Prism Ideas’ Post

How do you define “Success” in Medical Affairs? Perhaps legendary basketball coach John Wooden can help. I applied John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success to Medical Affairs to help answer this question. Here's how the Wooden’s Pyramid of Success could be applied to Medical Affairs: Base Layer: Foundation for Success Industriousness and Enthusiasm: These are crucial for knowing the existing data and staying abreast of the latest scientific developments and medical innovations. A Medical Affairs professional must be diligent in their research, continuous learning, and dissemination of scientific knowledge, all while maintaining a passion for improving patient outcomes. Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation: Building strong, trust-based relationships with colleagues and key stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, is essential. Loyalty and cooperation within the team and with external partners ensure that all activities align with long-term objectives of the organization and provide value to customers. Second Layer: Building Blocks for Teamwork and Personal Growth Self-Control, Alertness, Initiative, Intentness: A Medical Affairs role requires the ability to manage one's emotions and stay composed under pressure and during changes. Being alert to new scientific evidence, regulatory changes, and healthcare trends allows for proactive engagement and initiative. Intentness involves staying focused on goals despite challenges. Condition, Skill, Team Spirit: Physical and mental well-being is important for sustaining high performance. Developing specific skills related to medical communication, scientific storytelling, regulatory knowledge, and data analysis is key. Fostering a team spirit encourages collaboration and promotes joy. Third Layer: Advanced Attributes for Leadership Poise, Confidence: These qualities are essential for Medical Affairs professionals who often need to present complex data to diverse audiences and make strategic decisions. Poise ensures calmness under pressure, while confidence is built on a foundation of competence and integrity. Competitive Greatness: In the context of Medical Affairs, this doesn’t refer to competition in the traditional sense but rather striving for excellence in improving patient care, advancing medical knowledge, and making more of an impact tomorrow compared to today. Apex: Ultimate Goals Personal and Professional Success: Achieving competitive greatness in Medical Affairs means having a tangible impact on patient health outcomes, contributing to the advancement of medical science, and ensuring that use of therapies is informed by the highest quality and most appropriate data. Integrating the Pyramid of Success into a Medical Affairs role involves adopting its principles as a framework for personal development and team dynamics. It's about striving for excellence, fostering meaningful relationships, and contributing positively to the healthcare ecosystem. #MedicalAffairs #Success

Help needed: The Medical Affairs wall of appreciation When I post on LinkedIn, I often get many very kind and appreciative comments on Medical Affairs from cross functional colleagues. They talk about how the really see the value of their MSL, how their Medical Advisor helped them out the other day and how they love working with their medical affairs colleagues. These comments always warm my heart, and I often wish I could share those comments with all my Medical Affairs followers, who could use a bit of a pick-me-up from time to time. Just a place to go to feel good about their role. So, cross functional colleagues, but also Medical Affairs peers:  I’m going to need your help: If you have something nice to say about Medical Affairs; something about where you see the value, about how they can make the difference and about how you see them; please post here in the comments. And let us build a wall of appreciation that we can all go back to once in a while, if we’re having an off day or are not quite sure our value is being seen. PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN STORY OF APPRECIATION IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. It doesn't have to be a long story. Just a few words will already make a difference. Thank you for your help! Maaike PS I will go first: I meet a lot of Medical Affairs people during my trainings, and they are always always always so lovely, interactive and supportive of each other. Also, they are not afraid to be vulnerable, wrong or funny. I am never scared to get in front of them and speak, because I know I am in good hands. (I do get nervous. Just never scared) I love them!!!!!

Guess what? I just launched my own recruiting and consulting business, SEEK Medical Affairs! 🚀 After 20+ years of working at some awesome companies and learning from some amazing mentors (you know who you are and THANK YOU!), I decided to take the plunge and start my own company focused on the business of medical affairs. Why? I wanted to broaden my horizons by using my lived experience to help others in the industry succeed. 👊 Here's the thing, I do not pretend to be the know-it-all expert. I'm not and I don't. Truth is, I think that's a dangerous and limiting way to think. But what I am is a super curious person who has seen a lot in our industry and has worked on various projects and challenges in medical affairs. And I think these experiences, both successes and failures, can provide valuable knowledge that can lead to new and innovative solutions. 💡 You see, I love to solve puzzles and that is how I see business challenges and opportunities. They are puzzles waiting to be solved. Puzzles that may require creativity and asking different questions to solve. Definitely, not the routine business as usual. 😎 So, if you are looking for a thought partner who knows a lot about medical affairs, is solution-minded, and cares about quality, then you may want to SEEK Medical Affairs. (See what I did there?) 😊 If you want to learn more follow us on LinkedIn, sign up at our website seekmedicalaffairs.com or send me a message for a 1:1. I can't wait to hear from you! 👋

Explore the first course about Strategic Thinking tailored for Medical Affairs professionals 👇 👉 #PharmaceuticalIndustry #MedicalAffairs #ProfessionalDevelopment #StrategicPlanning

Medical Affairs has a toolbox 🛠️ brimming with valuable and impactful tactics. While Advisory Boards 🗣️, CME 📚,  and symposia 🎤 are well-known, there are many other activities that you can utilise to have a positive impact on healthcare and the success of the company. So how do you decide which tactics to use in each situation? 🤔 In her 2-day course "The Medical Plan and Tactical Implementation: Best Practices", Medical Affairs expert Maaike Addicks, MD advises to use the Impact/Reach Matrix 📊 In this handy 5-page guide 📄, she explains the impact/reach matrix and how to select the right Medical Affairs tactic for your objectives. It also gives a short explanation of the various Medical Affairs tactics. ❓ Want to receive this 5-page guide? 💬 Write YES in the comments and I’ll send it to you! -------- ☝️ I am Inge 🔥 My mission: Helping Pharma managers acquire business-critical competencies to make better decisions Liked this post? Want to see more? 🔔 Ring the bell on my Profile to get notified 🔝 Connect with me  #neverstoplearning #medicalaffairs #medicalplan #medicaltactics

The future role of Medical Affairs? In the last two days I have been part of the #pharmageddon conference in Amsterdam, which was organised by Impatient Health team - great conference experience. Amongst other discussions I wanted to quickly share the great exchange we had on the future role of the Medical Affairs organisations. ——- The conversation focused on elevating the role of Medical Affairs (MA) to take a more prominent lead in customer engagement. Currently, MA is not advocating strongly enough for itself, though its scientific integrity and knowledge of the drug development process make it well-suited to shape customer relationships. The complex nature of new drugs requires more evidence-based engagement, which customers increasingly seek over marketing messages. MA’s involvement could ensure that engagements are rooted in science and data, enhancing stakeholder trust. However, the organization may not yet be fully prepared for this shift. For Medical Affairs to take on this role effectively, they need a more strategic mindset and improved commercial acumen. While their medical expertise is strong, many in MA lack the commercial understanding needed to interact with stakeholders who have different priorities. Training that blends both medical and commercial skills was seen as crucial to filling this gap. A more diverse background in Medical Affairs, combining medical and business expertise, was also deemed necessary to manage the complexity of today’s healthcare landscape. This would enable a more integrated approach, aligning scientific credibility with business needs. The conversation also raised whether the commercial teams need to make more room for Medical Affairs in customer engagement strategies. While commercial teams are key to driving revenue, the growing need for scientific, data-driven information suggests that MA should take a greater leadership role in customer interactions. In conclusion, Medical Affairs has the potential to become a more strategic and influential force in customer engagement, provided they develop the necessary skills and mindset. With the right support, they can ensure customer relationships are based on trust, evidence, and a deep understanding of today’s complex healthcare environment. ————- What are your thoughts about this?

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Working in Medical Affairs can be a funny space at times, you spend most of your time on a brand or in-field team but you report into a Medical Affairs team or department. You may feel slightly isolated or struggle to broaden your experience if you don't know who to talk to, or your Medical colleagues are busy with their own brand team priorities. For the rest of the organisation it may look like Medical aren't aligned. Having a community of like minded colleagues who you can share learnings with and learn from is invaluable. It broadens your skill set and enhances both your work and how you experience it. Creating opportunities to come together to share experiences and learnings is one of the key steps in preventing your Medical Affairs team from becoming siloed within itself. I discuss this in more depth and provide some solutions within our latest article. Click on the link in the comments below if you are interested in learning more. #MedicalAffairs #silos

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Scary thought for the day: Many don’t know the difference between a Medical strategy and a Medical plan?  Do you? 👻 Strategy and planning, terms that are often used interchangeably and yet there is a significant difference. In planning you often have a set of tactics, you tick the box and you move on to the next one.  With a strategy it’s different. You start with the end goal in mind, then you need to carefully look at your stakeholders and the gaps between where you are and your end goal or objective.  With strategy every tactic addresses a gap and bring you closer to your objective.  Think of stepping stones, each one should bring you a step closer to achieving your objective. If you don’t have that clear objective there is a good chance you will end up ploughing time, effort and energy into the wrong activities, not actually gaining any momentum.  Having a Medical strategy, rather than just a plan - and they aren't mutually exclusive, means that for each tactic: ▪️It's linked to your overall objective - where you want to get to ▪️You know how and where you are adding value ▪️You can prioritise more effectively ▪️You can plan more effectively ▪️You can measure impact The end result - you can clearly communicate: ▪️What you are doing ▪️Why you are doing it ▪️The impact it has What is the scariest thing you’ve seen in your Medical Affairs career? 🎃👻 Share your thoughts below 👇