Insights
Frameworks, analysis, and field-tested thinking for field medical leadership.
The Standardization Gap: 1967 to 2026 and Still No Playbook
The MSL function has been incrementally formalized for six decades. Activity guidelines arrived in 2018 — over 50 years after the role was created. A joint society position statement came in 2021. But the strategic planning and measurement layer? Still missing.
The Scientific Platform Cascade: How Strategy Should Flow to the Field
Pick any MSL, any Tuesday afternoon. Can you trace a direct line from what they're doing back to your scientific platform strategy? Most leaders can't — and that gap is structural.
Fielding MSLs vs. Building a Field Medical Program
MSLs are among the most expensive per-headcount investments in biopharma. The industry has poured resources into making individual MSLs better. But an organization of well-trained MSLs is not the same thing as a well-built field medical program.
Planning in the Blue Ocean: Why Nobody Has Solved MSL Territory Planning
Of 90 articles published in the MSL Journal over the past decade, only 6 address planning. Territory design, capacity modeling, POA development — every leader does it, and nobody has published a methodology.
The 6% Problem: Why Activity Metrics Fail MSL Leaders
92% of organizations use activity-based KPIs. Leaders rate them 6% relevant. The field medical function measures what's easy to count, not what matters — here's how to fix it.