> FWIW the anecdotal experience of people I know in the health field in the US is that pharma sales reps know nothing about medicine, are hired for their sales / "relationship building" ability, and can't answer any question about the drug they are touting that can't be answered by looking at the brochure. Very disappointing.

MSLs have advanced degrees in medicine or biomedical research. It's preferred that the traditional sales reps now have bachelor's degrees in the sciences and it is expected that, within the narrow scope of their product's science, they be well-informed regardless of prior academic background. It's preferred because they are more effective reps.

> You can't expect to get unbiased, quality advice from someone with such a strong incentive. The right way for doctors to stay up to date is for doctors to stay up to date! They need to read a damn book or journal article once in a while and takes responsibility for their own professional development. If doctors aren't doing that, regulators need to suspend their licenses.

Continuing medical education is a requirement to maintain licensure. I don't think I get your point here.

Well, if the reps I'm talking about had such fancy degrees, they sure didn't show it.

Not everyone here is in the industry, what's an MSL?

Medical Science Liaison

I don't what you're talking about. The pharmaceutical salesmen I've known were retrained coal miners without college degrees.

You should never trust a salesmen to give you advice, because the advice inevitably is, "you need this thing I happen to be selling today."

This sort of hostility is why I keep quitting this damned site. Thanks for reminding me.