Medical Science Liaison
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Medical Science Liaison establishes and maintains relationships with leading physicians at academic institutions and clinics. Typically specializes in one medical field in which he/she provide clinical and scientific support related to their company's products and solutions.
Job Outlook
There were 252 Medical Science Liaison job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 11650 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Medical Scientist industry, which includes the Medical Science Liaison career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Medical Science Liaison jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $130,889.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $129,799.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Medical Science Liaison postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $86,505.
Education and Experience
Posted Medical Science Liaison jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 27.7% |
| Master's Degree | 29% |
| Doctoral Degree | 58.01% |
| Other | 3.79% |
Posted Medical Science Liaison jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 49.4% |
| 3 to 5 years | 39.8% |
| 6 to 8 years | 8.15% |
| 9+ years | 2.65% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Medical Science Liaison positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (61.09%)
- Research (48.8%)
- Presentations (45.35%)
- Sales (31.89%)
- Management (23.41%)
- Leadership (22.97%)
- Operations (20.11%)
- Good Driving Record (16.01%)
- Interpersonal Communications (14.16%)
- Writing (13.71%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Medical Strategy (31.9%)
- Key Opinion Leader Development (40.83%)
- Medical Affairs (51.76%)
- Clinical Trials (39.97%)
- Pre-Clinical Development (16.22%)
- Pharmacovigilance (9.63%)
- Medical Science Liaison (61.16%)
- Information Sciences (25.2%)
- Marketing (31.86%)
- Pharmaceuticals (35.42%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Clinical Experience (16.44%)
- Clinical Research (22.08%)
- Hematology (5.53%)
- Customer Relationship Management (9.21%)
- Hospital Information Systems (6.12%)
- Clinical Practices (12.66%)
- Business Development (12.76%)
- Immunology (18.54%)
- Public Health (5.44%)
- Medical Science (15.36%)
- Data Collection (6.35%)
- Epidemiology (3.57%)
- Dermatology (8.26%)
- Health Systems (6.2%)
- Data Analysis (11.58%)
- Risk Management (4.35%)
- Managed Care (6.38%)
- Gastroenterology (7.69%)
- Life Sciences (3.48%)
- Health Sciences (10.09%)
- Patient Advocacy (5.45%)
- Oncology (14.33%)
- Scientific Literature (6.68%)
- Nursing (9.13%)
- Project Management (9.63%)
- Stakeholder Engagement (7.43%)
- Business Strategies (1.7%)
- New Product Development (8.93%)
- Pulmonology (10.68%)
- Strategic Partnership (12.89%)
- Neurology (6.51%)
- Disease Management (12.58%)
- Rehabilitation (11.8%)
- General Scientific Knowledge (8.68%)
- Healthcare Industry Knowledge (10.8%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Medical Strategy (46.37%)
- Medical Affairs (75.25%)
- Real World Evidence (3.93%)
- Pre-Clinical Development (23.58%)
- Clinical Research (32.1%)
- Pharmacovigilance (14%)
- Medical Science Liaison (88.91%)
- Pharmaceuticals (51.49%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Medical Science Liaison skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Clinical Liaison
- Physician Liaison
- Oncology Medical Science Liaison
- Respiratory Medical Science Liaison
- Rehabilitation Liaison
- Gastroenterology Registered Nurse
- Neuroscience Medical Science Liaison
- Rheumatology Specialist
- Clinical Nurse Liaison
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Clinical Research Director
- Clinical Trial Manager
- Natural Science Research Manager (General)
- Clinical Research Manager
- Clinical Project Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Medical Science Liaison jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Sanofi (2102)
- Encompass Health (454)
- Johnson & Johnson (418)
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (399)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (356)
- Amgen (228)
- AbbVie (186)
- AstraZeneca (158)
- LifePoint Health (142)
- Bayer (142)
North Carolina
- Sanofi (35)
- Johnson & Johnson (12)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (8)
- Lifecare Agency Ltd (7)
- Daiichi Sankyo (6)
- Jazz Pharmaceuticals (6)
- Tsp Agency (5)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (5)
- Action Behavior Centers (5)
- Select Physical Therapy (5)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.