A Tale of 2 MSL Board Certifications: What You Should Know - Part 2

Part 1 of this series demonstrated the Why, What and Who of MSL board certification programs. This part will complete the story with How, How much and what the impact of these credentials mean to MSL professionals across the country.

Click here if you missed Part 1

BCMAS Certification

Associated preparation for each exam varies greatly. The Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs' (ACMA) BCMAS certification fee (more on that later) comes along with access to their learning management system (LMS) which includes 20 self-paced online training modules. These modules cover every aspect of the medical affairs organization and include details such as the pharmaceutical industry’s history (it can be traced back to German universities and organic chemistry) to drug development and approval process to medical device to pharmacovigilance. Each module starts with a pre-quiz then repeats this quiz as a post-quiz allowing the user to follow their learning progress. All 20 post-quizzes must be passed prior to sitting for the certification exam with ProctorU. ACMA suggests that the process can take between 3-4 months depending on the amount of time devoted to studying the material but provides 6 months access to the program’s contents. Each of the 20 modules will take approximately 2 hours to complete and a bonus is that a handful of the modules are eligible for CME/CE for MD’s and PharmD’s.

Who can sit for the BCMAS exam?

ACMA states that all the information needed to pass the BCMAS exam is contained within the 20 modules and they allow anyone who holds an “MD, PharmD, PhD, DO, MBBS, DNP, NP, PA, BPharm, PsyD, or other relevant degree from an accredited college, university or institution” to apply for the credential with or without relevant work experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Some test takers would argue, however, that without time in industry even given the 20 modules passing the exam is not an easy achievement. However, once passed the BCMAS credential may help those unable to break into the medical affairs world have a chance at a coveted position.

MSL-BC Certification

Conversely, the Medical Science Liaison Society (MSLS) takes a different approach to exam preparation and the needed qualifications to sit for the test. There is no LMS that provides an education or question bank to coincide with your studying as you prepare for the exam. Certainly, this is in part due to the reduced fee (again, more on that later) required by the credentialing body. The MSLS does provide a 5-page detailed overview of the “three content areas, 14 tasks, and 60 steps” which will be tested over. In addition, 1? pages of reference links accompany the overview referencing websites and include pages from the FDA, PhRMA, OIG and a couple of their own reference guides.

Who can sit for the MSL-BC?

To take the MSL-BC you must prove that you have worked as an MSL or MSL manager for over 1 year. This is done via an application to test and job history is verified per the MSLS website – this is not a credential that an aspiring MSL can achieve. However, a terminal degree is not required for the application to sit for the certification as only a bachelor’s degree is necessary. One caveat is that test takers should be prepared for the exam prior to submitting their application to receive an authorization to test (ATT) as once the ATT is provided to the test taker it is only valid for 3 weeks. After taking the exam it may take up to 3 weeks to have your test results for the MSL-BC vs 3-5 business days for BCMAS.

Associated fees

Many pharmaceutical companies are encouraging their MSL’s to garner one of these certifications for their own professional development, or credentialing is also being done as a team and when either of these are the case most organizations will allow the MSL to expense the cost of the program. However, other MSL professionals are on their own to foot the bill for credentialing and enhancing their own career marketability which makes cost of greater importance. The BCMAS fee is $1999 and includes up to 4 exam fees in the case of needing a re-exam while the MSL-BC costs is $550 for non-MSLS members or $450 for members and does not include any re-exam fees (retakes are $400 and $300 each respectively).

Which is the best option?

There are many considerations when deciding between the 2 credentials available to MSL’s and though their approaches are different, both are rigorous and should be respected. If one is an MSL through and through and the possibility of moving into another role besides MSL manager isn’t appealing then MSL-BC may be the best choice. Some people, for personal reasons, are not willing to relocate to the company’s home office and therefore many internal medical affairs positions are not an option. There are many executive and distinguished MSL’s who are approaching 20 years of field medical work and can harness this experience to mentor newer MSL professionals; these are certainly candidates for MSL-BC. Others MSL’s may find cost a factor in which case $550 is more palatable than $1999; or perhaps one appreciates an organization who will only allow a current member of the profession to sit for the certification, again another instance that MSL-BC would be a good fit.

In contrast, if an MSL's career development may include other positions within medical affairs then BCMAS would be a more appropriate choice for the credentialing. Moreover, if cost is not a factor and an LMS with detailed learning modules to house exam preparation is desired (versus reviewing overarching objectives and filling in personal learning gaps) then BCMAS is certainly a better option. Lastly, with no previous MSL experience or if an accredited board certification is preferred then BCMAS is the only option.

Five years ago, the idea of credentialing Medical Science Liaison’s from varying educational backgrounds working for dozens of different companies each of which require slightly different activities from the MSL professional was an unheard-of feat. Now, regardless of company or therapeutic area MSL’s have options of which board certification they would like to carry behind their name. Not only is it not unheard of, but MSL credentialing is positioned to become the deciding factor for hiring managers between otherwise similarly qualified candidates -- over time it will most likely become a standard in the field.

*A note from the author:

I penned these articles while waiting on results from my BCMAS exam. It should be stated that all attempts were made to write an unbiased review article, however, admittedly only going through 1 of the certification programs and exams may have made it more difficult than expected. To be fair, I will gladly prepare and sit for the MSL-BC if the MSLS would like a follow up article after the fact – please contact me.

 A final note, I am not affiliated nor a member of either the MSLS or ACMA Society at this time but would consider either a great choice.

#msl #boardcertification #bcmas #mslbc #medicalaffairs #msls #acma

References:

1. About Us. Available at: https://acmasociety.org/about-us/ accessed 4/20/20.
2. BCMAS Program Information. Available at: https://www.medicalaffairsspecialist.org/board-certified-medical-affairs-specialist-program/program-info/ accessed 4/19/20.
3. MSLS Board Certification. Available at: https://www.themsls.org/msl-board-certification/ accessed 4/20/20.
4. MSLS 2020 Member Benefits Guide. Available at: https://cdn.ymaws.com/members.themsls.org/resource/resmgr/member_guide/member_guide_update-march_2.pdf 
5. Policies and Requirements for Becoming Board Certified. Available at: https://www.medicalaffairsspecialist.org/policies/ accessed 4/19/20.
6. The Pharmaceutical Industry Overview. Available at: https://training.medicalaffairsspecialist.org/my-courses.html accessed 4/12/20.