What Is a Clinical Field Specialist and How to Become One
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What Does a Clinical Field Specialist Do?
As a clinical field specialist, your responsibilities include selling medical devices, providing detailed information about each product, and training medical staff to use the equipment effectively and safely. You give presentations, organize informational workshops for groups of medical professionals, and answer detailed questions about the products. Other duties include staying updated on new clinical evaluations conducted on your product lines and keeping track of innovations within your specialized field, which you then communicate to your customers. You also watch competitors and focus on your products’ unique benefits. When you are not meeting with potential clients, you spend a lot of time providing sales support, strengthening relationships with existing customers, keeping an updated customer database, and answering questions by phone or email.
How to Become a Clinical Field Specialist
Qualifications needed to become a clinical field specialist include a bachelor’s degree in health sciences and one year of work experience with medical devices. Many employers prefer candidates with healthcare experience, such as registered nurses (RN). You must also have a solid knowledge base of anatomy and physiology, and you should be technologically inclined. It is crucial that you are able to remember complex information on a range of products and be confident in demonstrating the devices. You must have the patience to provide product education to a variety of people including doctors, nurses, radiologists, and others, depending on your product offerings. Time management skills are vital, as healthcare professionals are extremely busy and you must respect their time and attention. You should also have excellent customer service, interpersonal, and communication skills.
