Pharma Veterans

Keeping Sane in a Noisy World – Blog Post #491 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #491. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. The world could never have been noisier than what it is now. Take any subject, topic, event, idea, or thought, and you will find so many voices, it is well nigh impossible to discern who is saying what or who is right and who is not. Politics is the name of polarization, which has grown like a monster. This is just a case in point, otherwise this space is politics-free. I mentioned it because more and more people are now aware and therefore polarized. Social media fuels the frenzy. WhatsApp messages come in non-stop. If you happen to be in several groups, same messages are posted in all groups. Every

Whither Training 2? – Blog Post #490 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #490. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… The concept and importance of training of Medical Reps has been lost during the last 15-20 years, but it did not happen overnight. It has taken a long route.  Some Local Pharma, such as Getz, Highnoon, CCL, Martin Dow, Searle etc. still carry strong orientation and effort for MRs training. Sami has lately been investing much on training. In fact, it would be fair to say that following type of companies are more prone to investing in training. • Those involved in selling more complex, high-end, high-tech products • Those who are selling chronic care drugs like heart, blood pressure

Whither Training? – Blog Post #489 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #489. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Training of Medical reps in Pharma industry was no less than an institution, and that institution has been lost. These posts are an inquiry into what happened, not a requiem. First the historical facts.  I started in 1975 and at that time all MNCs and known Local Pharma always trained fresh or even experienced people before they started work. In fact, qualifying training was a prerequisite for appointment as medical rep. It was usual that a training session would start with 15-20 youngsters, who would keep falling on the way till the completion, which saw may be half of them qualify. The appointment started afte

Interactions between Pharma Reps and Prescribers 4 – Blog Post #488 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #488. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… This is Appendix to the 3-blog series based on the study published in Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice Journal from Dovepress. The study is titled ‘A quantitative insight of the interactions of prescribers with pharmaceutical organization’s representatives in clinical settings of Karachi’. It was published in 2019. The link appears at the bottom. The findings are interesting and revealing, though not entirely groundbreaking. We shall take our discussion further to see where we are now, vis-à-vis the original scope of Pharma Salesperson-Doctor re

Interactions between Pharma Reps and Prescribers 3 – Insights from a Local Study – Blog Post #487 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #487. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… This is Part 3 of 3 blog series based on the study published in Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice Journal from Dovepress. The study is titled ‘A quantitative insight of the interactions of prescribers with pharmaceutical organization’s representatives in clinical settings of Karachi’. It was published in 2019. Study results are under discussion. [Quote] Respondents’ opinion regarding gifts/ promotional items received from MSRs  1. Around half of the respondents believed that physicians cannot be compromised with ve

Interactions between Pharma Reps and Prescribers 2 – Insights from a Local Study – Blog Post #485 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #486. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here . Continued from Previous…… This is Part 2 of 3 blog series based on the study published in Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice Journal from Dovepress. The study is titled ‘ A quantitative insight of the interactions of prescribers with pharmaceutical organization’s representatives in clinical settings of Karachi ’. It was published in 2019. [Quote] Study Duration The study was conducted from June to December 2017. Study Population The physicians working in private and government health care facilities of Karachi were included in the study t

Interactions between Pharma Reps and Prescribers 1 – Insights from a Local Study – Blog Post #485 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #485. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. The original concept of creating Pharma Veterans Blog and associated activities is to share the information, knowledge, and wisdom about the Pharmaceutical business. The scope is worldwide, but the primary focus is Pakistan market. Being the principal contributor, I am constantly on the lookout for related information which would be of value to the readers.  The original research work on pharmaceutical business practices, promotional tactics, and its influence on prescribers and prescriptions remains in focus in the neighboring India but is less comm

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman III – Blog Post #484 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #484. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… The challenges with summarizing the findings of a book of this enormity can be many, some of which may be described as follows. 1. The effort to simplify may affect the integrity and authenticity of the original concept 2. Many other related, important concepts may be missed out 3. The entire premise of the book may not be accurately portrayed In the interest of surviving respectfully, I would rather focus on the main theme only and leave everything else aside. The ‘Intuitive’ System 1 and the ‘Attentive’ System 2 have been elaborated to the extent that

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman II – Blog Post #483 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #483. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Continued from Previous…… The book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman is broad in its scope and enormous in its applications and implications. What I shall do is to introduce few core concepts here in this three-part series. Those who are intrigued (I hope there would be many) are requested to read the book. The fundamental concept is that our thinking is based on two-parts, two-functions processes. These were originally named as System 1 and System 2 by the psychologists Keith Stanovich and Richard West. Daniel is continuing with the same. [Quote] • System 1 operates autom

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman I – Blog Post #482 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #482. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Eid Holidays mixed with lockdown have started for most people. Pharmaceutical industry was granted exemption verbally but given the situation otherwise, I understand that most Pharma people would have this week off. Eid ul Fitr this year shall again come under the heavy shadow of COVID. The infections are rising and so is the death toll. It cannot be overemphasized that we all need to be responsible, take full precautions and save ourselves and others from undesired consequences. Pharma professionals have a greater responsibility as they are part of healthcare system and they are better

Eid Holidays ‘Usual’ Confusion – Blog Post #481 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #481. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Ramadan is nearing its end and the Eid ul Fitr expectation is growing by the day. The Eid holidays are a subject of speculation and heartburn every year, but this is more so this year. Following reasons are contributing to the confusion and bewilderment. Eid ul Fitr is an occasion when everyone working away from home wishes to go home and join the family in celebrations. The enthusiasm around our Eid is no different from Christmas and Chinese New Lunar Year. The greatest movement of people takes place on Chinese New Lunar Year. Their date changes every year but is known months in advance. People boo

Ramadan, COVID and Work Q&A – Blog Post #480 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #480. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. In response to last blog post, #479, published on Monday 3rd, I have received three questions/comments. These are important and should be replied/commented upon. Question: There appears to be a conflict between maintaining work standard and Ramadan facilitation. Owing to its religious nature, it also carries an emotional component, making it more sensitive and delicate. How should it be handled? Both assertions are right. It is an apparent conflict because reducing work hours will likely reduce output. The conflicting nature makes it difficult for any organization. There may not be easy, straightfo

Ramadan, COVID and Work – Blog Post #479 by Asrar Qureshi Dear Colleagues!  This is Pharma Veterans Blog Post #479. Pharma Veterans welcomes sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. We are in the second half of Ramadan. This is the time when usually the energy level has somewhat gone down. We feel some weakness and get tired more easily. We relate this to our effort of fasting and give ourselves good marks about how pious we are. We also take credit about our steadfastness of fasting even in hot weather and working at the same time. Ramadan brings some reduction in working hours which the employers grant, some more gingerly and some less so. There is a concealed warning that the quantity and quality of work should not be compromised. The pharma salespeople working in the field always