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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  • Knowledge of relevant information sources including: printed publications, unpublished sources, databases, web sites, company departments, external bodies.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.