What is the full form of MR?

MR: Medical Representative

MR stands for Medical Representative. It is also known as a Medical Sales Representative. As the name suggests, an MR is a sales professional whose job involves the promotion and sale of medical products mostly medications for pharmaceutical companies. Medical Representatives are responsible for building awareness of medical supplies of their companies. They are the representatives of the pharma companies and perform key communication between medical professionals and pharma companies. They do one-on-one meetings with doctors, chemists in their clinics, hospitals, and place of business.

Role of Medical Representative:

• To introduce new products to doctors, pharmacist and chemists
• To identify and establish a new market by meeting new doctors, pharmacists, etc.
• To achieve sales target
• Keeps meeting the doctors to maintain relations
• Promote new products by interacting with doctors and pharmacists
• To make sure the products are available with the chemists
• To discuss the dosages, clinical usage with the medical professionals
• Providing market feedback to the company
• To attend and organise trade exhibitions, conferences and meetings
• Writing and maintaining reports

Eligibility to become Medical Representative:

For the position or role of MR, companies generally prefer candidates with an educational background in biology or life sciences, such as any of the following degrees:

• Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy
• Bachelor's degree in life sciences
• Bachelor's degree in Nursing
• Any other relevant degree

However, some smaller pharma companies may hire candidates with different background and may provide basic training to candidates about the disease and related drugs before sending them on the field. The initial phase of this job may be hectic but as soon as an MR develops the relationships with doctors, chemists, etc., and understands the market, his or her job becomes easy.

Key Skills required for a Medical Representative

• Communication skills
• Should be presentable
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Convincing power
• Patience and confidence
• Complete knowledge of their products
• Should have the problem-solving skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to travel extensively
• Good listening skill
• Able to work independently
• Able to understand and handle the propaganda of competitors
• Able to develop trust and rapport
• Should be familiar with medical terms and procedure

Besides this, career growth in this profession is also good, after working for a few years an MR can be promoted to territory manager, area sales manager, zonal sales manager, etc. Apart from salary, an MR also gets incentives and various other benefits on achieving his or her targets.