Training New-Hire Medical Information Specialists in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Most pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have a medical information (MI) department staffed by medical information specialists (MISs); to ensure that MISs perform their role in an accurate and compliant manner, companies must have robust training processes in place. The primary objective of this study was to benchmark the training processes for new-hire MISs in the pharmaceutical industry as well as their training preferences. Nineteen respondents from 19 companies completed a web-based survey, which resulted in a 41.3% response rate. These companies represented a variety of MI department sizes and number of products supported. Eighty-four percent (16/19) of companies had structured new-hire training processes in place. Approximately two-thirds of all respondents preferred live training on new-hire training topics. After completion of new-hire training, several companies (10/18) offered ongoing refresher training to their MISs. The results indicate that companies may benefit from having structured new-hire training procedures and tailoring training to MIS learning preferences.