Narcissism of small differences
No surprises in these articles from Pharmalot and Reuters outlining the shift in balance between Primary Care (GP) sales teams and their hospital colleagues. For years to come the biggest selling drugs in the world will be prescribed by oncologists and other specialists so that's where the reps will be pointed.
From the inside there might be seem to be a disctinction between these two branches of pharma selling: -
Hospital or specialty sales jobs require more intellectual horsepower than the primary care rep has. That’s why they’re paid more and get more face time with the doctors
'Industry Insider' commenting on the Pharmalot article
In my experience the jobs are essentially the same. Okay, the science might be more complex and illnesses more serious but the marketing is very simple in both cases; Freud's 'narcissism of small differences' comes to mind.