Medical Sales Jobs: A Definitive Career Guide

Key takeaways

In medical sales jobs, sales representatives sell drugs and devices to hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities.

• According to Glassdoor, the median total pay for medical sales representatives is $160,000 per year [1]. 

• Medical sales reps can work in pharmaceutical sales, medical device sales, health care management services, or in the sale of basic medical supplies. 

• You can get a medical sales job by earning a bachelor’s degree, gaining entry-level experience, and earning certification. 

Learn more about the medical sales profession, some of the sales skills you need, and how to get started today. If you’re ready to start building the knowledge you need to become a medical sales rep, try the Medical Terminology Specialization from Rice University. Discover all of the prefixes, suffixes, and abbreviations that make up medical terminology. 

What are medical sales jobs?

Medical sales jobs are representatives or sales managers who focus on selling and marketing medical products, such as pharmaceutical drugs, equipment, and devices, to hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities.

Like other types of salespeople, medical sales representatives can be responsible for a specific region or territory. They may serve as either an inside or outside sales representative. Inside sales reps work with ongoing customers remotely to confirm that the product was received well and to answer any customer service questions. Outside sales reps, on the other hand, often travel to meet new and existing customers to educate them on new products and ensure quality service.

Medical sales jobs also include independent sales representatives who serve several businesses, selling a plethora of medical products.

Medical sales rep jobs: Tasks and responsibilities

While your specific tasks and responsibilities will vary depending on your sales specialization, medical sales jobs typically have the following duties:

• Assess client needs and offer the right products and services

• Market medical products to health care facilities, such as providing information and offering samples

• Establish and maintain relationships with customers, including doctors, to persuade them to prescribe specific products

• Correspond with customers on the phone, by email, or in person to take orders

• Keep records of sales orders, customers, and products

• Educate customers about new product launches, technologies, and developments in the field

• Identify new opportunities to increase product sales

• Resolve customer complaints

• Attend sales meetings, training sessions, and conferences to keep up with the latest trends

• Plan work schedules with the sales team and discuss future targets with the area sales manager

Where they work

Medical sales jobs can vary depending on whether the representative is working in inside or outside sales. Inside sales representatives may be based at home or in an office setting. Their interactions with clients will be over the phone or email, though sometimes they may conduct meetings to negotiate and close a sale. Outside medical sales reps tend to have more flexible schedules, but they’ll often travel to meet customers within their territory.

Skills needed

To land a medical sales job, you’ll need to be able to explain the benefits and side effects of certain drugs and manage your time between customer meetings and organizing your records. The following skills are needed to become a medical sales representative:

• Medical product knowledge

• Customer service skills

• Strong verbal and written communication

• Problem-solving

• Active listening

• Research

• Adaptability

• Discipline

• Time management

• Storytelling

• Entrepreneurial mindset

Medical sales jobs: Salary

According to Glassdoor, medical sales representatives earn a median total pay of $160,000 [1]. All salary information represents the median total pay from Glassdoor as of February 2026. These figures include base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation. 

Part of the appeal of becoming a medical sales representative is the pay structure, which includes a commission when the representative makes a sale. Outside sales reps who spend a lot of time in the field talking to potential customers, educating doctors on prescription drugs, and offering product samples, have the opportunity to maximize their potential earnings with higher commissions and bonuses. 

Types of medical sales jobs 

The different types of medical sales jobs are determined by the product or service being sold. As mentioned, you can either be an inside or outside sales rep, which corresponds to the type of company you work for.

As a sales representative, you’ll most likely specialize in selling specific products:

• Pharmaceutical sales: As a pharmaceutical sales representative, you’ll recommend certain drugs to physicians at medical centers and hospitals.

• Medical devices: Those with a medical or technical background may be more suited for these types of roles, which can require giving product demonstrations and tracking records of clinical sales. This could also include artificial intelligence (AI) or other specialized, high-tech machines.

• Health care management services: This includes health tech and IT, such as software services that help with everyday marketing, medical billing, and office management.

• Medical supplies: This type of medical sales job requires less technical knowledge and a more general understanding of medical supplies (such as face masks and gloves) that are often sold in high volume.

Flexibility is a main benefit of medical sales jobs

A major benefit of a medical sales job is that it can be tailored to your own schedule. Whether you’re taking calls from home or traveling to meet new customers, you have the ability to create your own hours. Medical sales jobs can be especially appealing to individuals who have a side hustle or passion, such as teaching yoga.

How to become a medical sales representative

If you think medical sales jobs could be a good fit for your career and lifestyle, then here are the steps to becoming one.

1. Get a degree or diploma.

To become a medical sales representative, it is advisable to get a degree. Having a bachelor’s degree will elevate your chances of being hired. According to Zippia, 82 percent of medical sales reps have a bachelor’s degree, while 7 percent have master’s degrees and associate degrees (each) [2]. Only 1 percent have a high school diploma alone. Consider majoring in a subject like business, marketing, biology, or communication. 

You can also decide to get certified. Options include Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP) and professional training programs from organizations like the National Association of Medical Device Representatives (NAMDR). While certification is not necessary, it may help you land your first job.

2. Choose a specialization.

As a sales representative, you’ll most likely specialize in a specific product area like medical devices, pharmaceutical sales, health care management services, or medical supplies. If you’re new to health care and sales, choose the area that interests you most. If you have a specific background in health, such as pharmaceuticals or IT, you’ll be more suited for pharmaceutical or health tech sales roles. If you have experience in sales, the easiest field to break into would be medical supplies, since these are often generic and don’t require special technical and medical knowledge.

3. Gain field experience.

Now that you’ve narrowed down a specialization, it’s time to gain some field experience. Whether that means picking up an internship with a medical sales company or shadowing a more established medical sales representative, you’ll gain an understanding of the day-to-day responsibilities. You can then fill in the gaps in your skills or knowledge.

Employers will expect you to hit the ground running. Brushing up on medical sales skills with a training program can be a good idea for those of you who might be nervous about applying directly for a job. Research medical sales training opportunities online, which can help you get started in one of the specializations.

In addition to knowing the basics of medical terminology, you should keep abreast of trends such as robotics and wearable tech in the health care space, even if you are not selling that specific product.

4. Expand your network. 

Being new in a medical sales job can be intimidating. But networking is an important part of expanding your client base as a medical sales representative.

You’ll want to know the right people and build enduring professional relationships with them. It is likely that you’ll be going back to them with new products and technologies in the future, so deepening those connections is just as important as widening your network.

One effective way to network is using LinkedIn. You can cultivate a professional and influential presence while using the group function to connect with more people in your chosen industry, specialization, and territory.

Read more: How to use LinkedIn

Attending conferences, seminars, and being part of trade associations will also help you continue to grow your network as a medical sales representative.

Explore our free resources for medical sales professionals

Discover fresh insights into your career or learn about trends in your industry by subscribing to our LinkedIn newsletter, Career Chat. Then, explore our free resources for medical sales professionals:

• Take the quiz: Career Test: What Career is Right for Me Quiz? 

• Watch on YouTube: Highest Paying Sales Jobs – Where Big Earnings Meet Big Deals! 

• Gain new skills: Which Excel Course Should You Take? Find Out in 1 Minute 

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