Medical HQ Excellence: Building a World-Class Medical Affairs Onboarding and Training Function

Industries Profiled:
Pharmaceutical; Medical Device; Biotech; Health Care; Biopharmaceutical; Consumer Products; Clinical Research; Laboratories


Companies Profiled:
Astellas; Boehringer Ingelheim; Boston Scientific; CSL Behring; Eisai; Eli Lilly and Company; Eurofarma; GE Healthcare; GlaxoSmithKline ; Ipsen; Kyowa Kirin; Milestone Pharmaceuticals; Novartis; Rhythm Pharmaceuticals; Sandoz; Sanofi; Servier; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd; Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Study Snapshot

Best Practices, LLC engaged 20 Medical Affairs leaders from 19 life sciences companies in this research through a benchmarking survey. Deep-dive interviews were also conducted with six onboarding/training leaders to capture further insights.

Key topics covered in this report include:

• Medical Affairs onboarding and training program management
• Program structure and staffing
• Key competencies and effective tools
• Program timelines
• Program evaluation

• Staffing and Topics Supported: Companies allot an average of 3 FTEs for Medical HQ onboarding and training program, supporting 38 total training topics.

• Content Delivery: Medical Affairs staff lead SOPs / policies, scientific, medical strategy, and career path. IT leads technology and tools.

• Program Assessment: 71% of Medical HQ onboarding and training groups use certification to ensure competency.

• Lead functions for overall onboarding & training program management
• Groups involved in HQ training programs
• Core competencies: Importance x Training Time
• Hallmarks of world-class training and onboarding programs

• Roles within the Medical HQ organization and roles receiving formal training from the Medical HQ
• Structure of Medical HQ organization
• Number of Medical employees subject to training requirements in the Medical HQ
• Number of FTEs allocated to Medical HQ onboarding and training
• Number of Medical HQ onboarding and training staff supporting Functional Skills areas versus Scientific Knowledge areas
• Total number of topics included in the Medical HQ onboarding and training program
• Average number of training topics per FTE

• Staff responsible for delivering onboarding and training content to employees
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component
• Lead functions for program planning and curriculum development
• Lead functions for program execution and training delivery
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – SOPs, policies, and processes
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – Technology, tools, and materials proficiency
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – Scientific content
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – Medical strategy
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – Leadership, communication, and other soft skills
• Functions primarily responsible for managing each onboarding and training component – Career path / professional development
• Creation of learning pathway
• Ownership and maintenance of Learning Management System (LMS)

• Key competencies for training the medical leaders
• Executive narrative around training needs of scientific directors
• Effectiveness of each of the listed features included in the learning platform used by benchmarked organizations to ensure accountability and successful completion of onboarding and initial training
• Ensuring competency on the part of newly trained employees
• Channels used for conducting onboarding and training programs
• Top-ranked modalities for driving learners toward competency
• Usage level vs. Effectiveness rank of modalities
• Ideal amount of time for each kind of virtual session to maximize training impact while acknowledging time limitations
• Effective technologies or tools to drive engagement in the virtual setting
• Lessons learned about creating an onboarding and training program that effectively prepares new Medical HQ leaders and serves the mission of the organization

• Time required for a new Medical HQ employee to complete entire onboarding and training program
• Hours of training spent around each of the listed core competencies
• Effective approaches for onboarding and training new Medical HQ personnel
• Effective training schedule
• Layering content approach across different training categories
• Effective metrics for assessing the effectiveness of onboarding and initial training program
• Partnership of Medical HQ training group across Medical Affairs to support world-class employee onboarding and development
• Training gaps observed in onboarding and training programs for scientific directors

• Geographic area representation of benchmark participants
• Therapeutic areas supported by benchmarked Medical Affairs organizations