If you are a techie, this next interview in the MD Salaries Interview Series is a real treat.  Have you ever used MediMath on your iphone during those rounds at the hospital or to save yourself during a pimping session?

Well, Dr. Evan Schoenberg is the creator of that app plus 14 other medical apps and 3 remote control type apps.  He single handed wrote the code and launched those apps on iTunes as a part of his company, Regular Rate and Rhythm Software.  His company was formed in 2008 back when the Apple App store had recently opened.

And another thing, have you ever heard of Adium?  It’s one of the best chat clients (on a Mac) for combining all of your chats from MSN, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, and Facebook into one window instead of having all those windows open and bogging down your computer.  Dr. Schoenberg has been a lead developer for Adium for the past 10 years!

These are products that I’ve been using daily for years on my Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc.  So it’s really awesome for me to talk to Evan about his life and bring you this interview.  When he’s not coding, he’s saving people’s eyesights on a daily basis as an ophthalmology resident.  Enjoy.

My grandfather was a huge tech enthusiast. He taught me to love computers – not just as black boxes for game diskettes but as programmable systems – and gave me my first, an IBM XT, when I was about 4 years old. I was programming BASIC on the Apple ][ machines and on my home PC in elementary school, then started playing with C in later years. Adium was what brought me into writing in Objective C, the language used by Mac and iOS devices; I was originally just an enthusiastic user, looking to make small changes to a young app so it would better suit my needs. Over the course of the first year working on the application, I first learned the language, then gained proficiency (mostly by repeatedly trying to accomplish specific goals until I found what worked). Soon I was invited to join Adam Iser, the application’s founding developer, as co-lead developer.

When Apple released the iPhone SDK, using the same language as Mac programming, it was a natural fit to move into writing iPhone apps.

There’s my grandfather again, at least originally! He was a pathologist and really convinced me that medicine was a field that could provide lifelong satisfaction. “The last great profession,” he called it. I think that may be overstating the case – there are a lot of grew professions – but it was a good sentiment and it got me started.

I gravitated toward ophthalmology for a number of reasons. I love the extent to which people value their vision; sometimes, people will do the Right Thing to protect their eyes even when they make poor choices about their heart, their lungs, and so on, because it has a very upfront importance to our day-to-day lives. I love the microsurgery of ophthalmology, a chance to handle fine details for a great result, and the OR in general. I enjoy all the challenges and triumphs of clinic, too, a space that for some surgeons is a bane. It’s a great fit.

It’s been a great adventure, and a successful one. For the first few months after MediMath, my first App Store app and one of the first clinical calculators on the App Store, was released, I remember saying to my wife every day after looking at sales revenue and my bulging inbox, “This might not last. We shouldn’t make any plans around this…” Four years and a dozen distinct apps under the RRR name later, some with basic/pro or free/paid pairs available in the App Store, I’ve seen growth I never would have imagined. I’ve also built apps on a contract or partnership basis when the project had a particular resonance, such as ACS Trials, an evidence-based cardiology app I built in collaboration with a group of cardiologists. It’s not Facebook or Instagram success, but for a solo designer/programmer working on projects I love, it’s perfect.

I have 1 employee who handles our email support, and an independent contractor who has collaborated on bringing ICD9 Consult and Medical Mnemonics to Android and is currently working on an Android version of Rowmote Pro, our most popular app which serves as a remote control, launcher, keyboard, and trackpad for Mac and jailbroken Apple TV. No venture backing – for where I am right now, with a dual-focus on ophthalmology and programming, I wouldn’t want to answer to anybody but myself. Who knows what the future will hold, though.

I’m continuing development on a number of the apps currently out for sale… and I’m debating whether to make the move to a more managerial role, with one or two hired programmers, but letting go is hard.

I’d rather not give specific numbers, but I can say that I paid off my medical school loans in their entirety during my intern year, and the business has continued to grow since then.

I love every part of operating, so I do plan to practice. Ideally, I will eventually have a practice setting that allows me to dedicate some time to patients and some time to business development outside of clinic and the OR… It’s almost unfortunate how much I like ophthalmology, because there’s such infinite potential in the world of software development!

I think that’s about it. I’m happy to answer any questions… I’m on Twitter (@evands) and available via email.

Evan Schoenberg, MD
Company
LinkedIn
Twitter

Evan, thank you so much for taking time out for this interview.  I just loved getting to know you and where you are headed.  I know for me, I said “holy $#!%” in jealous awe of your revenue success!  Many kudos!  I don’t know about everyone else, but I am kicking myself for not learning how to code in my younger days!  Best of luck with the rest of your residency and fellowship years!

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Dr. Samuel Dyer, CEO of The MSL Society Ophthalmology Physician Salary

Today I am really excited to present to you the first interview series at MD Salaries. My goal is to get in touch with physicians practicing medicine or working in non- clinical jobs and ask them questions that you would want to know about their careers. For the first interview in the series, I reached out to Dr. Samuel Dyer, CEO of The MSL Society, and he was happy to give you a glimpse into his life.

Dr. Dyer has over 12 years of experience in Medical Affairs ranging from a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) to MSL Management as well as launching a business and serving on executive boards for biotechnology companies. He has worked on numerous clinical trials and overseen the launch of both pharmaceuticals and medical devices. He is currently CEO and founder of the MSL Society which is the first not- for-profit organization dedicated to the MSL role which is directed by an executive board and advisory committee. It is an important resource, which is fully dedicated to all aspects and levels of the Medical Science Liaison career.

An MSL is usually a medical professional who has in-depth knowledge of a Disease State, Therapeutic Area, or Drug. In general, they are a field extension of a pharmaceutical company and serve as a medical resource for the Key Opinion Leaders they are interacting with. They act as a Liaison between the pharmaceutical company they work for and the KOL’s they are engaging with.

Generally the base salary will range from 100K to 120K to start. Maybe higher based on the specific therapeutic area or disease state experience an applicant brings to the role, plus a bonus of 15-30% depending on the company with full benefits.

Yes, definitely. A starting MSL can grow into a Sr. MSL and then advance into MSL management. You can also crossover into other roles within the Medical Affairs division such as Medical Information.

Yes, the MSL role has exploded over the last several years. Since 2005 there has been a 76% growth in the role at top 10 pharma companies while, at the same time, there have been dramatic cuts in other roles such as pharma sales reps.

Of course. Generally, the educational standard for an MSL role is a doctorate degree within the sciences, which would include an M.D., D.O., PharmD. or Ph.D.

It can be very difficult to break in and it will take a lot of commitment and persistence. The easiest way for someone to break into the MSL role is to apply for only those roles that they are truly a match for based on their Therapeutic Area or disease state expertise. For example if a candidate has multiple years of experience within Oncology, they should not waste time applying for roles within CNS for example. I actually started as an MSL by applying for roles in the same Therapeutic Area in which I did my Medical training and Ph.D. It was easier to position myself as having a level of expertise when interviewing.

During Medical School we were required to have additional training on special topics that we expected or wanted to focus on for our residency. I did a number of special projects focused on Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. After Medical School, I also did my Ph.D. in those same topics. This effectively placed me in a position to enter my first MSL role with Merck in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.

I worked with a team of colleagues for over two years and we just launched the first ever Non-Profit MSL Society. I am the Chairman of the Board of the MSL Society. We recently held our first live webinar and are currently working on the first live MSL Society conference. The MSL Society is the resource for those looking to break into the MSL role or to learn more about the MSL career. The purpose of the MSL Society is to advance the global MSL career.

And that concludes our interview with Dr. Dyer.  Stay tuned for more interviews from successful physicians!  If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments section. For more information about Medical Science Liaisons or to join the MSL Society, click on the logo below.

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