Board Certification for MSLs

I took the ACMA Board certification in medical affairs back in July and passed! ie, the BCMAS program. I learned a lot and I've been working in the industry for over 10 years. I was very happy I did it.
I'm at a big pharma company and we don't require but we are seriously looking at having the entire MSL team become BCMAS. I recently saw that they've put together a pretty impressive Board as well lots of note worthy people. I would actually recommend to people wanting to give themselves some differentiation

 

I don't understand why anyone would care if others are trying to expand their knowledge. From what I understand being in the clinical research industry for two years, I think it is really important to have organizations such as these. There is such a lack of training and knowledge in healthcare. And, I would rather pay 2,000 for a self paced course that will help me advance my career than have to go back to school for an industry that doesn't necessarily require that kind of investment.

 

Just graduated with my BCMAS. Excellent program. Kudos to the ACMA!! What they did is awesome and I for one love this.

 

So many ACMA sales people on this board.

No one takes the BCMAS seriously. It's easy to say they have so and so on their board. Of course they will sit on the ACMA board, they get PAID. If you approached me with some bogus program and said you'd pay me to be a part of the 'board' I would do it to. No skin off my back.

Don't waste your time on BCMAS.

 

No vendetta here. It's not personal, it's business. Your business model is predatory and makes false claims in order to bilk a lot of money out of unsuspecting people. If you would have behaved in a respectable way, people would have taken you seriously. We are just trying to tell people the truth. You need to do the same.

 

You think there's just one person posting? A TON of people post in opposition of BCMAS.

 

I was on a MAPS webinar this week and the speaker who was a high level executive at Pfizer spoke highly of ACMA and mentioned that it was a great resource. Others corroborated this during the webinar. Just to add another perspective to this.

 

Hi, I wanted to take a course on medical affairs, especially on field teams, general workflow, KOL relations and scientific projects and I actually had couple options from all over the world. Firstly I contacted all the institutions giving trainings, then I went through the curriculums and then evaluated the prices and the possible impact of the credential. Eventually I chose BCMAS by ACMA because it was endorsed by many companies and at least they aim to create a standard for the industry. One - day or two-day trainings can be good for networking and more targeted topics. But i think BCMAS program has a broad and very adequate content which gives the picture of how pharma industry works globally.
It is not required or obligatory for recruiters. However i think it is prestigious. Maybe in my country i doubt that there are less than maybe 10 people who has it. But it shows that someone cares about his/her career and invests in it. Price is acceptable for such a comprehensive program when you see 1 or 2 day trainings cost the same even more. And they have a very strict exam procedure, it is not an easy exam. You really have to read all the material many times and go thorugh test questions. There is an online proctor system where you take the exam and somone connects to your computer and watches you. Very legitimate! I am happy I did it.

 

Waste of my money and time. I got through two chapters and saw at least 6 spelling errors. Info was very basic and definitely did not seem like it was developed by professionals.

 

I’ve been looking into this program. I’d really like to work in medical affairs. Does anyone who works in medical affairs know if this is a legit certification? I see that it hasn’t been around for very long. Does anyone know how many people have actually gotten it? Any feedback would be great!

 

Very legit. They offer CME and so they're programs are high quality. They're also a member of the institute for Credentialing Excellence. They've been around for like 4 years and pharma companies certainly recognize and value BCMAS. I think there is Somewhere around 3500 people with it or enrolled I heard somewhere. The exam is intense like one of the last posts mentioned and is proctored Good luck.

 

Been in Medical Affairs for years, there is not really a need for this, at least not currently. It’s possible some specific companies may suggest taking or offer the courses but it’s by no means common, required, or even widely recognized at this time. Things can always change in the future though.

 

I just did a quick search through the major job boards for "BCMAS" in the postings - did not come up once. A bit of data for your consideration.

 

BCMAS is different than a DIA course though because it's meant to be an entire self contained program which covers every area relevant to a medical affairs professional The BCMAS program is about setting a standard. DIA courses are primarily for training in certain areas. I think companies adopting BCMAS is a no brainer because for what you get the value proposition is excellent. We shell out a lot more money for training from other companies.

 

DIA is older, larger and the diversity is exactly what gives it strength for those who want to specialize in different areas of medical affairs. Not to mention, it isn't privately owned or does it have people selling blindly on a board.

Get over it, already.

 

Are you really claiming that there are “tons of people” doing their BCMAS from Pfizer? What is your name?
If you’re with Pfizer and really completed your BCMAS, why aren’t you advocating this to Pfizer to offer employees? Pfizer doesn’t promote any ACMA certification from my knowledge.
It’s time these claims should be raised to Doug, seems there has been a couple of times that Pfizer has been mentioned in relation to ACMA program.
Anyone else know or hear of any companies promoting BCMAS?