Best Practices for Training & Developing High-Impact Medical Affairs Professionals

Industries Profiled:
Pharmaceutical; Biotech; Laboratories; Biopharmaceutical; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Diagnostic; Medical Device; Health Care; Non-Profit; Chemical; Consulting; Communications; Clinical Research; Education


Companies Profiled:
Adamas Pharmaceuticals; Alcon Laboratories; Alkem; Arena Pharmaceuticals; Astellas; AstraZeneca; AveXis; Bayer; Biogen; CCPE-CFPC: Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Education; Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC; Eisai; EMD Serono; Endo Pharmaceuticals; Ferring Pharmaceuticals; Fidia; Gedeon Richter ; Genentech; Heron Therapeutics; Indegene; Ipsen; IQVIA; Karyopharm Therapeutics; Mallinckrodt; MEDiSTRAVA; Merck; NexGen Healthcare Communications; Novartis; Novo Nordisk; Pfizer; PTC Therapeutics; Inc.; Retrophin; Rhythm Pharmaceuticals; Sanofi; Sanofi Genzyme; Sunovion; Terumo Corporation; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd; TG Therapeutics; UCB Pharma; United Therapeutics; Versant Learning Solutions

Study Snapshot

Best Practices, LLC engaged 57 Medical Affairs leaders involved with Medical Affairs training at 42 bio-pharmaceutical companies. In-depth interviews were conducted with 5 benchmark partners to highlight often-used training practices. Over 60% of participants are Medical Affairs Directors or Heads.

Data is segmented on the basis of function maturity to offer a clear understanding of training practices and trends.

Key topics covered in this report include:

• Training Responsibility and Oversight
• Curriculum
• Timing Staffing and Funding
• Approval Process
• Knowledge Development
• MSL Certification
• Onboarding Programs

• Support full-time trainers by using ad-hoc or part-time trainers: While nearly all companies use part-time trainers, mature companies equally rely on both part-time and full-time trainers. Dedicated and experienced staff helps organizations achieve overall training goals in a timely manner and allows for the expansion of topic areas giving trainees a deeper understanding of the industry.

• Get buy-in from internal key groups to design training programs: While field teams and medical strategy remain the most important partners in developing Medical Affairs training programs, partnering with other key internal stakeholders is necessary to aid in program development. Partner medical education, scientific publication and medical communication to further evolve training programs.

• Customize on-boarding programs as per needs: Irrespective of the maturity of Medical Affairs training groups, a majority of companies prefer to have customized on-boarding programs. In addition to customization, companies seek partial automation in their on-boarding programs.

Sr. No.	Topic	Slide No.
I.	Overview	pgs. 3-7
	One-Page Summary	pg. 3
	Objectives, Methodology and Topics	pg. 4
	Data Segments	pg. 5
	Universe of Learning	pgs. 6-7
II.	Key Findings	pgs. 8-16
III.	Training Oversight & Approvals	pgs. 17-22
IV.	Training Curriculum	pgs. 23-32
V.	Knowledge Development	pgs. 33-46
VI.	Onboarding Programs	pgs. 47-51
VII.	Timing & Performance	pgs. 52-56
VIII.	Staffing and Funding	pgs. 57-62
IX.	MSL Certification	pgs. 63-65
X.	Benchmark Class Profile	pgs. 66-67
XI.	About Best Practices, LLC	pg. 68

• Staffing of Medical Affairs training and development function
• Responsibility area for Medical Affairs training
• Role of different groups in managing Medical Affairs training and development programs
• Involvement of groups in the approval of Medical Affairs training programs
• Primary responsibility for the approval of Medical Affairs training

• Importance of training Medical Affairs professionals on each of the listed competency areas
• Medical Affairs training competency vs performance vs duration – Total benchmark class
• Medical Affairs training competency vs performance vs duration – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Success rate of participating organizations in using each of the listed sources to design an effective Medical Affairs training curriculum – Total benchmark class
• Success rate of participating organizations in using each of the listed sources to design an effective Medical Affairs training curriculum – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Level of collaboration of the Medical Affairs training group with each of the internal stakeholder groups for designing the training program – Total benchmark class
• Level of collaboration of the Medical Affairs training group with each of the internal stakeholder groups for designing the training program – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Level of collaboration of the Medical Affairs training group with each of the external stakeholder groups for designing the training program – Total benchmark class
• Level of collaboration of the Medical Affairs training group with each of the external stakeholder groups for designing the training program – More mature segment and less mature segment

• Effective training and development formats for developing Medical Affairs professionals – Total benchmark class
• Effective training and development formats for developing Medical Affairs professionals – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Effective approaches in developing individual capability and enabling career path growth
• Formal rotation of Medical Affairs personnel across different medical teams or other medical functions
• Critical business streams for role rotation
• Exposure of medical staff to each of the listed business streams, projects and activities to maximize development and forge future leaders when creating a rotation plan
• Identifying high-potential Medical Affairs professionals
• Effective approaches for grooming and retaining high-potential Medical Affairs talent for leadership roles – Development practices – Total benchmark class
• Effective approaches for grooming and retaining high-potential Medical Affairs talent for leadership roles – Development practices – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Effective approaches for grooming and retaining high-potential Medical Affairs talent for leadership roles – Incentives / retention
• Backgrounds from which Medical Affairs experts are drawn on to help mentor or advise Medical Affairs staff – Total benchmark class
• Backgrounds from which Medical Affairs experts are drawn on to help mentor or advise Medical Affairs staff – More mature segment and less mature segment
• Effective approaches to monitor progress and ensure the continued professional development of Medical Affairs staff

• Characteristics of onboarding programs
• Types of Medical Affairs employees included in onboarding activities
• Topics covered in onboarding training for Medical Affairs employees
• Career path delineation for new Medical Affairs staff

• Time spent in training each year – Total benchmark class
• Time spent in training each year – More mature segment vs. less mature segment
• Medical Affairs training groups’ performance effectiveness – Total benchmark class
• Medical Affairs training groups’ performance effectiveness – More mature segment and less mature segment

• Onboarding program at more mature companies
• Number of full-time and part-time FTEs supporting benchmark organizations’ Medical Affairs training group
• Percentage of total Medical Affairs training and development programs sourced internally within the organization versus externally
• Groups providing funding for Medical Affairs training and development programs
• Approach for developing policies for Medical Affairs training

• Frequency of MSL re-certification
• Testing format, topics included in the testing, and evaluators during the MSL re-certification process