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SALES TRAINING AND BEYOND: DEVELOPING 
EDUCATIONAL CONTENT ACROSS THE PHARMA/
BIOTECH LANDSCAPE
Speakers 
Gail V. Flores, PhD, Medical Writer, Encore Biomedical 

Communications LLC, Encinitas, CA

Lauren Mays Weddle, PhD, Learning Strategist and Senior 

Medical Director, Curtis Learning LLC, Philadelphia, PA

Julie Munden, BA, Director of Editorial Services, Curtis 

Learning LLC, Philadelphia, PA

By Kavita Garg, MPharm
Gail V. Flores, Lauren Mays Weddle, and Julie Munden, 

speakers at the 2021 American Medical Writers Association 

(AMWA) Medical Writing & Communication Conference, 

discussed the elements (who, what, and how) of sales train-

ing materials, debunked some misconceptions about them, 

and revealed insights into what it’s like to work in this field. 

Their goal was to bring awareness to an unmet need in the 

AMWA community by providing medical communicators 

with the skills required to work in sales training for the bio-

tech and pharma industries.

Busting Common Myths
Dr Flores described the field of sales training as being a 

black box that remains unopened. She addressed some  

misconceptions about what developing sales training  

materials entails.

Who (Key Stakeholders, Their Roles, and Processes 
Involved)
Dr Mays Weddle introduced the key players for the sales 

education and training materials that medical writers 

(MWs) create (from both the client and agency sides).  

The procedures involved in developing collaborative  

concepts for a variety of target audiences with different 

learning needs are discussed below. The key role players  

are project leads, writers, and editors.

Key Stakeholders

Audience

•  Medical affairs, sales, clinical nurse educators, patient 
services, patients, health care providers

Training for commercial sales representatives
•  Adult learners
•  Educational background varies
•  Years of commercial sales experience varies

Client Team

Main point of contact
•  Commercial training manager or director
•  Lead initiatives

Team involved in reviewing materials
•  Marketing
•  Medical
•  Legal
•  Regulatory

Sales Training Team (Curtis Learning LLC)

Main point of contact
•  Learning Strategist
•  Medical Director
•  Project Manager

Content development team
•  Medical writer
•  Medical editor
•  Content manager
•  Medical illustrator
•  Graphic designer
•  Fact-checkers
•  Technical team

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AMWAJournal.org     23Session Reports

Curriculum Design and Development
Bringing therapy to market is a multi-year process around 

United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 

approval, so the training materials in the curriculum sup-

porting the product (client’s drug) launch typically cover a 

range of topics.

1. Prelaunch

a. Foundational training

b. Disease state, treatment landscape, and product 

knowledge

2. Launch

a. Launch training/workshops

b. Certification

3. Postlaunch

a. Ongoing support for existing indication

b. New foundational and launch curriculum for addi-

tional indications

What (Types of Deliverables For Sales Training)
Dr Flores also highlighted becoming familiar with a variety 

of print and digital deliverables that includes medical illus-

trations for their sales-trained clientele.

1. Prelaunch (print or digital modules, assessments, 

patient cases, quick reference cards, interactive deep 

dives, subject matter expert-facilitated sessions)

2. Launch

a. Launch training/workshops

b. Annotated package inserts

c. Certification

3. Postlaunch

a. Update of previous materials

b. Resources to address knowledge or skill gaps

Dr Flores contrasted and explained how sales training in 

medical writing differs from other types of medical writing.

Similarities: Deliverables most commonly include an 

outline and 3 drafts, working templates, medical editing, 

and graphic design, elements of storytelling, and adher-

ence to strict citation guidelines, and referencing of every 

statement to the publication page. Although not ideal, 

many projects also have some out-of-scope work due to 

late reviews and changing therapeutic landscapes.

Differences: For sales training materials, the MW 

decides how to present content (bulleted lists, tables, 

medical illustrations, graphics, or infographics),  

collaborates with medical illustrators and artists, writes 

customized glossary definitions for terms the learner 

may not be familiar with, and writes for real-world  

application.

How (Key Steps in Deliverable Development)
Munden summarized the key steps in the deliverable devel-

opment process. It’s important to understand them to grasp 

their significance and what happens when these delivera-

bles are used in the field.

1. Content outline (MW, client)

2. Draft 1 (MW)

3. Draft 2 (MW, review, edited, and fact-checked by med-

ical editor, uploaded into client’s content management 

system by a content manager)

4. Medical/Legal/Regulatory (MLR) reviews all delivera-

bles for approvals and resolves comments

5. Additional drafts—resolve MLR comments, layout 

finalization, re-upload by content manager

6. Document approval—incorporate any changes in the 

layout, comments resolution, deliverables ready for use

 All documents—outline and all drafts—are fully anno-

tated and internally edited and reviewed before submitting 

to the client.

Key Takeaways
Knowing the essential people and processes involved in 

sales training content development, as well as how to col-

laborate effectively throughout content development, 

is necessary when writing for sales training audiences. 

Medical writing for sales training focuses on scientific and 

clinical education. From early conception through final 

approval and dissemination, generating sales training mate-

rials requires various key steps.

Kavita Garg is Director-Medical Writing at Saliegral Global Pvt 
Ltd. and is based in Singapore.

Author declaration and disclosures: The author notes no com-
mercial associations that may pose a conflict of interest concern-
ing this article.

Author contact: kavita.garg@saliegral.com

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