Medical sales healthcare jobs and jargon galore

There are many phrases with different meanings according to the context they are in, as well as the same phrase used to refer to different things in different situations. This article aims to give some general guidance on the terms and phrases you will come across along with the variance across different situations.

Medical sales is a general term used to refer to any form of sales to medical related industries. Within the different parts of medical related industries, terminology for Medical sales varies again. In the pharmaceutical industry Medical sales is often referred to as 'ethical' sales. This a reference to the strict rules and regulations attached to the sales of prescription medicines. Medical sales 'pitches' are tightly regulated and claims can only refer to hard clinical evidence. It simply wouldn't work to have Medical reps going around with the gift of the gab and a 'go on give it a try it's great stuff approach'!

Pharmaceutical medical representatives can attract an array of sub titles, territory sales manager, territory business manager, territory manager. One well know company with a contempt for the rather 'soft' approach to sales of many other pharmaceutical companies insisted it's sales people were called 'Medical salesman', although this is an exception. In healthcare sales jobs, such as wound care (bandages and dressings) and disposables (gloves and needles), titles are often as above, also can called area sales manager, or regional sales manager. The confusion here is that in pharmaceuticals, these two titles would only apply to sales managers in charge of a sales team.

Medical equipment sales would also come under the umbrella of healthcare sales jobs. This general term can refer to anything from the sales of surgical equipment through capital equipment such as x-ray machines, MRI scanners and such lik

Within the pharmaceutical industry there are a number of other sales roles which carry their own title. NHS Liaison refers to representatives who sell to key organisations within the NHS such as PCTs all the way up to Whitehall. Variants of this role can be referred to as Healthcare liaison roles and business development roles.

Sales of generics into the supply chain also have a variety of potential titles. The role of retail sales rep (selling to retail chemists is almost obsolete now and the remaining roles are called National Account managers. These roles involving managing and developing sales in wholesalers and national chemist chains such as Boots and Moss.

Medical sales manager jobs can carry an equally varied range of titles from RBM (regional sales manager) to ABM ( area sales manager) to RM (Regional manager) and BUM, yup! (Business Unit Manager).

The area of Hospital selling can attract a selection of titles ranging form the obvious of hospital specialist and hospital representative through to Key account manager.

The final area to mention here is the sector relating to Medical jobs such as Doctors, pharmacists and nurses. These are usually referred to as Healthcare jobs as they involve the provision of healthcare. Although this term of healthcare jobs can also be used interchangeably for jobs in the healthcare sales sector referred to previously.

In summary, as with all areas of these industries jargon and abbreviations are everywhere and can be particularly confusing. When applying for roles, it's advisable to pay little attention to the job title itself and look more closely at the job description before making any assumptions about it's suitablility.