Medical Device Sales Training: How to Prepare Before Your First Role

Companies train new medical device reps once they're hired. Here's how to build clinical knowledge, sales exposure, and interview readiness before then, so you're the one they hire.

Anthony Giglia

· 4 min read

If you’re hired for your first medical device sales role, the company understands that you’re new to the industry. They want you to succeed, so they’ll train you on the products, the disease state, and how to do the job.

Depending on the company, you may spend time in formal training, learning from experienced reps, practicing product presentations, and doing role plays before taking on more responsibility in the field.

So why prepare before you’re hired? Because getting the job is the hard part. You’re competing with other candidates for one position, and the knowledge you build beforehand can help separate you during the interview process.

Learn the clinical basics

You don’t need to know everything about every medical device. Start with the specialty and roles you’re pursuing. If you’re still deciding, it helps to understand the difference between surgical and capital equipment sales.

Learn the relevant anatomy and pathology. What problem does the product address? Which patients does it serve? Who uses it, and what does a typical procedure or treatment look like?

If you’re pursuing a role that involves case coverage, learn about the environment you’ll be entering. Understand basic OR etiquette, the different people in the room, and what a rep is there to do. You want to be able to speak about the role with some familiarity when a hiring manager asks why they should take a chance on you.

Get exposure to the sales side

If you’re in college, use your summers to pursue medical sales internships. If you can’t find one, a B2B sales internship can also be tremendously useful. You’ll start learning how to prospect, build relationships, manage opportunities, and work toward a goal.

You can get creative, too. Medical device sales isn’t limited to large manufacturers. Independent reps and distributors run businesses of their own. Reach out and ask whether there are opportunities to shadow them or help with appropriate projects, such as administrative work or inventory. Seeing how they manage their day-to-day business can give you valuable context and relationships.

Keep building relationships with the reps you meet. Ask thoughtful questions about their role and what they wish they had known before breaking in. (Here’s how to find and reach those reps on LinkedIn.)

Prepare for the gap in your own background

Different candidates need different kinds of preparation.

If you’re a nurse or surgical tech, you may already understand the clinical environment, physicians, and devices. Your gap may be on the sales side. You need to show that you can build a business, handle objections, and develop relationships with the goal of growing an account.

If you’re coming from B2B or tech sales, you may already know how to sell. Your gap is more likely to be clinical knowledge and understanding how a rep works inside a hospital.

If you’re a new graduate, you may need to build both types of knowledge and show the hiring team that you’ve been proactive despite your limited work experience. Many of the same principles apply if you’re breaking into pharma without sales experience.

Training alone won’t get you the offer

There are two barriers to breaking into medical sales: getting interviews and winning the offer.

You can spend a lot of time studying products, but you still need a resume that presents your experience well. You need an effective way to apply and network with decision makers. Then, once you get the interview, you have to show the hiring team the value you would bring.

That’s why I recommend looking beyond product knowledge alone when you prepare. Rehearse your answers. Research the company and division. Have strong questions ready. Learn how to close the interview, and consider building a specific business plan that shows how you think. If you’re invited to shadow a rep, prepare for the ride-along just as seriously.

My coaching program is designed to address that entire process. I teach the clinical and sales concepts, reconstruct your resume, help you reach the right people, and prepare you through the interviews. If it comes down to you and another candidate, I don’t want a gap in your background to be something you never addressed.

The company will train you once you’re hired. What you do before then can help convince them that you’re the person worth hiring.

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