Master in Medical Affairs and MSL
- Madrid, Spain
- Barcelona, Spain
Master degree
DURATION
7 months
LANGUAGES
Spanish
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
The Master in Medical Affairs and MSL is a postgraduate program whose main objective is to train professionals who can join medical departments directly thanks to its eminently practical methodology.
The Medical Affairs and MSL areas are currently key pillars in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, leading and fundamental figures that differentiate the work of a medical department and its scientific excellence.
This program offers a combination of scientific and business training as a fundamental value. You will obtain a comprehensive vision provided by a faculty made up of recognized experts in the sector.
Our Master in Medical Affairs and MSL will allow you to:
- Understand the general context of the Pharmaceutical Industry, including its organizational structure, regulations and legal aspects.
- Understand what a clinical trial is and how its data is analyzed from a scientific, medical and clinical point of view.
- Define the Market Access concepts necessary to develop the Medical Affairs functions that interact with this department, during the different stages of a drug.
- Know the medical department, structure, roles and responsibilities, as well as the main functions of an MSL.
- Learn the technical and practical functions of an MSL: their day-to-day life.
- Understand the role of opinion leaders, as well as the role of medical affairs with its scientific interlocutor/partner.
- Learn about other roles that exist in medical departments, other than that of MSL, and learn to direct conversations based on the profile.
Train and gain access to a highly strategic area in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector: the medical department.
- Connection with the reality of the sector: due to the permanent search for talent with specific training in access required by the Health Industry, CESIF has an active faculty of the best professionals currently working in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry, a high degree of specialization in the contents and conferences of current interest in the sector. This favors and increases networking between faculty, speakers and students.
- Practical and applied methodology: Students will receive all the material (notes, documentation and practical cases) necessary to successfully complete the course through the CESIF Virtual Campus, having access to the different learning materials and tools at any time and from any device.
Technical Sheet
The Master in Medical Affairs and MSL can be taken at the CESIF headquarters in Madrid and Barcelona, on the following scheduled dates:
Madrid
- Start: October 2025.
- Completion: June 2026.
- Final Master's Project submission: September 2026.
- Class schedule: Monday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Barcelona
- Start: November 2025.
- Completion: July 2026.
- Final Master's Project submission: September 2026.
- Class schedule: Monday to Thursday, 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
The Master in Medical Affairs and MSL is structured into 9 modules in order to delve into all the aspects necessary for a complete student training.
Overview of the pharmaceutical industry
- What is the Pharmaceutical Industry and how is it structured today?
- Positions and functions of the main departments: Management Committee, Medical Department, Access Department, Marketing, Sales and others.
- Research and marketing: drug life cycle and approvals. FDA / EMA.
- From industry to patient: access routes to drugs in Spain.
- Innovative, advanced therapies and orphan drugs.
- Compliance and legal framework of the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sector
Clinical trials and scientific evidence
- What are pivotal clinical trials and why they are the foundation of the pharmaceutical industry.
- Phases of clinical development of a drug, inclusion and exclusion criteria, objectives and design.
- Clinical trial databases and how to manage them in Medical Affairs (PubMed, Clinical Trial).
- Post-marketing trials (registry, real world evidence, HEOR, etc.). Definition and applications.
- Critical reading of data and publications. Statistics of the EECC.
- How to prepare and present medical information and how it is developed in the medical department.
Market Access and interaction with Medical Affairs
- Regulatory Affairs and drug registration.
- Authorization and marketing procedures.
- Market access circuit in Spain (price and financing).
- What is a Value Dossier and how to prepare it?
- Therapeutic positioning reports (TPRs) and other key documents.
Medical Affairs
- Description of the structure, roles and functions of medical departments.
- Medical department and its role as a catalyst in other functions (Market Access, Clinical Operations, Clinical Dev, Marketing).
- MSL and KOL, the key tandem in Medical Affairs. Definitions and mission.
- Medical plans. From the global medical plan to the KOL plan.
- Business Care - What should my medical department be like if...?
Roles and responsibilities of the MSL (Medical Science Liaison)
- The art of being a good MSL (such as competencies, communications, emotional intelligence, business acumen, medical insights).
- Activities in a real working day of an MSL.
- Identification and engagement of opinion leaders (KOLs).
- KPIs, reporting system, what is the performance of an MSL and how to measure it.
- Medical Advisor and other office positions.
- Develop a regional MSL plan (therapeutic zone/area)
Opinion Leaders and Medical Affairs
- What is an opinion leader and its importance in medical affairs.
- Key KOL identification (mapping / profiling) - methodology and practical tools.
- Engagement or how to be a scientific partner.
- Compliance in interaction with KOLs.
Office-based roles or positions in Medical Affairs
- Description and characteristics of office-based positions. Basic skills.
- Medical information, call center and pharmacovigilance.
- Digital environment, projects and apps.
- Career plan in Medical Affairs
Master's Final Projects (TFM)
- Key points of the final project: History of the launch of a medicine and medical plan.
- Work and defense of the final project (mentoring).