Welcome | Competency Areas for Medical Information Professionals
Information management skills
- Knowledge of relevant information sources including: printed publications, unpublished sources, databases, web sites, company departments, external bodies.
- Understanding of the principles of information storage and retrieval, and skill in their application.
- Ability to search a range of relevant information sources.
- Effective use of word processing, spreadsheet and other office software programs.
- Effective use of web systems.
Scientific knowledge
- Ability to understand in detail clinical, biomedical and scientific reports about pharmaceutical products and related subject areas.
Analytical skills
- Ability to analyse and appraise clinical, biomedical and scientific reports in a systematic, fair and balanced way.
- Makes informed decisions after finding the relevant facts.
- Appreciates the potential risk of inaccurate or inappropriate information to the enquirer and the company.
Communication skills
- Ability to communicate information effectively and clearly in written form and orally, and at levels appropriate to the needs of different customers.
Understanding the wider context
- Knowledge of the business and of the pharmaceutical industry.
- Understanding of the external environment: the NHS, Government policy, regulatory requirements.
Understanding of relevant legal and related issues
- Medicines Act and Statutory Instruments.
- Copyright.
- Codes of Practice.
- Data Protection legislation.
- Liability.
Ethics
- Understanding of and compliance with company policies, legal requirements, the ABPI Code of Practice and industry guidelines that are relevant to medical information.
- Application of sound professional judgement to ethical issues.
Workload Management
- Delivers work within agreed timelines
- Is able to prioritise, plan and organise work with the appropriate sense of urgency based on customer’s and business needs.
Management skills
- Team management and leadership skills (for team leaders and managers).
- Strategic planning (especially for managers).
- Interpersonal skills.
- Understands the needs and priorities of the customer.
- Uses questioning effectively to establish and understand requests.
- Actively listens.
- Team work.
- Networking.
- Courteous manner and considers others' views.
Proactivity
- Providing alerts about news and new publications.
- Keeping customers up to date with subjects of key interest to them.
- Informing management of important issues as they arise which require their attention.
- Actively promoting medical information services to colleagues and customers in appropriate ways.
Accountability
- Setting and fulfilling objectives.
- Use of appropriate performance measures.
- Compliance with appropriate standards, using PIPA guidelines as minimum standards.
- Compliance with standard operating procedures and company policies.
Continuous development
- Developing and improving knowledge and skills.
- Keeping abreast of developments in relevant therapeutic areas.
- Keeping abreast of developments in information systems.
- Developing role in line with company's and customers' needs.
- Identifying and implementing improvements in ways of working - for self and for team/department.
