One of the most common phrases I heard from my professors at medical school at the Universidad de Caldas, in Manizales, Colombia, was “He who only knows about medicine, knows nothing.” This was a widespread sentiment among my mentors, teachers, and colleagues, promoting splitting our studies with learning about other areas that enrich our culture, stimulate our brains in a different way, and overall make us better people.
Reading is possibly one of the most relaxing pastimes I can think of. Poetry hasn’t been my go-to, but there’s a poem by Mario Benedetti, originally in Spanish, that’s always summed up what being an MSL means to me.
Quick anecdote: I was in a play in high school called “El Lado Oscuro del Corazon” (The Dark Side of the Heart) based on Benedetti’s poems. I’ve never been one to lean towards poetry, but his poems felt very simple and beautifully articulated. Simple, transparent, and very straightforward. Safe to say acting ended in that one try, but his art stuck with my brain and echoes when I dig deep for comfort or simply the softness of words.
There’s an English version published in the LA Times, translated by Chris Kraul, that conveys the message perfectly, and here we begin our short stroll through poetry memory lane:
Tactics and Strategy
My tactic is to look at you
To learn how you are
Love you as you are
My tactic is to talk to you
And listen to you
And construct with words
An indestructible bridge
My tactic is to stay in your memory
I don’t know how
Nor with what pretext
But stay within you
My tactic is to be honest
And know you are too
And that we don’t sell each other illusions
So that between us there is no curtain or abyss
My strategy instead is
Deeper and simpler
My strategy is that someday
I don’t know how, nor with what pretext
That finally you need me
Setting aside the romantic purpose of this beautiful text, let’s look at it through the Medical Affairs “In The Field” Lens.
Let’s break it down into paragraphs:
“My tactic is to look at you
To learn how you are
Love you as you are”
Our first step when we’re going to engage with an external stakeholder is to make sure we’ve done our due diligence. We look at them, research their publications, dive into their influence map, see who resonates with them, even try to learn about their likes and dislikes, and prepare the scene as best as we can for an open and valuable interaction.
But “Love you as you are” translates through our lens to appreciate exactly the person as they are. Receive what little or much they will share with us and build upon it. We prepare the terrain, yes, but we have a soft, fertile land to plant what they will give us to grow.
After taking these first steps, we move on to the actual interaction, the moment of connection:
“My tactic is to talk to you
And listen to you
And construct with words
An indestructible bridge”
We listen, we speak, and through a heartfelt open listening process, we allow words to take over and build bridges of trust. Of knowledge. Of value and of respect. And, of course, ethical and compliant bridges. Those bridges that will allow multiway and multichannel traffic of input and insights, science, and humanity.
The weight those words will carry can be greatly influenced by the accuracy, transparency, and balanced nature of our dialogue, so we move to the next paragraph:
“My tactic is to be honest
And know you are too
And that we don’t sell each other illusions
So that between us there is no curtain or abyss”
To be honest, to share science in a balanced and unbiased manner. Convey information knowing that honesty, transparency, and scientific solidity are the best way to improve outcomes for patients, because when science is on your side, you fuel yourself to keep going on and deliver your best. Any step away from that creates “curtains” or an “abyss”. Once trust is lost, it’s not easy to recover in the MSL landscape.
Finally, and in a beautifully poetic manner, to explain how tactics build a strategy, which is our goal:
“My strategy instead is
Deeper and simpler
My strategy is that someday
I don’t know how, nor with what pretext
That finally you need me”
Through knowledge, science, honesty, and trust, the endgame is to finally be the “go-to” person when our area of expertise comes to the conversation. Just hearing the therapeutic area or drug will bring to mind and know that any doubt, concern, anecdote – even an AE report – can be directed your way, and it will be taken care of in the best manner.
When you become a regular source of value, you’ve mastered the art. You don’t need to know exact numbers, and humility with knowledge is one of the most beautiful approaches to learning.
I’d never expected to have tied one of my favorite poems to one of my most life-changing roles professionally. But living each one of those strategies, diving into the MSL role to understand its core, more than to superficially thread through it, connected me to my older formative memories and gave some art to my day-to-day life. Each day, I’d hear those words in my head, feel them in my heart, motivate myself to honor them, and enjoy the delicate intricacies of human interaction.
Perhaps, as you finish reading, a small part of this might linger in your memory and echo in a conversation that builds you a bridge that lasts for a lifetime.
About the author:
Paula Evans, MD
Colombian expat based in Seattle, WA. Medical Doctor and Clinical Epidemiologist with over 10 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including roles as MSL and Clinical Safety Scientist at Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, Grunenthal, and Merck Sharp & Dohme, working across Medical Affairs and Global Safety in clinical trials.
Currently—and proudly—she holds the title of mom of five, advocate for children living with disabilities, coffee enthusiast, private consultant, and most recently: writer.
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