essential, but it is appreciated by most recruiters, and can be helpful in a medical representative's daily routine. After all, most physicians prefer to be looked after and advised by well-trained specialists. "A pharmacologist or life scientist will simply be able to explain much more professionally and competently the pros and cons of the products he or she is trying to sell," says Axel Munte, a Munich-based physician and former head of the Bavarian Association of Health Insurance Doctors.
Indeed, many physicians feel swamped by new drugs and clinical studies. Because few have time to scan even the most essential literature, competent medical reps can keep practitioners up to date.
"The pharmaceutical industry is an essential source of further education for physicians," says Joe Collier, the London-based editor of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a review published by the UK Consumers' Association. "It seems appealing therefore that drug-company representatives should be well-trained scientists who know what they're talking about."
Still, a sales rep's primary task is to sell products and make money. And for some former scientists, who may have gone for days in the lab without speaking to other people, and who normally have little experience with corporate culture and business practices, this can be rather difficult.
When they join the sales and marketing departments of companies such as Roche, newcomers usually get three to six months of training before they start visiting customers.
"This is really a new challenge," says Claus-Henning Albrecht, who, after having spent several years in medical research, last year began a traineeship at Aventis in Frankfurt, Germany. "To be successful in this business you need at least as much determination, intuition and enthusiasm as in science."
"It makes no sense trying this if you know from the start that you don't like business," adds Sauer. "A salesperson has to be authentic."
After two years or so outside the office, successful medical representatives can expect a promotion to a sought-after management position, such as product sales manager or marketing group leader, says Thomas Hefti, a marketing director at Roche in Basel.
But scientists often regret their decision early on. "I thought to myself: this is not the kind of work that I would like to do for the rest of my life," says Matthias Strobl, a PhD student at the Institute of Nephrology in Munich, who after graduating took up a job in the marketing department of what was then SmithKline Beecham Germany, but decided to quit and return to the lab.
"I simply wasn't made for this," says Martin Klein, a biologist by training, who quit his job as a sales representative after a few months. "I felt totally overqualified, but then again patronized by the physicians I dealt with." Frustrated, Klein became a social worker for adolescents in Salzburg, Austria
Sometimes, says Klein, he felt like "Santa Claus in a suit", as he piled gifts on customers' desks. Meanwhile, however, the drug industry is trying to get rid of such practices. "In the past few years, pharmaceutical companies have been trying hard to improve their image and customer relations," says Roland Stahl, a spokesman for the German Association of Health Insurance Doctors. "The emphasis has really shifted from pushy sales practices towards serious information of, and advice to, doctors."
In most European countries this shift is backed up by laws and guidelines that regulate the number and value of gifts and other benefits that physicians can accept from drug companies. Sales managers such as Sauer, who are keen to develop a science-led, service-orientated relationship with their customers, support this trend, which they feel enhances the value of their profession. It would seem that the days are over when a physician could reply to the offer of a free conference trip with: "Oh, I would love to go — if it's in the Carribean and I can bring my partner."