Medrep or Maidreps?

Once I had a job interview for an account executive post for a multinational tire provider company. I was asked by the regional sales manager about the current industry I was with back then. I told him that I am a medical representative. He said, “Ah, maid rep ka pala? Galing din kasi ako jan, pero I’m from a local company.” That may statement seemed unprofessional coming from a high executive like him. But I cannot blame him because he, himself had experienced what my job was like. Maybe that was why he shifted to another industry. There are times when we are called “personal assistant ng mga doctor”. True enough, we are willing to do things outside our job description just to meet our quotas. Some of us are willing to drive kids of doctors to school. Some may even be available even during weekends to shuttle the whole family of a certain doctor to a family reunion.

Are we really medical representatives or MAID REPS?

Why I Quit

Professional? It can only be seen in my job name because we are not treated as professionals in this job.

I was a PROFESSIONAL Healthcare Representative for a multinational company which sells the most effective sexual stimulating drug (But, I have never handled that brand. I wish i had so I could also write about it!). I was a communication graduate but after college, I was determined that I want to be a medical representative just like my mom, my dad, and my sister. (Well, some of my colleagues would say "Pamilya pala kayo ng mga medrep e," which is true. We are a family of med reps.) Let me tell you, when I was young I clearly remember that I would always ask my dad for ball pens and prescription pads that he had for work. I remember how I would see him drive one car after another year after year. I thought it was a luxurious job. Besides, I never wanted at that time to be a call center representative just like my other classmates who dove right into the call center industry right after graduation. So a week after, I immediately went job hunting for a medical representative position. Not long after, around May 2007, I was called for a job interview in Makati for the said position. I had training in May and was deployed in June. At first, I was ecstatic. It was my first job and I got the job that I wanted. I had a car, I had money and I had the gadgets. I was happy but only for the first, say one year? I saw the real ins and outs of the industry. I was unhappy but I survived 6 long years in this business. I don't know how my other workmates who were in the industry for 25-30 years survive that kind of environment.

What am I talking about? Yes, we are dealing with medical doctors, pharmacists, and heads of hospitals. These are very professional people, right? Wrong! There may be some, but most are just out there to get what they can get from these pharmaceutical companies because they just know that they could. How could you say no to a doctor asking you to drive him to the airport and back when he/she says, "Di ba kaya naman kayo may kotse para sa mga servicing na ganyan?” Servicing. What is servicing? This is when you offer "shuttle services" to doctors, pharmacists or other stakeholders of hospitals. Is this part of our job description? NO! But we sometimes we have no choice. We have to please our clients. Because mind you, these doctors are very difficult to handle. Once you've rejected one request from them, be sure to face the consequence of possibly not hitting your quota because they did not prescribe your product. And there are times when that doctor is a key opinion leader in your hospital, he/she may even ban you or spread the word to his/her other colleagues. If you are a medical representative, you must have heard stories recently on how two medical representatives die from a car accident because they were on servicing duties for a doctor in the wee hours of the morning. Imagine, I had experiences when i had to wake up at 3am to go to NAIA and fetch one doctor from the airport and back. My area is up north. It is around a five-hour drive to and from the airport. I got back at around 9 am and I had to make my rounds immediately after that long drive.  We should be given hazard pay for this kind of work, but sadly we are not.

I do not only blame these medical doctors for how they treat medical representatives. If there is someone to blame, these should be the pharmaceutical companies. They made the doctors feel that whatever it is that they need, they can get. Imagine 50 doctors sent by a pharma company to Europe for travel and recreation purposes only. They made doctors feel that we, medical representatives, are at their feet 24 hours a day.

Professional healthcare representative… It sounds good to the ear. But I’ve had enough. I have survived 6 years and that’s all there is to it. I want a more stable career, a fulfilling one. This is the end of my journey as a Professional healthcare representative. Ciao!

I'm Quitting My Job Tomorrow

This may sound weird, but when I woke up this morning. I just realized that I can no longer do this. I'm quitting. I've had several episodes of this kind of feeling. Last month, last year, the other year, maybe this is what my friends call as quarter-life crisis. But heck, I don't care. I just need to quit this fucking job to keep me sane. Some people may call me stupid when I tell them that I have resigned. some may say that I wasted so much opportunity. But, who cares. I own my life, and I will live it the way I want it to be. Now I know that it is not my job, it is not my boss or my workmates, it is not distance of work from my home, but it is ME. I need to sort things out first with myself before I can establish a stable career and a live a good life.