Guest post by Blake Anderson (DJO Surgical Sales Representative)
Getting into medical sales can be difficult. After hours of editing your resume, numerous job applications, and a handful of interviews that go nowhere, it can seem like an impossible feat to land a job in this close-knit industry.
However, there is a solution to this, Medical Sales College.
MSC is a licensed college with several locations nationwide and is focused on training students in Orthopedic Reconstruction, Trauma, Sports Medicine, and Biologics. The school is owned and operated by Jim Rogers, a sales professional with over 25 years of experience in the medical sales industry. As far as the instructors are concerned, Jim only hires the best. All of the faculty members also have several years of experience to guarantee the success of their students out in the field upon graduation.
The school boasts an 81.3% success rate as of 9/30/2019, which is largely dependent on the education, networking, and exclusive Zero Fee Recruiting program which connects students with over 1800 hiring managers.
Now that you know a little bit about the school, I’d like to share what my experience was like as a student, and where I currently am in the industry. My goal is to provide an in-depth review of the school and help you decide if it’s right for you.
The Education
This is where MSC shines. To this day, I haven’t received the quality of industry training that I did while as a student. The amount of detail that is covered can seem overwhelming, but it prepares you for the field. That being said, I’m going to briefly touch on the topics of study that are covered. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to touch on Spine at all, as I was in the last 8-week program that excluded it.
PRC:
This material is the most boring part of the class, as it starts by going over HIPPA laws and all of the certifications that you need to get into a hospital. Which by the way is a total pain in the ass in the real world, but you’ll get used to it. What’s good about this though is that whenever you sign up for hospital credentialing for the first time, you’ll already have a completion certificate that you’ll need.
After you get past all the legal mumbo jumbo, you’ll start learning about OR personnel, etiquette, and the general instruments that are used in surgery. For me, this is something that I wish I had paid more attention too. Although it just takes time in the OR to get comfortable, I wish that I had remembered more about the instruments. So save that packet and memorize every single one again, later on, it’ll be super valuable in your first case that you shadow.
Biologics:
All I can say is that this was the hardest test for me and that I had to study my ass off to pass it. In the real world, the only biologic I’ve used in trauma cases and joint replacements is a bone void filler, so that’s about all I’ve got professional knowledge on. The program overview section on the MSC website does a good job of explaining this, so please refer to that for more information.
Joint Replacement:
This was my favorite part of the class. As a former CrossFit trainer, I liked learning about the joints that related to the functional movements I had been coaching and critiquing for years. In my class, we spent the majority of time learning about the knee, as the hip and shoulder have some similarities. My advice for this part of the class is to begin studying the surgical techniques and memorize them. You’ll learn basic overviews, but they will help when you begin to study technique guides for the company that hires you or your future company’s competitors. In my opinion, this is 80% of what your job will initially be in the future. My instructor called it “modularity” or knowing your options. All of the anatomy information is helpful and you’ll be tested on it. But in the real world, the surgeon is going to ask you what size tibia he can use or if he can go up another size on the femoral head implant.
Trauma:
This is where you’ll learn about the bread and butter of trauma surgery. In a nutshell, you’ll learn about how nails, plates, and screws are used to help treat different types of fractures. Tons of information is covered in this portion of the class. But just as before, try not to let it overwhelm you. You’ll also learn about how working as a trauma rep can be a very intense job and isn’t for the faint of heart. Many times you’ll have to work weekends, holidays, and constantly be on call. However, in comparison to joint replacements, trauma cases can oftentimes bill out significantly more. My advice for this segment of the class is the same as before. Learn the technique guides! It can be confusing at first when you’re learning about lag screws technique, fracture classifications, and the entire history of trauma. But knowing the A-Z of a troch nail surgery will not only serve you for test preparation, but also for working in the field.
Sales Training
In the sales training portion of MSC, you’ll learn about how to call on surgeons and present features and benefits to them to sell them on your products. This is done primarily by using the following methods.
- Product research
- Short sales calls
- Long sales calls
- Publications
Product Research:
To sell a product you must first understand it. In class, you’ll be assigned a variety of products, ranging from biologics to trauma. Depending on which company you get, you’ll then go to their website and find as much information as you can. After this, you’ll decide on three product features, their benefits, and how they are valuable to the patient, surgeon, hospital, etc.
Short Sales Calls:
In this, you’ll learn how to elevator pitch a surgeon. These calls last only 1-2 minutes and don’t allow for much selling time. You’ll learn how to approach a surgeon in the OR, which is frowned upon is still effective if you do it right, or how to pitch them at a breakfast drop off or office visit at their clinic. The idea is to quickly qualify your surgeon by asking a few questions and then set-up another meeting time based on educating them more on your product. In class, you’ll practice this with one-on-one role-plays and mini-presentations to the entire class.
Long Sales Calls:
This is the follow up based on your short sales calls. In the field, these are oftentimes an office visit or a happy hour meetup at a fancy restaurant. News flash! These guys like to be wined and dined so get used to having to spend some cash. Use this time to get to know the surgeon better and ask more in-depth questions. What’s important here is to know your product well enough to answer any questions the surgeon might have. This is an interview to see if you and your surgeon might be a good fit for one another.
Publications:
One of the best things that you will learn at MSC is how to research surgeons and their publications. My favorite method for doing this is Google Scholar, but several databases can be used to do this. When qualifying your surgeons in either short or long sales calls, make sure to mention their publications that you have found. This helps show that you are making a true effort into earning their business, and it gives you talking points based on their particular interests.
MDREPTRACK
This software was early in development when I got it, but I still use it to this day. You’ll have to pay for it as part of the curriculum, but it serves as an industry-standard CRM for when you get into prospecting and selling. I’ve included an image below that highlights what you’ll be able to gather information on. At the end of the class, you’ll have to have profiled over 50 surgeons, their publications, and educational background. You’ll also be able to use these contacts in interviews later on when you are applying for jobs.
Job Placement
Zero Fee Recruiting is the school’s primary means of getting its students placed. However, from personal experience, I got recommended by my instructor to my current company, which is why I can’t speak on it. Just know that you’ll be able to upload an introduction video (like the one I’ve posted below) that will be shown to hundreds of hiring managers across the nation. However, opportunities are limited, so for this to be effective you’ll need to open-minded on relocating if you are relying on Zero Fee.
You’ll also learn about LinkedIn job prospecting in the class, which I found to be a better strategy than Zero Fee as it is an outbound strategy. You’ll be able to look up job postings and connect with important people in a quicker time frame in my opinion. Pro-tip for this, there is a software called Dux-Soup that can be added to Google Chrome and can be used to auto-send messages to a list of people. You’ll be able to leave your laptop open all day, and send connection requests to people who work for your desired company. I landed an interview with Wright Medical in Dallas using this exact method.
Conclusion
Medical Sales College is one of the best ways to get into the medical device sales field, especially if you lack sales experience. And even if you do, medical device sales is an animal. MSC will prepare you with the proper knowledge, confidence, and strategy to succeed in the industry. If you’re ready to begin the process and get one step closer to landing a job in Medical Sales, click the button below to apply.
P.S. When asked where you learned about MSC, please mention medsalesreview.com.
Of all the Medical Sales College Reviews that are on the web, thanks for checking out this one!