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Many, if not most, drug reps today are pretty young women. The drug companies have found that young women of a certain look have a much easier time getting the MD's attention for their 30 second sales pitch which leads to more prescriptions being written for the drug that they are pushing during any quarter
Hmm, how is this approach working on the 35% of women who are doctors and the 46% of women who are residents? Seems like a bad strategy.
The last time I saw a drug rep at my PCP's office (of 2 male and 1 female doctors), the receptionist told him that the doctors only met with drug reps by appointment and only at certain hours. He seemed annoyed and left without making an appointment.
While your assertions may have been true a decade ago, the industry has changed.
Many, if not most, drug reps today are pretty young women. The drug companies have found that young women of a certain look have a much easier time getting the MD's attention for their 30 second sales pitch which leads to more prescriptions being written for the drug that they are pushing during any quarter
From January to June 2017, athenahealth surveyed 18,000 physicians at 3,500 practices on its network, and determined that more than 60 percent of physicians under the age of 35 are female, while just under 40 percent are male.
All those drug companies might want to change all those drug reps to pretty young men, just saying!
Many, if not most, drug reps today are pretty young women. The drug companies have found that young women of a certain look have a much easier time getting the MD's attention for their 30 second sales pitch which leads to more prescriptions being written for the drug that they are pushing during any quarter
Well, unless the proportion of lesbians is also rising, using pretty young women as drug reps may lose its effectiveness since 60% of the doctors under 35 are women....
I wonder if you even realized there are female doctors?!
Ooops - sorry - I see others have caught you on this as well....
On a serious note, are drug reps even needed any more?
I'm not in healthcare but research and I know several physicians post on here, my question to them is, did a few minute pitch by a rep really make you change your mind one way or another on whether to prescribe or not prescribe a new drug? Wouldn't the drug studies/data speak for itself, no real need to spoon-feed the stuff to the doctor from the salesperson, unless some like that?
I realize the time of a physician is pretty full with seeing patients, updating medical notes, devising new treatment plans, etc., but I would think most physicians try to stay up to date with the latest and greatest in their particular field, reading peer-reviewed journal articles, new drug studies and interacting with other physicians in their field, that the drug rep is a thing of the past. It's not like "back in the day" when journals and drug studies weren't available on-line!
I think the pharmaceutical companies can save money and eliminate all reps and just send out a 5 to 10 slide PowerPoint to the physician via email, if they really wanted to know more about a new drug, that hasn't already been published in peer-reviewed journals.
On a serious note, are drug reps even needed any more?
I'm not in healthcare but research and I know several physicians post on here, my question to them is, did a few minute pitch by a rep really make you change your mind one way or another on whether to prescribe or not prescribe a new drug? Wouldn't the drug studies/data speak for itself, no real need to spoon-feed the stuff to the doctor from the salesperson, unless some like that?
I realize the time of a physician is pretty full with seeing patients, updating medical notes, devising new treatment plans, etc., but I would think most physicians try to stay up to date with the latest and greatest in their particular field, reading peer-reviewed journal articles, new drug studies and interacting with other physicians in their field, that the drug rep is a thing of the past. It's not like "back in the day" when journals and drug studies weren't available on-line!
I think the pharmaceutical companies can save money and eliminate all reps and just send out a 5 to 10 slide PowerPoint to the physician via email, if they really wanted to know more about a new drug, that hasn't already been published in peer-reviewed journals.
I think the reps provide samples and other incentives for people to try the drug, which can be helpful. Ideally people should be trying the cheap/inexpensive options first (and most doctors I have will try those), but many will give out a sample of a newer drug first because people don’t want to spend tons of money on something that may not be effective.
I think the reps provide samples and other incentives for people to try the drug, which can be helpful. Ideally people should be trying the cheap/inexpensive options first (and most doctors I have will try those), but many will give out a sample of a newer drug first because people don’t want to spend tons of money on something that may not be effective.
Good points, but couldn't they always send "free samples" without the need of a rep?
On a serious note, are drug reps even needed any more?
I can speak specifically to Drug Reps, but there are other Reps as well, and yes, they are a necessary and integral part of the patient care team. I'm thinking of Equipment Reps in Orthopedics, for example. Those folks (the vast majority of whom are male, it seems) work hard and are often on call 24/7. Surgeons will call them directly for equipment needed for specific cases, and it's not unheard of for them to drive to/from warehouses, be there in the OR to set up what's needed, etc. I think there are a lot of specialties and service lines that work similarly with Reps.
Many, if not most, drug reps today are pretty young women. The drug companies have found that young women of a certain look have a much easier time getting the MD's attention for their 30 second sales pitch which leads to more prescriptions being written for the drug that they are pushing during any quarter
I read that thread and I took the accusation to be a joke. Perhaps I was wrong.
I am a retired physician and I recall the drug reps as a mix of both men and women -- some who had a background in pharmacy, chemistry or biology but mostly just good salespersons with a pretty good expense budget.
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