Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives work closely with GP Practices, Hospitals and Pharmacies. Through liaising closely with pharmacists and doctors, the reps establish what the prescribing habits are of a particular practice or hospital. The reps seek to build relationships with the doctors in order to better understand their needs and, if appropriate they will then encourage the doctors to consider using their Company's pharmaceutical products as a matter of preference.

The Pharmaceutical Sales Representative is able to build relationships by calling on doctors at their surgeries and by organising 'speaker meetings'. A speaker meeting will usually include a presentation by the sales Representative or an invited speaker (a peer to the doctors).

Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives need to take, and pass, their ABPI (Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry) exams by the end of their first year as a rep. The exam is divided into two papers one covers anatomy and physiology and the other a specialist subject area. This specialist subject is usually the therapy area that the rep has so far had the most experience of selling into for example cardiovascular, dermatology, erectile dysfunction, neurology, cardiology, contraception to name but a few.

Usually a newcomer to the industry will work as a GP Representative (or Primary Care Representative) working closely with GPs and Practice Nurses. Sometimes they will have a combined role as a GP/Hospital Representative whereby they visit GPs in the mornings and Hospitals in the afternoon. It's usually seen as a promotion when a rep starts to work exclusively as a Hospital Representative, or Hospital Specialist, focusing only on secondary care; this role is also known as a Secondary Care Representative.

Challenges of the role can include access difficulties to Key Opinion Leaders in PCTs and Gps. Most Pharmaceutical Companies give their Representatives call rate targets and this means that one way or another the Representatives have to make sure they see a certain number of Key Opinion Leaders a day. Most important of all, of course, are the sales results that you achieve. And herein lies another challenge. It's not always easy to identify whether or not your visits have influenced a Key Opinion Leader's prescribing habits. The only way to find out is to visit local pharmacists and find out whether or not the number of scripts for your products have increased.

But overall the role of a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative is very rewarding, especially for those that reach the position of a Hospital Specialist, working with experts in therapy areas to really make a difference to the lives of patients with serious illnesses.

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