Pharm. Reps?

[JillianS]

Any Pharmaceutical reps out there?

I am currently a university student, entering my third year of commerce (I think in the US, you guys just call it "business"..anyways..
I'm trying to decide my career path, what I want to be doing out of school etc. I've heard good things about being a pharm. rep, but I've never actually heard firsthand from ppl who actually DO it....
I'm looking for insight on education requirements, experience requirements, what can give you an "advantage" when it comes to getting hired, your actual experiences with the job (love it? hate it? both?) positives and negatives.
Salary info (if you're willing to share), bonuses, perks, drawbacks, etc etc.
anything you can give me would be great as I'm at a pinnacle moment in my education career where I'm trying to decide between a couple different paths...


it'd be particularily great if any Canadians could reply, as it's probably a bit different on this side of the border, but I'm looking for any info at all :)

thanks ladies.

[BTB]

My DH's sister used to be a pharm rep - DH referred to her as a "drug dealer" (luckily she thought it was funny). Otherwise, my only exposure to drug reps is in a professional capacity, so from my side of the window instead of theirs, for what it's worth.

SIL worked for Merck for, I think, four years? During that time, she was paid well (~$70,000/yr, plus company car and good benefits) but was unhappy. She had been pre-med in college but decided not to apply to med school when her grades weren't what she'd hoped; she took the pharm rep job as a way of still being in a medical field. Except that it's not truly a medical job, it's a sales job, and after a couple years she decided to go back to school to be a physician assistant. She's been a PA a year now and is much happier.

I think, if you go into it wanting a sales job, that your experience would be very different, and much more enjoyable. Her education: a four-year college degree, as a genetics major. Experience: none, no prior sales, actually no prior full-time jobs of any kind. They train. Definite advantages in hiring: prior jobs in the medical field, especially nursing (they always seem to be recruiting my nursing friends) so that you "talk the talk", or prior sales jobs.

Biggest positives according to SIL: she was in charge of her own time, visiting offices, arranging lunches and speaker events, etc. And they pay well. Not a desk job, she drove around to cover her territory and distribute samples, even flew a few times to conventions.

Biggest downside: how can I phrase this - many offices will be sickeningly nice to the rep's face, but frankly, a visit from the drug rep is regarded as a nuisance: necessary to get free samples for patients who can't afford their prescription copays, but no one really wants to listen to another packaged spiel courtesy of the drug co. Some, more jerky practitioners like to put the drug rep in the "hotseat" asking difficult pharmacology questions they know the rep doesn't have the training to answer. The rep then tries to look up the answer in their drug materials but of course the print is tiny and it's hard when the whole office is watching you do this. You must like public speaking and not embarrass too easily. The days of docs in the pocket and kickbacks, free vacations as rewards and so on - no longer exist, so rather than reward-giver, reps are in the role of educational consultants to people who generally speaking know more about the product than they do. Of course there are plenty of idiotic doctors, but when visiting them as a drug rep it's your job to act like you're their best friend. That can make for some l-o-n-g days.

This is all US-based, and I know zilch about Canadian drug reps, so it could be useless. Good luck with your choice.