Board Certification for MSLs

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For all of these comments that say this board certification is becoming required, it would be helpful for you to actually say what companies are asking for it. MSL jobs posted by Pfizer, AZ, GSK, Lilly, Abbvie, Amgen, novo Nordisk, JNJ, and BMS have no requirement for this. Again if you want to spend your cash on this feel free, but it will get you nothing
 






Why are you trying so hard to damage the reputation of this program?
It brings value to some people not all just like any other program. You're making this a 'moral' or 'ethical' issue and it is not. Any form of education brings value to some people but not all people. I'm a PharmD with an MBA. Although my MBA is from a well respected university, it didn't matter much probably in my career. Now, the company I work for, which is part of top 25 pharma, is actually going to provide BCMAS to all the field based team to start with. And I am perfectly fine with that.

The truth is some will benefit and some won't. In terms of making money, all universities are in the business of making money. So your argument about making money is ridiculous. The truth is that no one who does additional training or certification is guaranteed anything in terms of a job etc.. In the end of the day, it is the individual that makes the most of their skills, education, etc. BCMAS is a way to get more education and training. Whether or not companies like it or not, is another matter. In and of itself, BCMAS, like any other educational offering, will bring more value to one person vs. another. But as I took a look back at this thread, you are clearly and with strong intent trying to destroy the BCMAS therefore your opinions are very biased and not useful. Before you knock BCMAS, why don't you enroll in it first? I will come back to post once I have been through the program. Bye for now!
 






AMEN

anonymous said:
Why are you trying so hard to damage the reputation of this program?
It brings value to some people not all just like any other program. You're making this a 'moral' or 'ethical' issue and it is not. Any form of education brings value to some people but not all people. I'm a PharmD with an MBA. Although my MBA is from a well respected university, it didn't matter much probably in my career. Now, the company I work for, which is part of top 25 pharma, is actually going to provide BCMAS to all the field based team to start with. And I am perfectly fine with that.

The truth is some will benefit and some won't. In terms of making money, all universities are in the business of making money. So your argument about making money is ridiculous. The truth is that no one who does additional training or certification is guaranteed anything in terms of a job etc.. In the end of the day, it is the individual that makes the most of their skills, education, etc. BCMAS is a way to get more education and training. Whether or not companies like it or not, is another matter. In and of itself, BCMAS, like any other educational offering, will bring more value to one person vs. another. But as I took a look back at this thread, you are clearly and with strong intent trying to destroy the BCMAS therefore your opinions are very biased and not useful. Before you knock BCMAS, why don't you enroll in it first? I will come back to post once I have been through the program. Bye for now!
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Agreed. The ACMA, like the ACCME or ACPE, isn't in the business of creating membership .There are many other organizations that hold meetings etc.. ACMA's purpose seems to be education, certification and standards for medical affairs. These are two different things. I will admit that they are clearly owning this space. And they have heavy hitters behind them so I would check your facts
 


















I have 5+ years experience as an MSL and registered for BCMAS a few months ago. It was great for my professional development and set me up for a role as an Heor Field Liaison which is something I wanted to do. The material covers this area so it was a good crash course to give me what I needed. I would recommend BCMAS.
 


















anonymous said:
I'm an MSL thinking about getting a board certification in medical affairs. There's a program I've been hearing about called the BCMAS program. It's offered by the ACMA. Has anyone done it? I heard that they will be requiring it in a few years.
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BCMAS was an excellent experience for me. I learned a lot of new information and was reminded of info that I forgot which was useful in my interactions with doctors.
 












I don't know about the person that posted #157 but for me the BCMAS program helped give me good strategies for presenting effectively. It goes into how to speak to executives and busy people like a lot of the external experts we deal with. Also it really does a good job of explaining clinical trials and their interpretation. Hope that helps!
 






I don't know about becoming required But I don't think it's about the degree you have. I think the point is to get trained and make sure you're up to snuff I get it. I think it's inevitable that this will happen.
 






anonymous said:
I don't know about becoming required But I don't think it's about the degree you have. I think the point is to get trained and make sure you're up to snuff I get it. I think it's inevitable that this will happen.
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i agree. i think the point is just to show that you are up to date and aware. a lot of people work in the same job for years and do nothing to improve themselves. this holds everyone accountable for staying up to date.
 


















Maybe someone from ACMA that is posting on this board can explain how they develop standardized material for a field that is enormously diverse and significantly varies from company to company based on business model, resources, structure, mission, markets, therapeutic area, and countless other variables. Even interpretation of compliance legalities varies significantly from company to company. It would be interesting to know how they expect that to work.
 






  • mbryan   Jul 23, 2018 at 10:15: AM
This post is to verify that the ACMA has registered a user (named "ACMA") to act as the organization's spokesperson on the forums. We have verified that this user has registered via an official channel.
 






Thank You Mr. Bryan. The Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA) has been made aware of the comments posted in this thread.

We always welcome feedback and comments regarding our educational program and services. We would challenge the individual(s) to come forth openly rather than in a cowardly and anonymous manner and make blatantly false and misleading statements.

Our team is willing to have a public and open debate to discuss with those individual(s) their specific concerns. We standby our mission and believe that anyone who is truly concerned about the well being of others (or the industry), and is acting in their best interest, will come forward and make him/herself known.

We would be more than happy to engage in a serious discussion and present facts vs. the fiction posted in some of these posts. It is also a disservice to all of the professionals who have earnestly tried to improve themselves professionals.

For specific questions about the ACMA, we are always happy to discuss any questions you may have and can be reached at info@medicalaffairsspecialist.org or 855-255-7137.
Thank You,
ACMA Legal Department
 












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