What does a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) really do all day?
If you’ve heard that an MSL is “the scientific bridge between pharma companies and healthcare professionals (HCPs),” you’re not wrong—but that phrase doesn’t capture the real, day-to-day life of the role.
Below, we’ll walk through a typical day in the life of an MSL, including their key responsibilities, required qualifications, common challenges, industry trends, and real-world impact.
If you’re thinking about this career or managing an MSL team, this guide will help you understand what makes the MSL role so essential in modern Medical Affairs.
MSLs often start early, reviewing:
The day’s scheduled HCP or KOL meetings
Recent publications and clinical trial results in their therapeutic area
Internal team communications and strategy updates
Unlike a sales role with a fixed script, MSLs need to be ready for high-level, scientific discussions with healthcare professionals (HCPs).
✅ Goal: Stay sharp, current, and tailored for each HCP engagement.
Most MSLs participate in daily or weekly calls with:
Other Medical Affairs colleagues
Clinical trial teams
Compliance and regulatory specialists
(Sometimes) marketing teams—carefully, since the MSL role is strictly non-promotional
During these calls, MSLs share field insights:
What questions are physicians asking?
What are the barriers to patient access?
What data gaps or educational needs exist?
✅ Impact: These insights help shape clinical trial design, educational initiatives, and overall strategy.
Field-based MSL jobs involve a lot of travel. MSLs may cover regions spanning multiple states.
While traveling, they review:
Scientific data or recent studies relevant to the HCP’s specialty
Anticipated questions
Company pipeline or clinical trial updates
✅ Challenge: Balancing travel demands while staying highly prepared and compliant.
This is the core of the MSL role.
A typical meeting with a KOL or other HCP might cover:
Updates on clinical trial protocols
Disease state education
New treatment guidelines
Unmet needs or real-world patient challenges
Crucially, these meetings are two-way scientific exchanges.
MSLs aren’t “pitching” a product—they’re:
Listening carefully to HCP feedback
Sharing objective, evidence-based information
Building trusted, long-term relationships
✅ Impact: Elevating evidence-based medicine and gathering field insights that shape future research.
After engagements, MSLs document:
Discussion summaries
Field insights
Follow-up actions or materials to share
Compliance is essential. MSL interactions must remain non-promotional, balanced, and fully documented in line with local regulations and internal policies.
✅ Tools: Platforms like Alpha Sophia help teams plan and document engagement strategies more efficiently.
Many MSLs help plan advisory boards, where selected KOLs provide strategic input.
MSLs might spend part of the day:
Reviewing participant lists
Ensuring balanced specialty representation
Drafting scientific discussion guides
Using data-driven tools like Alpha Sophia makes it easy to identify the right mix of advisors, using filters like specialty, billing activity, trial participation, and geographic diversity.
MSLs are lifelong learners. A typical day includes time to:
Read new journal articles
Analyze clinical trial data
Attend internal or external training sessions
✅ Goal: Stay at the forefront of the science to maintain credibility with HCPs.
MSL roles typically require:
Advanced scientific or clinical degrees (PharmD, PhD, MD, NP, PA, or MSc)
Deep therapeutic area expertise
Outstanding communication skills
Ability to distill complex scientific data clearly
Strong ethics and regulatory awareness
✅ Bonus: Clinical practice experience is highly valued, especially in complex therapeutic areas like oncology, immunology, or rare disease.
👉 Explore how Alpha Sophia helps teams find the right HCPs
Growing Demand: Surveys show 15–20% YoY growth in MSL team sizes, especially in oncology, immunology, and rare disease.
Remote Engagement: Virtual meetings remain important, but face-to-face interactions are returning as the gold standard.
Data-Driven Strategy: Teams are investing in HCP analytics to target the right KOLs and measure engagement ROI.
Focus on Compliance: Stricter documentation and balanced, evidence-based education are essential.
✅ Read: How Data Helps Identify the Right HCPs
Managing large, often multi-state territories
Balancing travel with personal life
Navigating strict compliance requirements
Earning trust with busy, skeptical KOLs
Explaining highly technical science in a clear, engaging way
Despite the challenges, MSLs are critical to pharma companies by:
Supporting evidence-based treatment decisions
Delivering complex scientific information in accessible ways
Building trust with the medical community
Capturing real-world insights to improve patient care and company strategy
A day in the life of a Medical Science Liaison is dynamic, challenging, and incredibly rewarding.
It combines deep science, relationship-building, and real-world impact on patient care.
If your Medical Affairs team wants to optimize field strategy, improve HCP engagement, and identify the right providers faster, Alpha Sophia can help.