Benchmarking Professional Medical Education Excellence: Structures, Resources and Activities to Optimize Large Biopharmaceutical Education Groups

Best Practices, LLC conducted benchmarking research to inform those who lead medical education programs at large biopharmaceutical companies about the proper size, resourcing, and structure for the medical education function. The study probes emerging Medical Education trends at medical device and pharmaceutical organizations regarding funding and program types.

Study Snapshot

Best Practices, LLC engaged 11 leaders supporting medical education at 9 leading life sciences and medical device companies. More than 50% of participants are at the level of director/ senior director and around 27% of participants are managers. More than 70% of participants are from the US.

Key Findings

· Medical Education Structure Is Predominantly Centralized:
More than half of the companies centralize their medical education structure; 37% of them have their centralized medical education group in the United States.

· Large Companies Expect Increase In The Number Of Field Based Educators:

While majority of pharma participants (66%) foresee no change in staffing of field based educators in the coming two years, more than a quarter of participants do expect the staffing to increase.

Table of Contents

· Executive Summary, pgs. 3-13
· Research Overview, pg. 4
· Participating Companies, pg. 5
· Medical Education Landscape, pg. 6
· Change in Medical Education in Last 2-3 Years, pg.7
· Key Recommendations, pg. 8
· Key Findings & Insights, pgs. 9-12
· Dual Focus of Medical Education, pg. 13
· Structure & Activities, pgs. 14-19
· Professional Education Investment Level & Funding Sources, pgs. 20-30
· Professional Medical Education Staffing & Benchmark, pgs. 31-42
· Changing Trends & Directions For Medical Education, pgs. 43-50
· Benchmark Class Demographics, pgs. 51-55
· About Best Practices LLC, pgs. 56-57

List of Charts & Exhibits

· Structural Forces Creating Changes in Medical Education Landscape
· Organizational Fit of Medical Education Function
· Organizational Approach of Medical Education Function – Structure
· Leadership and Scope
· Geographic Program Focus
· Approach to Program Content
· Gaining Feedback From Funded Programs
· Resource Benchmarks
· Internal Funding Sources
· Budget Allocation Across Regions
· Budget Allocation by Program Type
· External Education Support Through Corporate Funding
· Cost Recovery Through Fee-for-Education Services
· Medical Education Funding Allocations
· Global Staffing
· Budget Per Full Time Equivalent Employee (FTE)
· Program Development and Delivery – Insourced/Outsourced
· Span of Control (Number of staff per manager)
· Regional FTE Allocation
· Programs Supported By Professional Medical Education Group
· Grant Requests
· Programs per FTE
· Budget per Program
· Staffing Trends for Field-based Educators and Clinical Specialists
· Reasons for Increasing/Decreasing Funding for CME Programs
· Investment Change Trends
· Funding Challenges
· Critical Success Factors
· Pitfalls/Obstacles To Avoid