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MSL Mentor Program

The free MSL Mentor Program is a unique initiative by the MSL Society dedicated to helping MSLs and MSL Leadership advance their careers and achieve professional growth.

THE MSL SOCIETY MENTOR/MENTEE PROGRAM

The MSL Society Mentor Program is yet another free resource for professional-level members that further exemplifies the MSL Society’s mission of being dedicated to advancing the MSL profession and helping new MSLs / MSL Managers advance in their careers.

The program is unique because there is no other program in the world for MSLs or MSL management. Divided into 2 chapters, the MSL Level for MSLs and the Leadership Level for those in Medical Affairs leadership roles, new MSLs/MSL Managers are paired with experienced MSLs or seasoned MSL leadership. Each group will consist 2 co-mentors and 4 to 6 mentees to provide guidance, support, professional development, and knowledge sharing. The group mentoring approach affords opportunities for mentees not only to benefit from mentors but also from mentee peer.

Mentors are encouraged to share experiences, feedback, and provide insights related to career guidance and/or career advancement. Mentees are encouraged to enter the program with the goal of career enhancement and professional development. Ultimately, the mentoring group will have the opportunity to develop a community and strong peer network.

Note: This program is not available for aspiring MSLs (those interested in becoming an MSL).

Years

Countries

Unique Companies

Therapeutic Areas

Mentors

Mentees

MSL LEVEL

The MSL Level is designed to support new MSLs in achieving their professional goals. Mentees will gain valuable insights from experienced MSLs, developing strategic skills for effective KOL engagement, and enhancing their impact within the Medical Affairs field. With this program, recently hired MSLs or those with less than three years of experience are provided with the guidance and support needed to thrive in the dynamic and competitive environment of the profession.

Eligibility

  • MSL Mentors: Must have at least 5 years of MSL and/or MSL Leadership experience
  • MSL Mentees: Recently hired MSLs with less than 3 years of experience by program start date

LEADERSHIP LEVEL

If you are stepping into leadership with little to no experience, the Leadership Level offers a unique opportunity to achieve your full potential. This chapter is designed to empower newly hired leaders/managers in Medical Affairs with the skills, mindset, and tools needed to excel in leadership roles, emphasizing upskilling, fostering a growth mindset, and building strong leadership capabilities to navigate the evolving Medical Affairs landscape. With guidance from more experienced Medical Affairs leaders, mentees will benefit from personalized guidance, peer learning, and expert mentorship to develop actionable strategies for team growth, effective KOL engagement, and organizational success.

Eligibility

  • Mentor Leaders: Must have at least 5 years of MSL leadership experience
  • Mentee Leaders: Recently hired MSLs into managerial/ leadership roles with less than 3 years of experience by program start date

GUIDELINES

The program is free and all participants must meet the following guidelines:

  • All mentees must be Professional-level Members of the MSL Society. If your membership expires by the end of May 2026, you need to renew your membership to be eligible for the program
  • Mentors will be provided with a complimentary 1-year MSL Society Professional Membership.

Format

  • Available at no charge to Professional Members selected through an application process
  • Typically 2 Co-Mentors + 4-6 Mentees; in some cases 1:1 ratio
  • Mentee-driven topics and goals
  • Meet by web or conference call as a group once a month (60 min)
  • Timeframe: US and Global: January through December (12 months)
  • Time commitment: 1-3 hours per month

MENTOR TESTIMONIALS

“I have enjoyed a mutually beneficial mentor program experience with multiple MSL leaders over the past years as a mentor in the MSL Society mentorship program. Leaders often do not receive leadership development when moving into a new leader role, may feel isolated without a leader mentor and benefit from actively talking through real world leadership situations they face to gain knowledge, skills, resources, tools and guidance from seasoned leaders. I highly recommend this program as an avenue for monthly exchange to tap into experienced leaders and elevate leader skills on a practical level.”

Cherie Hyder, PharmD, MSL-BC

Senior Director, Medical Affairs Learning Strategy Consultant, Syneos Health

“The MSL Society’s mentorship program is a great way to learn, grow your network, and prepare yourself for your next leadership role. The format of the program allows you to discuss real life situations and examples where different leadership skills can be applied. The program is also very flexible and is able to adapt to the time and schedules of the program participants. ”

Larry Dollar, PharmD, MS, MSL-BC

Vice President, Medical Affairs, Syneos Health

PROGRAM DIRECTORS

Our program is managed by highly experienced and committed MSL leaders who have extensive experience in managing mentor programs:

Heliana Sula

Chief Operating Officer
MSL Society

Karolína Šandalová

Program Coordinator
MSL Society

Raymond Veronneau,
PharmD, MBA

Associate Director, Mentoring Program
MSL, Acadia Pharmaceuticals

INTERVIEWS

Dr. Christine Vaupel Explains the Importance of a Mentor Program

Why did you want to create the Mentor Program?

After 5 years of being involved in leadership in a global level mentoring program in the healthcare sector, I saw a glaring need for a unique program across the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and medical device industry focused specifically on the field medical role.

Why is it important for the MSL Society to offer this type of program?

Having a mentor has been shown to be the single most important reason people succeed in careers, as it correlates more than intelligence, hard work and talent. In a flash, three years have flown by and the numbers are astounding. United by the passion of improving patient lives, by next year in over 70 companies we’ll have touched more than 100 mentees. The MSL Society mentor volunteers willing to share the precious commodity of time along their career journey provide tremendous value.

Why did you get involved to create it?

In my career, I have had some wonderful mentors. After finishing my PhD, I arrived eager, wide-eyed and new to industry, pregnant with my third child. In my on-boarding process, I was assigned the most amazing mentor in my new company who cheered me on and enabled my success at a time it would have been easy to succumb to being overwhelmed. Inspired by the concept of creating an additional support network for new MSLs and recently promoted MSLs managers, the MSL Society Mentoring Program was introduced.

Dr. Mahesh Tawney Shares His Thoughts on the Mentor Program

Can you give a specific example of how being a mentor enriched your own career development this year?

In my opinion, I received more than what I could give being a mentor. I aspire to be a manager of people one day and the ability to practice coaching and serving others can/will help me in my development as a Liaison and hopefully as a leader of a team one day.

How was having a co-mentor impactful for you?

Having a co-mentor was very beneficial. My co-mentor and I were able to bounce ideas of each other to discuss with our mentees and as it turned out, we ended up mentoring each other! I learned a lot from my co-mentor and was thankful to have one!

What did you learn, revise, or enhance after experiencing this mentoring program; or what would you have missed?

I would certainly try to utilize more of the resources that are available on the MSLS website. I feel like we should have tapped into the resources earlier in order use the resources with the mentees.

TESTIMONIALS

I recently started working for a small company without its own onboarding or mentoring programs that are typically seen in larger companies. I therefore joined the MSLS mentoring program to learn as much as possible from the experiences of other MSLs. Not only were we matched by geography and therapeutic area, I was also part of an all-female mentoring group! This opened up the discussion around specific challenges and tips of how to overcome them. In the end, I learned so much during our monthly talks, but it was also great to be able to bring the tips and best practices back to my own company. I love that I was able to meet up with some mentees in person. I truly appreciate the time and effort the mentors put in and that they were always available for 1-on-1 calls. This program has been an invaluable part of my first year as a brand-new MSL!

Kerstin Pohl, PhD

Manager of Medical Affairs, Biodesix

More than mentors! Above and beyond! Joining this program provided an instant connection with a supportive group of fellow mentees and knowledgeable mentors. Our conversations together were pivotal to navigating a year of many changes and unknowns. The time spent one-on-one helped me identify why I’m happily addicted to MSLing, how to excel and grow in key job responsibilities, and how to remain flexible and adaptive overall.

Viorela Pop, PhD

MSL, PRA Health Sciences

The program provides a perfect match to your geography, therapeutic area, and experience level. It was invaluable for me, as a new MSL, to obtain objective and timely advice from seasoned MSLs who have been successful in the field. The program also provided an excellent opportunity to network with mentors and mentees that were from other companies.

Kyle Flannery, PharmD, MS

MSL, Sanofi Genzyme

When I began the program last year, I was a very new manager of a team of 7 MSLs and at my current company, there is not a mentor program set up or a specific training program for new managers. Also, I knew the MSL Society Mentorship Program would be a good fit for me because of the proven track record of the organization and the large network that we could tap into.This program provided me with real life examples of situations that managers find themselves in and provided me with real-time advice on how to face the challenges of a new manager. The highlight of my experience of being a mentee in this program was the friends and colleagues that I have met through this program.”

Brian Tumminello, PharmD

Regional MSL Director, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

As a new manager of MSLs, it was important to me to learn from those outside of my business to focus less on the technical, product challenges of the job, and more on the MSL team and individual development aspect. By learning from other managers from a product-agnostic perspective, it really helps you learn more about how to work with and develop your MSL team. The program helped in three ways: (1) it confirmed that the challenges that I faced as a new manager were the same as those of other new and experienced managers, particularly in the position of leading MSLs who often bring with them their unique, high-level talent; (2) it provided great ideas for tactics and tools on how to approach these same, high-performing individuals on how to manage, develop, and enhance their experience while at the same time ensuring positive performance outputs beneficial to and in alignment with the company goals; and (3) as a field-based employee, it gave me comfort to know that I am “not alone” in the field, particularly at a level where there may be fewer (if any) internal colleagues that share the same responsibilities that comes with managing highly-driven personality types. The mentor program was key in helping me develop a renewed Journal Club program that lay dormant for over a year prior to my appointment as the team manager. It is something that our team really wanted, and I felt it was important to not just “phone it in” but to really find excitement and joy in how we engage and interact scientifically (which, let’s face it, can be more of a bore and a chore for some). Everyone in the program generously provided/donated their ideas for me to pick through, customize, and execute; and I was proud to announce it to my team from the 2018 MSL Society Las Vegas meeting stage where many of my team were present in the audience!

Ramon Dimalanta, PhD

Director, Medical Science Liaison Operations, Alcon

I became a mentee because I wanted to gain as much experience as possible. Attending this program has allowed me to receive great advice and learn a lot from others experience. The highlight of my experience in this program was that I was given the chance to ask my mentor questions whenever something came up. “

Sungun Huh, PhD

Medical Science Liaison, AbbVie

I became a mentee because I had just started my first MSL position and wanted to get as much advice and guidance as possible from those with more experience and success. This program has really helped me grow in my role and become more efficient utilizing my time in the field. The highlight of being a mentee in this program was running into a fellow mentee unexpectedly at a conference and meeting one of my mentors in person at the MSLS conference this year. “

Brian Berg, PhD

Medical Science Liaison, Rhythm Pharmaceuticals Inc.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the MSL Society Mentoring Program?
The MSL Society Mentoring Program is a dynamic, group format consisting of 2 co-mentors and 4-6 mentees. The group will
self-govern by establishing monthly connections whereby information is exchanged, experiences are shared and a learning dynamic is established. The MSL Mentoring Program is designed to help an MSLs accelerated development and is not designed to be a substitute for internal management, HR or other services offered through Mentee’s company.
How do I participate?
To participate, you must be a current MSL Society member and actively working in an MSL or MSL leadership role. Simply complete a short application that captures your goals, experience, and preferences. All information is kept strictly confidential and used to thoughtfully match Mentors and Mentees.

Participation is entirely voluntary. Research shows that mentoring programs are most successful when both parties choose to engage because they see mutual value—not because they’re required to. This ensures a meaningful and productive experience for everyone involved.

Can I be both a Mentor and a Mentee?
When completing the survey, please select either the Mentor or Mentee option. While you’ll formally participate in one role, the program is designed as a collaborative group experience. From the outset, all participants will gain valuable tools and insights that foster personal and professional growth—regardless of whether you’re a Mentor or a Mentee. Everyone is encouraged to learn from each other throughout the program.
What is the commitment on my part to participate?
During the 11-month program (varies based on domestic or global groups), each group is expected to meet via webinar or conference call each month. Mentees are encouraged to reach out for 1:1 connections with their mentors around topics they’d like to discuss. All group members will also exchange contact information such that all participants serve as a resource for one another. In maintaining professional business ethics, no proprietary or confidential information will be discussed. In creating a safe learning environment focused on personal growth and development, it is expected that the group members will always be respectful of each other and maintain confidentiality. At the conclusion of the program, completion certificates will be awarded.
What responsibilities are expected of Mentors?
An ideal Mentor is a passionate, lifelong learner who is open-minded and empathetic. A role model who is trusted and respected, the Mentor leads by example and creates a safe space for shared learning, insight and wisdom. The environment created nurtures confidence, resilience, and strength while challenging unconstructive beliefs/attitudes thus helping the Mentee push limits and develop potential. Mentors are expected to participate in formal training which occurs prior to the launch of the mentoring group. The Mentor supports Mentees as they identify and set specific goals and challenges Mentee to strive for excellence. The monthly time commitment is 2-3 hours. The Mentors will facilitate web or conference call group meetings each month and occasionally connect on 1:1 calls with mentees. Additionally, someone from the mentoring committee will stay connected with the Mentors throughout the program to provide ongoing support and resources.
What responsibilities are expected of Mentees?
Mentees are expected to actively engage in the mentoring process with a commitment to personal and professional growth. They should come prepared to set clear goals, be open to feedback, and take initiative in their development. Mentees should participate in monthly group meetings (via web or conference call) and be open to occasional one-on-one check-ins with their Mentor. A successful Mentee demonstrates curiosity, accountability, and a willingness to be challenged in order to reach their full potential. Maintaining consistent communication and showing respect for the Mentor’s time and guidance are essential to building a productive mentoring relationship.
Can mentors or mentees promote or sell products or ideas in the program?
No. The MSL Society Mentor Program is strictly for professional development, not for commercial or promotional activity. Mentors and mentees should focus on career guidance, knowledge sharing, and ethical growth. Soliciting or “selling” products, services, or ideas is not permitted.